snowhugs

Here is the thing , Hubbie and I and 2 kids (4 and 6) have been planning to move to Canada for almost 3 years.

We were all set to go and even sold house when Calgary fell through due to recession. ( freeze on int. recruitment) We were planning to go on my "back" as I am a nurse. got all papers sorted etc..... anyway we then focused on Ontario but they require a degree, which I dont have, so we then started looking towards BC.

Here is the question... could we survive on a nurses salary for about one year (this is assuming it will take that long for hubbie to get a job in current climate. ).

Full time this should be about 36000 pounds a year. We would be renting in the begining, around 1800 CD, hoping to find somewhere in coquitlam or port moody.

My overberaing dutch family think not, and feel we are making the biggest mistake of our lives... I find it difficult to give up on the dream... Are they right?? would we be overstreching?

We have been looking at "cost of living " threads and feel we could do it, but again, maybe we looking through very pink glassess!!

Finally just for info.. hubbie does IT but prepared to do anything ie; bar work , retail etc

I really value or your opinions, as nobody else really understands the drive we feel to get over there.

snowshoveller

it really depends on how you like to live, and whether you have a dollop of equity.

my feeling(based on cost of living in wpg) is that it will be a struggle. but then if you live on cheap brand food (you know, packed full of chemicals and genetically modified!) you might be ok. you will have to use any equity you have to set you up (cars, furniture etc). I am told that BC is relatively more expensive to live than MB, which I would say all is is about the same as the UK.

We found it a bit tight on $100k CAD, with two kids and a penchant for starbucks

Cookie

You are quoting your wages in GBP (I am assuming it wasn't a typo) so you need to quote a BC nurses salary to give a better idea.

airbornesapper

For what it's worth and as a comparison:

75% of Canadian Forces members earn under 60K per annum....very similar to a 1st year RN.

Each person/family is different, some manage to buy a house/mini home etc on that wage, other's need to use a food bank to make it through.

I have family members living here in NB (hard workers) with two incomes, that I know do not make 50K combined; they live, but I know it is not pretty.

As has been said, a lot depends on where and how you plan to live but it can be done. But I would buy a nice mini home myself before I gave anyone 1800 bucks a month for rent.

My 6 cents...

All the very best..........

Aviator

Listen to yourselves, not anyone else. You know your lifestyle and what you can accept. At times we did it for a lot less than that, for quite a long time. That is until I came back to the real world and decided to get a proper job. It can be done with a little frugality and sacrifice.

JonboyE

I agree with The Aviator. It is tight, but doable. I would not want to try and bring up family on $60,000 a year but if it is a means to an end then it will get you by for a while. You quoted £36,000 a year. That approximates to a base level salary for a nurse. Most nurses earn more. Depending on your specialty and willingness to work you can earn quite a bit more. Even at base salary, if your OH can get a job with an average wage (say $50,000) then you will have a combined after-tax income of over $7,000 a month. This is comfortable enough if childcare is not a problem.

The cost of living in Vancouver is pretty much on a par with London. Some things are more expensive, some cheaper. When we came over the exchange rate was 2.35 and most things seemed cheaper. Not at today's rate I guess. Like London, the one thing that is really expensive is buying property. This will be out of the question until your OH gets a job. However, renting is still reasonably affordable. You should find something decent for $1,800. You should easily find a 3 bed townhome (attached housing) for that, and with a bit more effort there are detached houses to be had for that price.

JonboyE

Just one word of warning. You are going to have to budget pretty carefully until OH gets work. Think about what you will bring with you in goods and cash. Rentals are unfurnished. It can cost a lot to furnish a house. Even people who bring a household of furniture with them find the first month or so to be very expensive. Things like small appliances are cheap in Canada compared to Europe but even so, when you have to buy them all at once, it soon mounts up. In the first few weeks you don't know where to go to get good value for your money.

I said $60,000 is doable as a get by income but it leaves little to spare.

snowhugs

thanks everyone , thats good to know, we currently survive happily on 4500 CAD, this is after tax but before house rent!!! we are very careful with money , no extreme expenses or gadgets in house. We rarely drink and dont smoke so that cuts down on costs too... we spend most of our money on kids sports etc.

I think I would earn a fair wage as a nurse having done some more research today it seems with overtime I could earn approx 70,000CAD.

keep it coming.....

snowhugs

oops sorry thats 4500 CAD a month!!

airbornesapper

Not sure what the pair of you are agreeing with....the OP came looking for opinion/advice/what have you; the main point of the website.

Everyone has a different spin based on their own experience.

At the end of the day, and after myriads of your own research, you make your own bed...then go lie in it.

Simple as that.

BristolUK

My equity allowed me to buy the family home, furnish it, buy a rental property for extra income and keep some capital back. So we had plenty to fall back on should the need arise.

Income wise there were originally four of us and while the 2 kids were under 18 we never had as much as $22,000 coming in. This was Net and included Child Benefits.

As homeowners with no mortgage we still pay $300 a month for certain house expenses that tenants don't pay. So for the $1800 rent you mention, we'd need another $1500 a month. Or $18000 a year.

So to have lived our modest lifestyle and pay $1800 a month rent our Net Income would have needed to have been $40k.

Heating costs would be very different. Ours are getting on for $3000 a year.

We don't run a car.

Perhaps these details give you some idea.

The4BellsLondon

Which part of BC are you heading for??

kamikaze

somewhere in coquitlam or port moody.

You should read the post......

The4BellsLondon

whoopsy sorry - missed that bit - my bad

kamikaze

you are forgiven
The question is can she live in those areas with that kind of income ?