Greenhill

Not sure if it's the age, but more about the rebuild costs and matching the original materials and specs.

Every time I've gone for a quote on this place, I always get the usual question "how much original plaster work?" and I always say "right, there is a lot but if there's a total loss I want gyproc instead". They say "but if we don't replace to the original specification then you might sue us" to which I reply "well, so and so gave me a quote to replace to my specification..can you not do better?"...this has worked for me so far and reduced the quotes by quite a bit each time.

val50

we've been in NS 4 years now, so the prices we pay are less than we initially did when we first arrived. Have made no claims on house or car insurance in that time.

Silverdragon102

Our house is approx 3000sqft not including basement and we have been told that it all goes on the age of the house and the cost of rebuild hence so expensive.

Tangram

That's what I thought.

PGarner

Ouch. We are back in Halifax for a couple of days now for a quick reccie before going home. If these numbers bear out, there is no way we can afford to move. We would be worse off than in the UK.

It looks (roughly) like we would need to get $4k + after taxes to live to a reasonable standard. Does that sound about right ?

Thanks for all the replies so far. Any other comments welcome.

P&C

Paul Wildy

For what it's worth I think Val's figures are fairly accurate. However heating cost depends on your house - people I know who have heat pumps or wood burners and well insulated houses spend close to $1500 per year for heating.

Property tax (council tax) is based on the house value so for a less expensive house you would pay less obviously.

I can't comment on your wage without knowing more about the job. But the cost of living isnt cheap in Halifax so it's possible you need to try asking for more money.

jericho

I seriously cannot believe you're paying $650 a month on utilities. I've been going mental at my gas bill over the winter ($500+ p/month), and all my colleagues were flabbergasted. The most they pay for gas is $150 p/month. Turns out I was looked in to a ridiculously high gas price ($11.19 per Gj)

Why is it so much more expensive in NS compared to AB??
With a change of gas supplier I'll be paying
Gas $150 p/month (tops)
Water $70 ish p/month
Electricity $90 p/month

Deva

Since coming to Canada in 2005 I have lived in Wolfville NS and now Ottawa. My numbers are:

Wolfville
3 bedroom, 1500 sq ft
Heat - primarily wood but also some oil and electric
Hot water - electric
Oil - $45/month
Wood - $50/month
Electric - $170/month
Water - $35/month

Ottawa
4 bedroom, 2500 sq ft
Heat - primarily gas but also some electric
Hot water - gas
Gas - $120/month
Electric - $90/month
Water - $55/month

We were stung for car insurance in the first year (approx. $225/month for VW Golf) but this came down to $85/month once we found an insurer that recognised our UK no claims history.

I've been pleasantly surprised with the cost in Ottawa given the size of the house and the severity of the winters. It helps that unlike some of our friends here we don't heat it to t-shirt temperature in the winter and we prefer fans to air con. Ottawa is very hot and humid in the summer and some people pay a fortune to cool their house.

val50

well if you don't believe me, I'm happy to scan and send you copies of our recent bills. In fact Scotia Fuel, who we get our oil from, wanted to put the monthly bill up even more. It's only when we phoned them and asked why that they backed down and we settled on the amount we now pay - it's spread out over the year so we don't get hit with bigger bills in winter.
One of the reasons our electricity bill is so high is because where we live in Bedford, we are not allowed to hang washing outside to dry, so we have to use a dryer all the time. I hate this but there is nothing we can do about it.
It's like a number of us have been saying for a long time, if you are living close to Halifax, then NS is not a cheap option.
My husband's salary almost doubled what it was when we moved there, but I can honestly say we are not that much better off financially, especially once you take into account the high rate of tax here.

SAW 04

The benefit of lying is what??

Vals figures are pretty much identical to ours.

jericho

I'm not saying she was lying- merely expressing my suprise.

Although I still cannot understand the price difference. Even Deva, who lives in NS also, pays nothing in comparison to you.

We'd like to move to NS at some point in the future, hence my interest.

AmyDavid

It just depends on where you live (ie closer to Halifax the more you pay, further out is cheaper) and what price you bought your house for, how big your house is (heating wise), whether your on a well and septic, or on mains water etc etc.

Val's list of prices are very typical for living in Halifax - which is why I had to move out otherwise I would be living in my tent in Val's back garden now (sneakily eating her raspberries :0) )

jericho

Why would that be? Would have expected the opposite, to be honest.

Deva

Lived in NS. I'm not there now.

Living costs are so dependent on house size/design and lifestyle. I just wanted to show that you can live in NS (and Ottawa) for less than the costs that were mentioned, as they seemed to be shocking some potential ex-pats.

markw97

My numbers for living in rural nova scotia are:

3 bedroom, 1400 sq ft
Heat - primarily wood but also some oil
Hot water - electric
Oil - $30/month
Wood - Free. Cut it myself
Electric - $130/month
Water - $0 Well and Septic
Council tax: $900 per year
House Insurance: $1000 per year
Car Insurance: $1300 (1 car and 1 truck)

Its a lot cheaper outside of HRM.
Mark