Hi folks we are looking at moving to Saskatchewan and was just wondering how much we would be paying per month for bills and shopping?



PLEASE HELP US

Well, its really hard to say. My power bill is $121 a month, equalized and my energy is $183 equalized. I have a new high efficiency furnace but I also have a 16 x 32 pool that I heat from maybe June 15 to September 15. I don't have air conditioning.

I have a four level split house - about 1,700 sq. ft. with a huge yard, and the taxes are about $2,800 a year.

My water bill is $72 a month equalized, but that is probably due to the fact that I had to fill my pool twice last year. It will go down because I have a credit with the City.

My house insurance is $27 a month. I have a high deductible because my insurance agent says that house insurance is for a catastrophe, not to replace a $200 bike if it gets stolen. Besides which if you make a claim your premiums go up. I think my deductible might be $500.

I have a 2002 Hyundai Elantra and the plates cost me $89 a month. My package policy is $13 a month. That gives me extra liability insurance for my car and a lower deductible in the case of an accident. I thought there was somewhere on the SGI (Saskatchewan Government Insurance) site where you could check the year and make of car and it would tell you what the cost of plates was. But I can't find it at the moment.

I have a security system that is monitored - that is $35 a month. I rent my water heater - I think its about $80 a year and the water softener is $13 a month. I pay for high speed Internet and telephone together and I think its about $85. We have Cable - about 70 channels, including 5 digital channels and that is about $90 a month. You can check Access

http://www.accesscomm.ca/access?PAGEID=0

Maybe you can figure out what things cost - because I can't! They have HD channels. I had them once when they had a free trial but seeing I didn't watch any of the high def channels I got rid of them when I had to pay for them.

Sasktel also have a TV service but I didn't like theirs so I have no idea what it costs. If you "bundle" your local phone, cell, TV, Security system, Internet etc. you get a reduced charge.

http://www.sasktel.com/personal/max-...ment-services/

Apart from that there is food, clothing etc. I have no idea what you would spend on those. Depends on loads of variables.

Off the top of my head, for two people in a 1500 square foot house we're paying around:

Electricity: $80 a month.
Water: $40 a month.
Gas heating: $40-200 a month depending on time of year (furnace plus water heater).
Phone: $75 a month (including 6Mbps DSL).
Property tax: $250 a month.
Food: $400-500 a month.

So food and property tax make up the vast majority of our living expenses.

Not sure about insurance, but it's only a few hundred a year. We pay around $30 a month for security monitoring too, but we saved about $250 a year on the insurance so it's almost free in the end.

However, I read that the price of gas is going up 40% this year; at least it's not quite as bad as the UK! On the plus side, the property tax is supposed to drop by almost as much as the gas would increase .

Overall I'd guess about 30% of our combined income goes on mortgage and living expenses.

[QUOTE=Purley;6645564]

I have a 2002 Hyundai Elantra and the plates cost me $89 a month. My package policy is $13 a month. That gives me extra liability insurance for my car and a lower deductible in the case of an accident. I thought there was somewhere on the SGI (Saskatchewan Government Insurance) site where you could check the year and make of car and it would tell you what the cost of plates was. But I can't find it at the moment.

QUOTE]

I have a query about the above section of your post. You say the plates cost you so much a month and a package policy is extra? What is this for? Do the local government cover your insurance? Or is the $89 some sort of tax? What do you get for $89? Do you have to pay additional insurance through a private company? What does the minimum coverage give you and what do you get for the extra $13?

Sorry to sound clueless here but in the UK you pay 'road tax' for either 6 or 12 months which works out about £200 (or more for larger cars) which effectively allows you to drive on the roads but doesn't cover any insurance. You have got to have your own insurance coverage which you arrange through independent companies. You can't get the road tax disc without insurance. Does each province have entirely different systems or are they all pretty much the same? Are you covered to drive between states/provinces or do you need to arrange a top up cover?

Hope I haven't sent you to sleep with the above. Look forward to hearing from you.

In most Canadian provinces, annual vehicle registration and insurance are two different things.

Purley lives in Saskatchewan. I've just done a Google search for VEHICLE REGISTRATION + SASKATCHEWAN, and have found a web page called How to Register a Vehicle in Saskatchewan. It states:

Saskatchewan operates a mandatory vehicle registration and insurance program. When a vehicle owner purchases licence plate(s), they also purchase a basic package of insurance which includes coverage for damage to their own vehicle subject to a $700 deductible; coverage for personal injury as a result of a vehicle crash; and, liability insurance for damage their vehicle may cause to the property of others or injuries it may cause to other people. The basic liability insurance coverage is in the amount of $200,000.

Vehicle registration and the basic package of insurance can be purchased through one of about 450 SGI motor licence issuers located in communities throughout Saskatchewan.

For more information on auto insurance, you can also call SGI. If you're calling from North America, you can reach SGI through our Customer Service Centre at 1-800-667-9868.

If you wish to purchase additional insurance for your vehicle, for coverage above that provided with your licence plate(s), there are packages available from SGI CANADA, or many other insurance companies. See your insurance broker for more information or click here.

When Purley mentioned paying $89 a month for her plates, I'm assuming she was referring to the basic registration / insurance mentioned in the first paragraph of the quoted piece above. When she referred to the package policy that cost her $13 a month, I'm assuming she meant additional insurance of the type that was mentioned in the last paragraph of the quoted piece. Oh yes, she said, “That [the $13 a month] gives me extra liability insurance for my car and a lower deductible in the case of an accident.”

But, as I said, in most provinces the licensing and insurance of vehicles are two separate processes.
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As mentioned, the 'road tax' equivalent here includes basic insurance through the government; 'no claims' discounts are small (max is 20%, I believe), but the cost goes up quite a bit if you have an accident. On the plus side, that means that if you arrive here from England with no driving record, you'll only be paying 25% more than someone who's driven here for ten years without crashing. You can then buy extra insurance on top if you want.