Can Sweden be a budget destination?

Hi,
My son and I are wanting to go to Sweden and Norway but we are budget backpackers and I know that Scandinavia has traditionally be known as a budget destination. The trains seem pretty cheap but what about accommodation and living costs? What would the minimum daily spend be? Say, cheap hotel or hostel, one meal in a cafe or restaurant, other food bought at a supermarket. Not including entrance to sights etc.
Generally we prefer to spend more time (even as long as 4-5 weeks) exploring a region rather than do a 2 week trip.
Any uptodate advice on this would be much appreciated before we invest too much time in detailed research.
Thanks

if you told us where you are from (excpt Ethiopa) we migth be able to relate to your prices at home.

Accommodation - check the prices of hostels. All hostels except a few in biggest citites belongs to http://www.svenskaturistforeningen.se/ or http://www.svif.se/content so mit is very easy and fast for you to check the prices.
A hotel: some - very, very cheeap, may be had from 5-700 SEK
Food in supermarket is cheap/conparable to European in general. Breakfast is included in hotel except cheapest places and the very costliest.
At lunch "everybody" serves "Dagens" - a fixed menu (2-3 seelction of main dish, in addition salat, non-alcoh. drink, coffee) for SEK 60-90 which is a bargain.
A dinner can be everything from 150 to 1500 SEK.
Remember entrance fees!

With present exchangerates Norway is clearly costlier than Sweden.

A total budget or /day is IMHO impossible - I know ppl. that spend 2000SEK/person and feel they are on a budget - otheres than manage by 400 SEK - or less if camping.

Wild camping + grocery food and not traveling around can bring daily costs to next to nothing.
Except for the free camping option Sweden isn't different in costs than WEurope in general .- clearly cheaper than toursit popular destinations in Italy or France or Britain

Thanks Bjoern, this is really useful. Sorry, should have said that we are from the UK. South East Asia is our usual stomping ground but changes in circumstances now mean long haul flights are out of the question so we are looking closer to home. I travelled in Sweden and Norway some 20 years ago and loved it so would like to bring my son.

Agree it is difficult to give daily budgets as peoples needs/standards etc differ wildly but your advice is exactly the starting point I need.

Camping is certainly an option.

Thanks again.

Liz

I know that Scandinavia has traditionally be known as a budget destination

I presume you missed out the word "not".

Wild camping + grocery food and not traveling around can bring daily costs to next to nothing.

I disagree. My experience of travelling by bicycle, self-cooking and camping all the time, wild where possible, and not drinking, in Norway is that somehow expenses still remain fairly high, even when the pound was still 12 NOK.

If your only expenses are: factory made bread in plastic, chinese canned corned beef, dutch discount cheese, canned baked beans you ARE down at "2-4 £/day" - which in my optics is "next to nothing" - at least 2-5% or a average budget.
Not that I EVER would travel like that - it has nothing to do with vacation for me - but it seems that some like it.

Scandinavia can be done on a budget, but it is a bit more difficult. For example, when you might go for a mid-level or budget hotel, maybe consider a hostel. (Hostels, by the way, tend to be immaculately clean in Scandinavia, and are frequented by people of all ages and families.) In addition, take advantage of street food vendors for meals, instead of the much more expensive sit-down restaurants. (I found excellent hot dog and falafel vendors in Stockholm, for example.) Buying drinks at the bar can get especially expensive, so try to limit that. But, basically, yes, it can be done on a backpacking budget.

Dave

I had also the impression that you missed "not" (like #3 poster noticed).
Roughly, Sweden is comparable with the UK, with a couple of exceptions - alcohol is here more expensive, cigarettes are cheaper.
Norway is more expensive than most other countries in Europe.

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/message.jspa?messageID=16044772#16044772

Norway and Sweden are no budget destinations but as another UKer I don't find it prohibitively expensive, but it's not comparable with staying in flophouses in Thailand. My wife and I have enjoyed a number of trips (not always staying with her family) for an average of £180 a day (two persons).