Originally Posted by milly_m (Post 12567073)

We've now been here three whole months so thought it was time for a little update! We now both have our PR cards (my husband's came about a week before the 'within 60 days' estimate, mine about a week after...) and our BC driving licences and service cards so we can use MSP. It's all official!

House and bills
We've been loving living in the West End - our street is nice and quiet but 5-10 mins walk from English Bay, Coal Harbour or the shops and restaurants of Denman/Davie/Robson. The apartment is a good size and was nice and cool in the summer heat, hopefully it retains heat OK in the winter! Lets just not talk about how much we have to pay in rent :lol: Buses run frequently in all directions so no problems getting around if we don't fancy walking. All our bills have been set up to come out of our bank account automatically now so much like the UK. No horrible bill surprises so far, BC Hydro has been around $45, rental insurance $35 and water/gas is covered by the owner. TV/internet with Telus is pretty steep - we haven't had a proper bill yet as we had bill credits for the first couple of months, but I reckon it'll be around $120/month. They did give us a huge TV for free as part of the deal, and my husband needs good reliable internet for work (and games hah) but our TV package sucks for that amount.

We have had some nasty vet bills but with a 11 and 15 year old cat it's to be expected - especially as our 15 year old seems to enjoy leaping up and down cabinetry like she's a kitten! We've got them registered with a nice local vet and just got insurance for them so hopefully any future dramas will be covered somewhat.

Our items being shipped from the UK arrived FINALLY a couple of weeks ago. A few shipping diversions and delays, and not amazing communication but hey it arrived. And mostly in one piece - all our china and glassware was fine, but one picture frame suffered smashed glass. Not sure we'll bother trying to claim for it tbh. I kind of regret shipping as much as we did. Some stuff I'd totally forgotten about and bought replacements here anyway as I needed it before the shipment arrived, other stuff I unpacked and just thought 'eh, I've lived without this for 3 months...' It was nice to see some familiar items though, our place definitely feels more like home.

Food and drink
We are still probably spending way too much on food, drink and eating out oops! We are so close to restaurants and bars they are all too tempting... but we're also learning where to get reasonable deals and we live right near a No Frills, Safeway and dollar stores. Just got to avoid going to the whole foods too often! We also like our craft beers which eats into that budget! Alcohol laws are interesting here and booze is expensive, but it's a choice we make to a) drink at all and b) not drink cheap shitty lager etc. so just got to deal with it.

Originally Posted by milly_m (Post 12567073)

Talking of without a car, it's kind of freeing not to have one! Not to mention keeps the monthly bills down... now we have our drivers licences we may sign up for the car share programs. I feel like I've forgotten how to drive though, maybe taking a local lesson wouldn't be a bad idea!

Originally Posted by Engineer_abroad (Post 12567346)

Buy a growler and get it filled directly from the brewery. This is by far the cheapest way to buy craft beer in the city and it also ensures the beer is fresh.

Originally Posted by MelVan (Post 12567610)

Thanks so much milly_m for this update. Very informative. It sounds almost exactly the same as what my spouse and I will be doing in the not too distant future. My spouse is keen on the West End, although we don't have to worry about cats or other pets!

Did you look much further afield than Downtown? We're interested in the West End and Coal Harbour there, but also Mount Pleasant, Fairview and maybe Kitsilano. I would really like to find something near the Magic Intersection (Cambie and 7th), but I know Vancouver housing is a total lottery!!!

Originally Posted by caretaker (Post 12567638)

I'll get a link to my friend's driving school and pass it on to you.

Originally Posted by milly_m (Post 12567661)

Thanks!

Originally Posted by caretaker (Post 12567762)

You're welcome; I pasted it into your karma.