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Comparing wages to cost of living

Comparing wages to cost of living

Old Sep 7th 2011, 4:54 pm
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Default Comparing wages to cost of living

Hi all. We are looking to emigrate to Ontario, and I am trying to get an understanding of wages versus cost of living. This is probably a simple question, but the more I think about it the more I get complexed.
Since the exchange rate changes, it is difficult to understand real world wage comparisons.
For example, if I got offered a job on $60kCAD, at current exchange rate ($1.6CAD to £1) that is equivalent to £40k. If the exchange rate is $2, that changes to £30k.
Obviously,when living there you're wages don't change with the exchange rate.
So, how do I realistically decide if I am going to be better off? I'd hate to go through all the motions of moving, only to get sorted with a house etc and find I have no more spare money than I have now!! Defeats the object of emmigrating in the first place.

I have compared most outgoings (houses, house tax, energy, petrol, cars, clothes, electrical, etc), but only by converting to £. But when you live somewhere this becomes irrelevant, and cost of living is linked to wages.
Not sure if I'm explaining this clearly enough....
I guess one way is to look soley at $CAD. Work out total outgoings, then look at possible wages and see how much is left. Still not that easy as need to accurately get outgoings, but also have an understanding of how much the reminder is really worth. For example, how far does $500CAD go these days?

Can any of you left me know what kind of wages give a decent standard of living, with a $100kCAD mortgage, 2 $5kCAD cars, 2 kids, etc.

I would say that in the UK if you are earning £40k you should be relatively well off, as long as you don't live in central London or buy a brand new Porsche!!
Apologies if this sounds like a simple question, but like I said earlier, be a disaster to have no more spare money left over for holidays etc..
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Old Sep 7th 2011, 4:55 pm
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Default Re: Comparing wages to cost of living

Originally Posted by marcwales
Hi all. We are looking to emigrate to Ontario, and I am trying to get an understanding of wages versus cost of living. This is probably a simple question,
I wish it was...
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Old Sep 7th 2011, 5:04 pm
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Default Re: Comparing wages to cost of living

Originally Posted by marcwales
So, how do I realistically decide if I am going to be better off?
Realistically you need to find out what the going rate is for whatever it is you intend to do here because what it is paid in the UK may or may not be relevant here, its a different job market after all; Then you need to realistically figure out if that is going to cover the kind of lifestyle you want to have, and them you have to figure out whether there is a practical immigration route to get you into Canada...



Can any of you left me know what kind of wages give a decent standard of living, with a $100kCAD mortgage, 2 $5kCAD cars, 2 kids, etc.
How much capital are you bringing? More importantly what is a decent standard of living, everyone has a different idea on that...



I would say that in the UK if you are earning £40k you should be relatively well off, as long as you don't live in central London or buy a brand new Porsche!!
Apologies if this sounds like a simple question, but like I said earlier, be a disaster to have no more spare money left over for holidays etc..
Dont forget small ticket items like retirement funds and sending the 2 kids to college either... you wont likely have enough vacation time to actually go somewhere on vacation anyway

Last edited by iaink; Sep 7th 2011 at 5:06 pm.
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Old Sep 7th 2011, 5:07 pm
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Default Re: Comparing wages to cost of living

$500 gets you a 37" telly, or a season of skiing or skating for the kids... Or half a shed, or half way to the UK by air...



The cost of living thing unfortunately varies across the country, its location dependent, and even within a particular location my heating bills might be three times that of someone in a brand new high spec insulated house... Its just really hard to pin the specifics down.

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Old Sep 7th 2011, 5:15 pm
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Default Re: Comparing wages to cost of living

Originally Posted by marcwales
So, how do I realistically decide if I am going to be better off? I'd hate to go through all the motions of moving, only to get sorted with a house etc and find I have no more spare money than I have now!! Defeats the object of emmigrating in the first place.
If the object of emigrating is to be significantly materially ahead of where you are in the UK, then you will likely be disappointed. That's a simplistic answer as what you can/will earn will depend upon your skills, luck, job market, where you live etc. Generally though cost of living evens out the same as in the UK. Same sh1t, different bucket and all that.

You need to research the going salary for your job/location, then further research cost of living. There have been gazillions of threads on this subject. Only you can then weigh up how your lifestyle in UK might translate to a lifestyle in Canada.

Oh yes, and vacations, unless they involve driving rather than flying, will likely be more expensive here. No cheap flights or ferry to France! But that's ok, you will only get 2-3 weeks vacation to fund anyway so probably not a worry.

