scrubbedexpat091

If you can find another place in your price range you may have choice.

Suppose we could choose to live in the car or in the woods, but if you wan't a place to live and there is really nothing in your price range, well the landlord holds the power.

There wasn't anything in our price range at the time, and chances are won't be when we can move, so unless we can't come up with the funds to move for one, and secondly find something we can afford, the only choice is to agree to a new term if it is even still within our range.

Here is an example of how shortage of rentals there currently.

http://whistler.craigslist.ca/search...query=squamish

http://www.kijiji.ca/b-apartments-co.../k0c37l1700289

http://www.padmapper.com/search/apar...mbia/Squamish/

Don't under estimate just how few rentals there are, and how even fewer the were in the under 900/mo range.

xxdb

Seems slightly high but not by much. I was making about $112K in Calgary and take home was about $3350 twice per month.

Living costs (rent) are about $1700-$2000 per month for a single family home (in a reasonable part of Calgary). Utilities are about $250 for electricity and waste etc and between $150-$400 per month for heating depending on whether it's summer or winter. For us, family of two adults and two teenage children, groceries are about $1200 per month. Includes about $250 at e.g. safeway or sobeys or co-op and $200 for meat from costco. Your insurance costs are going to kill you. My insurance costs are about $150 a month for two vehicles (but I have more than ten years Canadian driving experience). When I came to Canada originally I was more like $350 per month because I had zero Canadian driving experience. Gasoline is probably around $200-$300 a month if you have two vehicles and you are using them both pretty heavily. It's not easy to take transit here. It's fine in the 3-4 months of reasonable weather. In the winter it's brutal because you need to take combinations of buses and c-train and the buses get delayed by the snow. You could in theory be out standing in -30C weather for an hour. Not much fun. You will also get hit by school fees. Yes I know schools are "supposed to" be free like in the UK but they are not in Alberta. Expect to pay somewhere between $500-$800 per year for two children. School supplies plus school fees. Alcohol is ridiculously expensive in bars compared to the UK. Think $7 for a pint plus tip. Healthcare i.e. family doctor plus emergency visits etc are free. Dentistry is not. Children don't get free dentistry unlike the UK so expect to pay for that. Prescriptions are not free nor subsidized either. If you have a health plan from work that'll probably help out. If you do not you will pay full price for prescriptions which could be e.g. $150 for antibiotics. What else? Can't really think of much else.

In general on $110K you'll survive. Unless, though, you are very frugal, I doubt you will save much and given that Alberta is fairly boring and really far away from anything interesting you'll need to fly to take trips, which costs a fortune. There is no easyjet nor ryanair here.

Also: don't get laid off right now. The economy is brutal and you will seriously struggle to find anything else if you do get laid off.

Good luck.

haggis88

i would agree with xxDB in general there. ^^

Although i don't think you'd need to be frugal to get by comfortably and save some on $110,000 salary, even as the sole earner...unless of course you have extremely lavish tastes and literally only buy brand name groceries at Sobeys or Co-op lol!