Souvy

Are you south of Lakeshore, by any chance?

HGerchikov

No - just north of Lakeshore, but only a few mins walk from the Lake, on a decent sized lot in SE Oakville. The value is mostly in the land.

Souvy

That makes more sense. You have a decent-sized plot of land in probably the most expensive bit of one of the most expensive towns in Canada. You pay high property taxes. Go figure.

HGerchikov

Not telling me anything I don't know here! (I work in real estate). If you remember I just included it in the list of household expenses without comment. It is something that the OP should be aware of though if he chooses one of these neighbourhoods without realising the potential monthly cost.

iaink

Someone here (probably dbd?) pointed out that those $$$$$$$$ houses on the lakefront suffer from the stink of all the algae decaying at some point in the year too. Bargain

HGerchikov

That only affects the area immediately on the lakeshore, within a couple of hundred yards - no more. But it can be really bad!

Simon Legree

Until 2001 I lived in the Lakeshore and Winston Churchill area, not on the lake, maybe 100 or 150 meters from it, and you could indeed get a whiff of it at times. When I left I was paying almost $6,000 in taxes and that's almost 11 years ago !

dbd33

Not me. I lived happily in the Beach, another stinky spot. I'd draw the line at living along the Humber though, that's really Bangaloric.

headingwest

Prop tax 200
car Ins 100
House/Med ins/dentist/prescriptions etc 150
TV/Int 100
Food 1200
Cloth 500
petrol 250
House Gas Elect 300
H2o sewage stuff 100
Tatt 500/kids stuff

All of these are "ish"at the end of our spending past 2-mos. family of 4 in a new build (2004) 1900ish sq foot house in calgary (frankly its a lot of space, 1500 would have been more than ample). children 8 & 4, Food is superstore http://www.realcanadiansuperstore.ca
which is broadly similar to any large superstore, we were ASDA shoppers before. food includes a couple trips to nandos type places but we don't eat out that much 2x/mos. car is newer people carrier. Bare bones TV package as don't really watch much, rather be doing stuff with family or outside.

Run one car, don't need one for commuting, ride my mt bike but lots of trips to mountains and K-country in car to do our bit for global warming. Bought lots of winter clothing recently and children keep growing. I get home and walk around the house turning off all the lights and turning down heat, wife and kids promptly turn them back on/up.

I am a bad impulse buyer when food shopping, food also includes stuff you would normnally get from asda, washing up stuff, laundry detergent etc. No mortgage or car payment so add to that. To live and do nothing else around $3k/mos at a bare minimum. To have fun more like 4+
also doesn't include upkeep on house, renos, pension/RRSP, life ins

You may find some more some less.

Souvy

Sorry, I didn't spot your thingy at the bottom.

Out of curiosity, and I imagine you will know, what are the row houses on Oakdale and Onslow going for these days?

HGerchikov

Around the $300-320k mark, depending on condition. One of my clients bought a 3+2 bed bungalow on Oakdale earlier this year for $370k

Souvy

Still at the lower end of the market but 30-40% more than seven years ago and 70% higher than eight years ago.

We had one of them for about 18 months. The neighbours were very surprised at what we got for it. I'm still not sure how we made such a large percentage profit in such a short space of time.

Woodcutter

[QUOTE=iainpgn;9776276]Hey guys, just doing my research and looking at some average costs in Canada and each provence. Could anyone help with;

Monthly grocery shop for a family of 4?

Average cost to run a family car/month?

Average house hold bills and rent for a 4-5 bed house?

Thanks for all your help guys

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------We are a family of four in Ontario so here are some ballpark figures

Monthly grocery Bill probably $600-$700 per month but also bulk buy when offers are on as they make a huge difference and can be 33% of normal cost

Household bills for a 4 bed home $900 per month including taxes, fuel, water and land line and internet I don't have cable now I stream all my UK and US TV

Cost of car $400 per month for gas and insurance not including any maintenance and repairs

Probably costs me to live without my mortgage $2000 per month to live without anything else minimum

Woodcutter

Boy d

I agree, we are in south surrey and pay just over 2 k a year on a 630 k house (2600 sq feet).

Here are some other bills:

telly, tinternet and phone.....160 a month
car insurance (acura tsx)......100 a month ish (mine is a company car so costs nowt)
groceries/home supplies for two adults who also dont really shop all that smart.....600???
booze.....not much, Mrs dont drink, i rarely do, but the local has canadian at about 5 bucks a pint with taxes in
gas and electric averaged at about 150 a month over the year
home insurance about 900 a year
As noted property tax around 2 k a year

My wages are a lot higher than the UK, so for me I am a fair bit better off. As for being better here vs Blighty....lots of variables...where you are going from and where to...what you do for a living....and lifestyle choices....

Boy d

that us we are down by the peace arch crossing...city lot, 2600 sq feet (with basement) and only pay 2 k ish....although I suspect that given it's a new build it will go up next year (taxes are likely pro-rated from when it was an undeveloped lot).

Out condo in kits was only 80 bucks a month and our condo on the north shore was about 1700 a year.

Loving the area though....suprised that we took to the burbs so easily after close to 20 years, with 18 downtown and 2 on the north shore