Hi,

This question is mainly to the people that have landed - you lucky s*ds!

I know all peoples perceptions, lifestyles and requirements are different but when you landed, in the first 12 months or so, was how much money you went through before getting settled down and a steady source of income coming in etc, far more than you expected? I'm not talking about buying a house, cars, applicances etc, purely living costs.

We will hopefully be moving to Fredericton, NB. We'll be able to buy a house, cars, what furniture, appliances etc we need and be mortgage and debt free. The problem is how much do we spend on a house and how much of a pot of spare cash do we keep.

Do we spend X or X+$100,000 and have less behind us? I'm budgeting for $35,000 per year to live with no mortgage or debts to pay. We won't be going out for lots of meals, to pubs, etc so that is really just utility bills, insurances, food, petrol, clothes etc.

Is 35k too little?

Yes you can live on $35,000 as disposable income. That is probably more than the average family who earns a heck of lot more but is paying a hefty mortgage, car payments etc.

My first year I lived on $15,000 (purely for living on - we had other huge expenses but they were building the infrastructure of the business, not living costs) but that was VERY tight! Thankfully my business has popped on the radar now so has brought in a decent little income this past year.

Keep a nice little safety net behind you is my advice! We have - just incase of having a rainy day.

Thanks for that. The main reason for the question is my wife said after this move she is not moving again so we've got the get the house right!

She wants to reap the reward (not moving again), but we (you jointly) have to take the responsibility of "getting it right."

If my husband heard about this he would invite you to the meetings of the organisation of which he is the president and founding member, AHA (Abused Husbands of Alberta).

How much cash as backup?


ALL OF IT!!!!!!

Sounds about right!

You could consider buying a house with a basement suite ,just in case
you all might want to rent out to paying tenant or have homestay student
that is here to learn English.A reputable homestay agency pays without any
problem. Just a thought of earning extra cash . Yoong

How much can you earn from a home stay student, and what level of support / service do you have to provide? Do you know if this is a Canada wide thing, or is it limited to certain provinces ? I like the idea of this as an income generator until firmly settled

Around 700.00 monthly including food. It is provincial wide,better choices
if you live near colleges that accept ESL students and easy public transits.
Check the following websites.www.eslincanada/homestay.html
www.canadahomestay.com
www.homestayguide.com
For more info. you can google search for homestay in canada.
Good luck, Yoong
Oops, the first one did not open the page,try www.eslincanada.com/

Thanks Yoong- I'll have a look into this