Last edited by Atlantic Xpat; Sep 7th 2011 at 5:23 pm.
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Old Sep 7th 2011, 5:21 pm
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Default Re: Comparing wages to cost of living

You should make yourself a list of items, for example:

TV, Microwave, latest release on DVD, pair of jeans, box of cornflakes, 4 pint bottle of milk, bottle of wine, xBox, movie ticket etc... as wide a range as possible, big and small and find out what percentage of your wage they would take up in the UK.

Find out what wage you could expect in Canada and do the same.

It's difficult to get an exact comparison and it depends on what your like. A friend in Calgary told me that if you like beef your Sunday lunch will be relatively cheap because it's in plentiful supply, but if you like lamb then it will cost a fortune. You will see prices that will make your eyes pop out, and some that you will think are dirt cheap.

My friend thinks that overall his lifestyle is cheaper in Canada than it was in West Yorkshire.

Chris
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Old Sep 7th 2011, 5:34 pm
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Default Re: Comparing wages to cost of living

Originally Posted by marcwales
Hi all. We are looking to emigrate to Ontario, and I am trying to get an understanding of wages versus cost of living. This is probably a simple question, but the more I think about it the more I get complexed.
Since the exchange rate changes, it is difficult to understand real world wage comparisons.
For example, if I got offered a job on $60kCAD, at current exchange rate ($1.6CAD to £1) that is equivalent to £40k. If the exchange rate is $2, that changes to £30k.
Obviously,when living there you're wages don't change with the exchange rate.
So, how do I realistically decide if I am going to be better off? I'd hate to go through all the motions of moving, only to get sorted with a house etc and find I have no more spare money than I have now!! Defeats the object of emmigrating in the first place.

I have compared most outgoings (houses, house tax, energy, petrol, cars, clothes, electrical, etc), but only by converting to £. But when you live somewhere this becomes irrelevant, and cost of living is linked to wages.
Not sure if I'm explaining this clearly enough....
I guess one way is to look soley at $CAD. Work out total outgoings, then look at possible wages and see how much is left. Still not that easy as need to accurately get outgoings, but also have an understanding of how much the reminder is really worth. For example, how far does $500CAD go these days?

Can any of you left me know what kind of wages give a decent standard of living, with a $100kCAD mortgage, 2 $5kCAD cars, 2 kids, etc.

I would say that in the UK if you are earning £40k you should be relatively well off, as long as you don't live in central London or buy a brand new Porsche!!
Apologies if this sounds like a simple question, but like I said earlier, be a disaster to have no more spare money left over for holidays etc..
I agree it is a very complicated question, but there are some comparisons that can be made.

When we moved to Alberta from Staffordshire in '06, the first thing that struck us was how expensive food was. I go back to the UK for several weeks each year, and so I'm sure food is still cheaper in the UK than it is here. However, "here" is Alberta, it might be different elsewhere in Canada.

I also think that clothing is also more expensive in Canada than the UK. You can do a comparison fairly easily on websites. Try comparing Sears Canada prices with M&S, for example. However, bear in mind that Canadian stores tend to offer discounts on all goods all year round, so the quoted price is rarely what you'll actually have to pay.

Banking is also more expensive, but the highly regulated banking system is the main reason Canada has come through the recession better than most countries.

You'll pay a lot less than the UK for petrol, gas and electricity, but probably need more fuel to heat your home, and if you adopt the N.American lifestyle, you'll need more to run your central AC, pickup-truck and ginormous RV.

You'll probably pay less for your new computer in Canada, but more for your mobile phone contract. Your kitchen white goods will cost more.

I think that eating out and entertainment are roughly the same, but an acquaintance who has just spent a couple of months touring western Canada with her family, was shocked by the prices everywhere.

You will be able to afford a much bigger house -- one of the main attractions of emigrating to Canada.

Tax and benefits are complicated because there are provincial and federal taxes, and the health system is only partly free. Overall, we've found income tax around the same as the UK. You need some health insurance, but if you are in a regular job, it will likely be an employee benefit. The state pension in Canada is more generous than the UK's, but the welfare safety net is less comprehensive, so you should consider what you'll do if you become unemployed, or have long-term health problems.

Sales tax (GST) is lower than VAT, but it doesn't seem to make much difference to prices. Prices quoted in shops are without GST, whereas UK prices always include the VAT, so Canadian goods look cheaper than they really are.

Going by exchange rates, my husband got a 40% pay rise by moving to Canada. However, taking into account the cost of living, we were no better off. Five years of inflation on, we have less disposable income each month than we had in the UK.

I hope that helps.
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Old Sep 7th 2011, 5:45 pm
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Default Re: Comparing wages to cost of living

Originally Posted by marcwales
So, how do I realistically decide if I am going to be better off? I'd hate to go through all the motions of moving, only to get sorted with a house etc and find I have no more spare money than I have now!! Defeats the object of emmigrating in the first place.
Not sure emigrating to be financially better off is most peoples motivation. It was not ours for sure. If being financially better off is important, immigration may not be the best thing, you may be disappointed.

