manghams

WOW Thanks for that; no candy or cookies for my kids.

sam/stu

Car insurance - dearer!
Hydro (leccy) - slightly dearer!
Water - dearer, we are on a meter now so down to us!
Gas - v.much dearer!
TV/Internet/Telephone - v.good value considering my teenager in on the phone/net -24/7 - ROGERS! Local calls free and international/long distance in Canada only 5c per minute.
Cell phone - HOW MUCH!!
Community charge - again dearer considering what we get for our money!
Mortgage - what mortgage? Thanks to the exchange rate we got!
Grocery shopping - slightly cheaper but absolutely no choice considering what I had in Tesco/Asda
Beer/wine/alcohol - much larger than in the UK!
Petrol - much cheaper but putting in twice as much now in my 4.3L !
Family size bag of twiglets - 99p Tesco, here $4.99 and stale!
Standard of living and freedom for the kids - PRICELESS!
Wages - now earning a little more than I did in the UK after 18 months.

Tiaribbon

Completely agree with this comment.

I've been living here in Ontario since 2004 and I would say that most things are more expensive than back in the UK, however some things are about the same price, and occasionally you find some things cheaper but not that often.

In my time here, I've found that if you just switch the £ sign for $ sign then this is a more accurate measurement of cost - forget about the exchange rate, that means absolutely nothing once you are earning in $'s.

Hydro is expensive here - much more than in England and we get it slightly cheaper because we are on farm-rates - still way more than in England though.

Vehicle insurance - about the same (ours is not expensive even thought it is not linked to our farm)

Groceries - more expensive here in Canada.

Property taxes - ours are cheaper because we have a farm. If we didn't get the farm subsidy then these taxes would be much more expensive than in the UK for a comparable property.

Telephone costs - way more expensive here. (We now use skype for any calls out of area and these are really cheap).

Contract Cellphone - much more expensive here.

I also drive far less miles here than in the UK so probably don't spend as much on gas (petrol) however the cost per litre is comparable.

Once you even things out; I'd say it's more expensive for us to live here in Canada but we make use of being close to the US border so this helps in our costs somewhat (sad to say it - would much rather spend in CDN$'s, but needs must!).

John_Wilson

The cost per litre is comparable? Last time I checked, petrol in the UK cost about twice as much as Canada.

Steve_P

You apparently missed the qualifying statement.

John_Wilson

What were you paying in England per kWh? I paid 12p per kWh in England.

Electricity in BC costs $0.0615 per kWh + GST (6%) = $0.06519 per kWh

A quick currency conversion says that $0.06519 CDN = 3.3p per kWh

I've read a few times that Canada has some of the cheapest electricity anywhere in the world, and you're paying "much more than in England"?

John_Wilson

I think that qualifying statement is wrong. The exchange rate does matter. Ignore earnings comparisons when talking about "expensive" and "cheaper"
People should post prices of things.

It's already been said that what is expensive or cheap to one person, might seem totally different to someone else. It's totally subjective and pointless.

Tiaribbon

John_Wilson;

The exchange rate does not mean a thing to me. Having lived here for 3 years it is far more about buying power. My earnings in the UK were about £50,000. My earnings here in Canada are about $50,000. Same figure, therefore gas (petrol) is 90+p per litre in England and here it is 90+cents per litre. Vehicles are of a comparable price by simply changing the £ to $. House prices (where I live) are comparable by doing the same, as are many of the day to day costs, however where some of these are concerned, although comparable prices, I would definitely say they are more here in Canada. I lived nicely on my earnings in England - I don't live well here in Ontario.

I used to think the same as you and the many others who don't/haven't lived here for any length of time - I used to convert, however I had good reason to do this as for some time I was still taking an income from England, therefore the exchange rate actually did have a bearing on what I was spending. Since earning in solely CDN $'s this is certainly no longer the case.

John_Wilson

Don't you see how that only applies to you though? I assume you're posting info for the purpose of helping other people, but the info you're posting doesn't help anyone but you, because you're just posting your thoughts based on your own financial situation. Everyone has a different income. Using the terms "expensive" and "cheaper" is a poor way of measuring whether things actually cost more or less between two countries.

dingbat

Anyone care to start a poll:

"Is John Wilson related to Ocean MDX and is the exchange rate conundrum the new block heater issue ?"

BTW: I find most things more expensive than the UK.

Tiaribbon

LOL @ Dingbat . Nice to see you by the way - hope all is well with you.

John Wilson; yes your working outs, using the exchange rate, would make complete sense if someone had been earning £50,000 in the UK and was now earning $100,000 in Canada - then they could feasibly live far better here in Canada than they did in the UK; however the exact same could be said if they were earning £50,000 in the UK and then were offered another job in the UK where they earned £100,000.

As I say, for me (and I suspect many others who have lived here for some time may think the same in that), the buying power has a far greater impact than the exchange rate.

John_Wilson

Your buying power is only relevant to you though. Whatever your financial situation is, that's your financial situation. It doesn't apply to anyone but you.

You're posting subjective information based on your situation. Which is basically misinformation for everyone else. So it doesn't help anyone else, it just confuses everyone else.

I make much more money in Canada than I did in the UK, but it wouldn't be useful information if I posted on the forum saying "EVERYTHING IN CANADA IS SOOOOO CHEAP!!!"

Instead, the best (and most helpful) thing to do is post actual prices of things, and let other people decide for themselves if they think it's cheap or expensive.

Tiaribbon

John Wilson;

Whatever. I made my comments about Buying Power Vs Exchange Rate, you objected - I clarified my comments, you objected - fine; absolutely no point in me re-clarifying my comments.

I agree with you on one point; people will certainly make up their own minds once they are living here and they will post their thoughts on here, like they have done for many years.

Oh and there never have been that many people on here who say Canada is soooo cheap; generally only newcomers or holiday makers say that.

John_Wilson

Because they don't know what they're talking about, right? Sounds like you're coyly trying to suggest that I don't know what I'm talking about because you think I'm fresh off the boat. Cute.

So why don't we actually help people by posting some actual prices. For example, what do you pay for hydro (per kWh) where you live?

dbd33

I don't know if you're fresh off the boat but Tia's way of looking at things is certainly more realistic than comparing prices based on the exchange rate du jour.

Power here, btw, is sold on a sliding scale, the first n units costs n dollars, then the rate changes and, in any case, most of the bill is fixed charges (amortization for the sails on the boat of the former boss of Hydro, things like that) so the rate per volume is a bit irrelevant. Our fixed cost for supply is about $250/month, the cost for power consumed about $30. So, the overall rate per cubic wossname varies massively according to use.