Novocastrian

I'm glad that you're living the dream in Alberta.

<gladder of course that I'm not>

Editha

I'm coming late to this conversation, so forgive me if I repeat something someone else has said because I haven't read any contribution.

We are returning to the UK next month after living in Edmonton for the last 8 years.

We found the cost of living here high compared with rural Staffordshire.

Food is much more expensive. I found clothing expensive and poor quality compared with the UK, so I bought most of my clothing in the UK on my annual visit home. My husband's clothing didn't seem so expensive in comparison, but he disliked the styles and bought most of his stuff mail order from the UK.

We ended up spending about the same on utilities, but probably a bit more for internet, TV and phone. Gas and electricity are cheaper, but you are using a lot more.

Furniture we bought from IKEA, and prices are about the same in both countries, just a little cheaper in Alberta because of the low sales tax.

The outstanding bargain was computers. Apple products are much cheaper.

I'm not sure about taxes. Sales tax is very low compared with VAT, but that doesn't really show up in shop prices. Income tax depends on what you are earning and your family composition. Generally you will be paying less, but the system here favours higher earners. City tax is about the same.

Whether housing is cheaper here depends on where you are coming from and whether you are buying or renting. Rents are high in Edmonton at the moment and there has been house price inflation for almost every year we've lived here.

Editha

Forgot the question of health care. Private dental work here is about 3 x the price you'll pay in the UK, and in Edmonton it is generally rather poor quality. If you are coming to Edmo, get your dental work done before you come.

Our Blue Cross insurance was paid for by my husband's employer, and a very good deal. It paid for our prescriptions in full, chiropody ('podiatry' here), physiotherapy, and most of our dental care, although I still had to fork out nearly $2,000 dollars for bridgework that fell apart after a few weeks.

Shard

Why on earth do you feel stressed to drive 100 miles in Europe? There's plenty to see and places to stop in that 100 miles. Alternatively you can take motorways and bypass it all.

And then there's bathos of driving from "Calgary to Regina". Not quite Amsterdam to Rome, is it!

Steve_

If you're on the govt. ABC plan it's $25 for a prescription, regardless of the actual cost (provided it's covered), although they ration the amounts.

caretaker

About half the distance, odd example to use for comparison. When possible I like to do long boring stretches of highway through the prairies at night or in the wee hours, and mountains in daylight.

Steve_

Because there is this thing called: "traffic".

Which was my point - so it's less stressful.

Steve_

Actually I find doing the mountains at night to be less stressful if there isn't snow on the road because you can't see them, you can only see the reflective strips so I don't feel quite as hemmed in, plus you're not as likely to get stuck behind a semi or an RV and if you do, overtaking isn't as difficult.

Steve_

I just don't agree on this one, not generally speaking anyway. I think some people suffer from an optical illusion when they first arrive in places outside the UK because of the exchange rate. It gives you the false impression that things are more expensive than they actually are.

For example I just went on Tesco.com and a litre of Tropicana OJ is £2.48. I bought a 3.49 litre jug a few days ago that was $8.99.

So 3.49 x 2.48 x 1.85 = $16.01 - 20% VAT = $12.81

I.e. a lot more in the UK.

Now you could say, ah, but buy one litre of OJ in Canada and the prices are more comparable. But this is the point, I have a whacking great fridge in Canada and in the UK it would be much smaller, so I have the advantage in Canada of buying in larger quantities. Moreover this means less trips to the store, which means less gas, which means further savings. And electricity is cheaper so there's no downside to the larger fridge.

But anyway, let me look at the price of one litre of OJ from the flyer on their website. 88 cents for one litre of "No Name" OJ from Loblaw's (aka Superstore, Box, No Frills), and Tesco "Everyday Value" OJ is 65p, 52p without VAT. Multiply by 1.85 = 96 cents.

So not much difference but slightly more expensive at Tesco.

Like I said, you need to sit down and actually work it all out carefully, several times on here people have mentioned things they think are more expensive and that's made me sit down with the supermarket receipts and work it out, definitely it's cheaper here, occasionally I find a few things more expensive here, such as chocolate - but that was an illegal price fixing scheme that has been cracked down on now.

Shard

All very well, but you're disregarding the hidden discounts Tesco (and other UK supers) now give. Not uncommon to have a save £5 on a £30 shop voucher, plus you get loyalty points which translate into good discounts elsewhere. On the whole, given the intense competition, UK supermarkets are cheaper. And better.

Steve_

Don't agree on that one either and my current dentist is miles better than the one I had in the UK (who was private).

Sally Redux

My husband was amazed by all the 'bogof's last time he was over there

Steve_

There are loyalty schemes in Canada as well. Coupons galore. (And bear in mind I took off the VAT - which you would have to pay, which automatically means 15% more than Alberta although admittedly most food items are zero-rated in both countries.)

Don't take my word for it, work it out. Regardless of who is right it will certainly be informative.

I was always very suspicious about the chocolate for example, and it turned out the wholesaler and the manufacturers were crooked.

Also you discover which goods are subject to higher tariffs. Most of this stuff moves in international trade so if the price differential is big, you should be suspicious.

Shard

Well who knows. Could be much of a muchness. As it happens, I typically pay £2 for a litre of Tropicana (not 2.48).

Editha

Tesco's prices, even online, vary according to where in the country you are living. I did say that we moved from Staffordshire, where food is significantly cheaper than the South-East.

I don't drink orange juice and if I did I wouldn't want a 3 litre pack sitting in a giant fridge. But, if I did want to buy in bulk in the UK, I'd get a 3 litre pack of Waitrose OJ from Ocado. That's mail order, so no trecking round a giant warehouse, or money spent on petrol, and the cost would be £4, which using the same rate of exchange that you are using, translates to $7.40 -- in other words almost exactly the same price per litre. But, since the oranges grow in California, I would expect orange juice to be one item that is cheaper this side of the pond.

Incidentally, there is no VAT on essential foods in the UK, so that part of your calculation was redundant.

I think your problem is that you didn't know how to shop around in the UK.