If you want the money you work the hours. There's many in Alberta that work way more than that, and not just in the patch either.

Gosh how do you have time to come on here, Aviator?

Working in the office on and off throughout the day. Not sure if this helps keep my sanity, it may be too late for that. Fortunately this is not for too long, could not keep the pace up much longer, then I can go down to a shorter more normal week.

As I said earlier it is a good salary, anyone should be happy making that kind of money but for a family of 4 living in Calgary, things change obviously. For me personally I feel $110,000+ household income would be 'enough', for others that could drop to $60,000+.

It all depends on your lifes needs/wants versus your current bank balance.

I use $110,000 based on no money in the bank looking to eventually buy a reasonable house.

If someone is lucky enough have equity or just sitting on a big pile of cash then things change.

I don't believe it is any more expensive to live in Calgary than in most areas of Canada. I accept that houses prices can be expensive compared to some places but there are many other places with much more expensive real estate. As has been stated before, Alberta is a low tax jurisdiction and salaries in Calgary are, relatively, high.

Hi there - it could be that his company operates a rotating shift pattern which is pretty common. That's to say 4 days on then 2/3 days off, with the option of working overtime.

J

Don't forget I am comparring to Calgary to Winnipeg.

Right now in Winnipeg my household income is above the $110,000 mark we could afford a Calgary priced house but not too much more without it seriously hurting the bank balance. (nevermind a shift in interest).

Again I will maintain that everyones situation is unique but the $110,000 is going to Calgary with nothing. If I had $$$ in the bank I would calculate this as well.

So, other than mortgage payments, in what way is the living cost in Winnipeg lower than in Calgary. Once PST/HST is added to the cost of items in Winnipeg I suspect that, for the most part, Calgary would be cheaper?

I suspect that, even with the additional mortgage payments (if applicable) the net cost of living in both Winnipeg and Calgary would be similar.

Similar yes but scenery wise NO
Even with no PST/HST the price of vehicles in Calgary is hardly noticeable.
What are house taxes like in Calgary there again these change are dependent on property area of the city. Groceries will be on par and Im assuming house insurance. Vehicle insurance is Govt run in Manitoba so no shopping around but are the rates any cheaper in Calgary. Booze appears to be a bit cheaper in Alberta.
Plus Calgary actually has an airport that flies you to places unlike Winnipeg

Calgary v Winnipeg - Comparison of consumer goods and cost of living.

Property Taxes: http://www.fcpp.org/publication.php/436

House prices: http://www.economicdevelopmentwinnip...nnipeg/housing

Assuming I moved with no equity.

Based upon quick calculations the two things that would change drastically is my mortage would be approximately 2-3 times higher than it is today.

so between $12-18k/year.

And I would no longer pay PST

approximately $5-6k/year.

Worse case Calgary would be 13k/year more expensive
Best case Calgary would be 6k/year more expensive.

Again the numbers aren't set in stone as I have no idea about things like property taxes ($1500/year for me right now). Hydro rates, insurance rates but most of these are nothing that is going to change the budget too much.

Again I will repeat that a personal budget is a unique thing and if you have ground rules (I.E. mortgage can not be > 4 x Salary) then apply them.

If you have equity calculate it, if you want to be $20,000/year > than bills then work it out from there.

Not everyone has the same rules but I am one of those people that does and when I apply my own rules to Calgary I cannot earn less than $110,000/year.

Could I live on less? Yes of course I could, but my rules would be broken.

So overall Winnipeg is cheaper than Calgary even though they are soon to have 8% PST.
So based on my salary Winnipeg would be cheaper for me to live in as my salary is non negotiable.
Wooo hooo lets all move to Winnipeg

And the salary comparison?

Sigh, do I have to do ALL the work?

http://www.workingincanada.gc.ca/LMI...ortOption=wage

From the link Siouxie gave, house prices are $170,000 less in Winnipeg at an additional $18,000/year, you need to switch lenders

As I said above, I would bet that salaries are higher in Calgary and would expect that, for most, they would equal each other out.