For the first few years here I don't think we were materially better off, maybe worse off monetarily, I had a blast though, took a pay cut to do some fun jobs. Saw lots of Canada, met some great people.

Reality kicked in eventually and I had to go back to a 'real job' to support my families material needs. Fortunately my old employer thought I was quite good at my job and took me back.

Personally I would not even bother to try and compare prices and wages, you are going to become more perplexed than you are now. Cost of living also varies in Canada by where you live, not just the country. Cities have more expensive real estate, often lower cost of goods and services, whereas remote areas have lower real estate costs, higher cost of goods and services because of their location.

If you think you could live on £40k now where you are, chances are you could do this in Canada.

My idea of a reasonable standard of living now, is very different to what it was 20 years ago.

Last edited by Aviator; Sep 7th 2011 at 5:50 pm.
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Old Sep 7th 2011, 5:48 pm
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Default Re: Comparing wages to cost of living

Originally Posted by chrisparr
. A friend in Calgary told me that if you like beef your Sunday lunch will be relatively cheap because it's in plentiful supply, but if you like lamb then it will cost a fortune.
And this example illustrates how regional prices can be. I can buy a whole spring lamb, butchered and ready to freeze for $150.
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Old Sep 7th 2011, 5:49 pm
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Default Re: Comparing wages to cost of living

Originally Posted by The Aviator
Reality kicked in eventually and I had to go back to a 'real job' to support my families material needs. Fortunately my old employer thought I was quite good at my job and took me back.
I was watching michael moores capitalism... yesterday. He created the impression that bus drivers such as yourself got paid a pittance nowadays, US pilots on $20k a year, doing second jobs or selling plasma to make ends meet...

is there no truth to that?


BTW; I did come for the money, but its not why I stay here. Anyone coming here with kids owes it to their family to do all the due dilligence.

Im general terms if you can find someone to pay you $75k before tax, then in most of the country you should be living OK, Less than that and I would consider it a bit dicey. Obviously some (many) are OK on less than that, some places would require more, and everyones tastes and requirements will be different too.

Last edited by iaink; Sep 7th 2011 at 5:53 pm.
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Old Sep 7th 2011, 5:51 pm
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Default Re: Comparing wages to cost of living

Originally Posted by R I C H
And this example illustrates how regional prices can be. I can buy a whole spring lamb, butchered and ready to freeze for $150.
$125 from our guy in MB
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Old Sep 7th 2011, 5:55 pm
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Default Re: Comparing wages to cost of living

Originally Posted by iaink
I was watching michael moores capitalism... yesterday. He created the impression that bus drivers such as yourself got paid a pittance nowadays, US pilots on $20k a year, doing second jobs or selling plasma to make ends meet...

is there no truth to that?


BTW; I did come for the money, but its not why I stay here.
A lot of truth in some instances. Often happens because aviators will fly for free if they have to just to fly. Some companies take advantage of this. Price pressure is on many carriers to keep fares low, as people complain about fares being too expensive. Believe me you really want the guy (or gal) up front to have had a goods nights sleep!

With major carriers senior Captains can earn up to $200k and some corporate will pay more, I also know of small carriers paying minimum wage to new hires.
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Old Sep 7th 2011, 5:57 pm
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Default Re: Comparing wages to cost of living

Originally Posted by Gremmie
$125 from our guy in MB
Weight dependent, isn't it - I'm charged $3 per lb
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Old Sep 7th 2011, 5:59 pm
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Default Re: Comparing wages to cost of living

Originally Posted by R I C H
And this example illustrates how regional prices can be. I can buy a whole spring lamb, butchered and ready to freeze for $150.
Man, can you buy one and Fedex it to me? It'd be cheaper than buying here....
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Old Sep 7th 2011, 5:59 pm
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Default Re: Comparing wages to cost of living

Originally Posted by iaink
I was watching michael moores capitalism... yesterday. He created the impression that bus drivers such as yourself got paid a pittance nowadays, US pilots on $20k a year, doing second jobs or selling plasma to make ends meet...

is there no truth to that?


BTW; I did come for the money, but its not why I stay here. Anyone coming here with kids owes it to their family to do all the due dilligence.

Im general terms if you can find someone to pay you $75k before tax, then in most of the country you should be living OK, Less than that and I would consider it a bit dicey. Obviously some (many) are OK on less than that, some places would require more, and everyones tastes and requirements will be different too.
Bear in mind too, that average wages in Canada are only around the $50,000 mark.
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