TiggerLottie

I have to say, this is a very good post, its the question i think alot of people wanted to ask but daren't.

My husband and i with our 2 children and our dog moved 5 years ago from the UK to NZ and had about 500 quid...$1200 NZD

We had a job to come to, but had nothing, we only shipped our personal items and clothes..PC and pictures...most of our savings..was spent on air fares and Shipping

We got alot of stuff from the local recycle centre ( we love it...we are real recycle centre Junkies )

My hubby is currently in the i dont think we can afford to move to Canada stage...no house not much cash in bank either...but we are targeting to come over ( hopefully with Job Offer ) in Jun/July 09, and will not have alot of money as i see people on here dont either, but i have to say, as long as i find a house to rent, i would be happy to sleep on the floor and eat off paper plates...as far as im concerned i would be in Canada i really dont want anything else...i just want to work by little Butt of and make a new life.

We will probably have maybe $10k after flights n shipping...but i know we can do it as we did it here, and we live in the most expensive place in NZ, ive done alot of wage, food and other cost comparisons and apart from Auto Insurance i can assure you that Canada is cheaper ( for us anyway )

My theory is...you can do anything you put your mind too...and i look at it like the having kids theory...people say we not having kids as we cant afford them..but people that have them that think they cant afford them...make it work so why cant that also apply to moving countries

Anyway...good luck to everyone, if you want it bad enough you can do it !!!!

jackiewalters

Thanks Jericho, now I know I am not crazy! wish us luck

jackiewalters

Here here Tigerlottie!! christmas is nigh an more money to spend and at the back of my mind I am worrying about the payments we need to come such as, PR, TWP, Medicals, Police Checks, student visa (for kids), I know its going to be hard as we are watching our funds wittle away but it will be ok in the end and worth it, I am sure!! Good luck to you to Tigerlottie, even though I must admit I am alittle baffled as to why you would want to leave such a bueatiful country such as NZ.

TiggerLottie

Thanks Jackie

Main reasons for moving is, cannot afford to buy a house where we live, plus some family reasons...Hubby's mum wont visit...to far from UK she has never flown, also i cannot stand christmas here....its summer...and does not feel like christmas at all and it makes me unbearably sad

Also my Grandad was born in toronto so growning up learnt lots about canada, spent our honeymoon around Toronto and Niagara and loved it, was our first choice for emmigrating but somehow ended up in NZ...i know BIG MISS huh !
Been good for kids though, they were 8 and 10 when we moved now 13 and 15 so missed out on a lot of difficult years in UK, which here in NZ have been a breeze, i know i know i have alot of difficult years still to come, but i believe getting them out the UK and having them spend lot of their teenage years here have made them better people they are very smart and know what changes they have ahead of them moving countries again so that a big worry off my mind...

Plus knowing what is involved in emigrating, is a big help with planning this move, although i think if you plan too much then theres more things to go wrong, when we moved from UK to NZ it was kinda last minute, we got a job offer, booked shippers n flights and sorted dog out with vets other than that we didnt have a clue and things went well....so try not to worry, the canadians are very friendly and im sure they will pitch in and help should you need it...my grandad was the kindest man ive ever known so i speak from experience

This post has made me so much more positive now about moving with little cash or assets...it was worrying me a little, but now i know im not alone its made me feel....warm inside

jackiewalters

I take it your planning to move to Toronto or thereabouts? yes I feel alot better now I know I am not alone? I have a 16year old who is moving with me and a 9 and 11 year old, tell me how do your kids feel about the move?

tinytears

I have kids those sorts of ages, my kids are dead excited one minute and crying and throwing tantrums about going the next - especially the eldest but I think it is because she is already in high school and really desparately doesn't want to go back into "middle" school, she sees it as a real step backwards and we cannot convince her differently at all.

She'll get over it. If she wasn't hating us for the move, she'd be hating us for something else, she is at that age

TiggerLottie

Yes we looking at St Catharines/Niagara area,

The kids are looking forward to it, they feel suffocated here, shopping isnt too good and is very expensive, we are far away from the bigger malls and kids are at the age they want to go out with friends shopping, plus my daughter would like to be a Journalist and i feel she has much more opportunity to fullfil this in Canada.

They even let me cancel christmas this year, which i have hated doing but i explained to them that one christmas can help save us so much, and we will more than make up for it in Canada...proper tree...lots of pressies ...hopefully SNOW..
Dont get me wrong they have a whole bunch of pressies but nothing on the scale they usually get

Are your kids looking forward to it ?

TiggerLottie

I agree tiny, i just sit down with my kids and we look at the online shopping there, prices and range of things you can get and my kids actually really enjoy looking at realtor.ca and the houses and picking the bedrooms they want....it makes them realise what we could have over there that we cant get here...

Theres no right or wrong for preparing your kids, just maybe find their week spots....shopping...food...my son is looking forward to the donuts...over here in NZ the donuts are horrid....always covered in cinammon so i show him restuarants.....find your kids week spots and it might help you lol

tinytears

That is what we are doing - bribing them with the thought of timbits and we keep on showing them houses. We actually have a realtor who is sending over details of housing and I have to say that has been the biggest incentive for the kids, they are busy picking out rooms all the time and locating the houses on the maps and planning how far it is from the park or from the school etc.

St Catherines and Niagra is lovely, we were down there when we went in April. We will be further north hopefully but not too far away about an hour. We are looking at Richmond Hill/Vaughan or York regions.

christmasoompa

Sorry Tangram, have only just seen this - he's being sent to Canada on intra-company transfer, currently works in London at head office but they have two 'satellite' offices in Canada and he's going to head up the business out there. Hope that clarifies it.

moondevil

Jackie

We moved her just over 3mths ago..........
We sold everything that we had in the uk and just shipped boxes of stuff.
Havent a big pot of cash and bought stuff from liq centres and sales, also you learn the freecycle is a great place, with stuff that is real good

I am saving for our PR and also buying a house, the bank manager has advised us that we only need 5% deposit and i can get a real nice house of hubbys wages

The house we live in now is about half the size of what we lived in the uk, but you know we are actually happier here and feel totally settled.
Bringing over a big pot of cash doesnt mean that it will work out better or worse, that is down to the person.
Your hubby has a job, get bargain shopping and enjoy

i wish you all the luck
I have heard people arriving with acouple of hundred quid and they made it, so dont panic, you will do it

Karma sent

jackiewalters

Ahh Bless ya Moon devil, that Karma means a lot to me as we are alittle worried buy it still has not eased my drive to leave the UK to come over and atleast give it a try!!

Which part of Canada are you living in? (PS dont worry I am not a storker)

Caitilin

If its helping, I'm moving over with a few suitcases, half a pallet of goods, one pet snake and around 11000 CAD. The bare minimum required.

But i'll take a minimum wage job ot stretch funds if I have to and i'm going to make it work.

jackiewalters

Hi Caitlin

I have heard that you can share a pallet with regards to moving and to cut costs is this so?

moondevil

We are in lethbridge, alberta
Smaller than the larger places, so we don't have the larger stores, but we love it here..........
Although the snow is testing me at the moment