Cumbrian Lass

Yeah it is a bit of a trek !

sallysimmons

Yes it is! I am so envious but soon I hope to be there in Kendal myself, and we can have a coffee together and crow about how lucky we are

Cumbrian Lass

awh I so looking forward to meeting you Sally!!!!
at what stage are you in at the moment?
We move on the 6th Feb into that house you showed me.Really looking forward to it,I hope it sorts out my small house depression.I am sure it will,as its a nice house in a beautiul area. We are happy we came back no matter what other people said about the UK. The thing is the people that slag the place off are obviously not living in a nice area or have the funds to move into a nice area and house.So those that say "what have you moved back to that dump for?" are really not in the right place.........its BEAUTIFUL!!!!! and it has sooooo much history and places to go ....Canada never had that to offer us.....BORED BORED AND EVEN MORE BORED LOL. We did live in a brand new top of the range acerage.......but whats a house when the other things around dont add up to much.I would much rather be here any day

sallysimmons

Yes, that area is just lovely. I'm sure you'll be much happier there. I'm surprised it has taken so long to move in - were there other tenants in there already?

We just put our house on the market - it went live yesterday actually. We have put it on at a very good price - lower than the agent suggested - so now we're just hoping that's enough to attract a buyer in these tough times. Fingers crossed we'll be back there later this year!

marietuluse

This is SO TRUE, I did my shopping in Adsa last week and it is no exaggeration when I say my trolley was overflowing, inc bottles of wine, meat, decent bread, real cheese that actually tastes of cheese ( and melts like cheese, instead of bright orange 'cheese' that slides off the bread when trying to simulate cheese on toast in Canada lol) also all cleaning, washing, toothpaste, shampoos etc...etc.....etc.... the cost for this was 108 pounds! It has taken me most of the weekend to compare the prices with what we were paying for the same in Alberta ( obviously some things I couldn't compare as Walmart doesn't have the the large range of choice ) so had to search other supermarkets, liquour stores etc.... anyway the price for similar items, had we bought them in Alberta was $267.00!!!!! & YES I know certain people are going to bang on about 'well that's still works out at nearly $200' Yes it does, but if youre living there and earning in dollars, it makes Canada's groceries more expensive than UK's groceries!

Another example is eating out, we went for a curry on New Years Eve, 6 of us, A very nice restaurant, I might add, not a back street balti house, The bill was 90 pound, the food was excellent, we never managed to find any restaurants reasonably priced during our time in Canada

Clothes shopping.......I've never been a big fan of 'the sales' as it's usually the crap the drag out that they've failed to sell throughout the year!
But i do find that if you go to a decent high street shop, Next, Wallis, River Island, Top Shop...etc then the quality, choice and price is far superior to anything we found in Alberta. Obviously if you shop in Primark, you get what you pay for! Im not knocking Primark, it's a brilliant shop for the young girls to get up to the minute fashions for ridiculously cheap prices ( my daughter loves to shop there, as a 15 year old, who's life revolves around having the lastest fashion, the quantity of clothes she has far out weighs the quality )
We found for teenage fashion, shops like Stitches, Bluenotes........were Primark quality with River Island prices, my daughters words

House and car Insurance combined $1000 compared to here 400 pounds for the same cover.

My husband has to take daily thyroxine tablets, Canada $30 every 2 months ( thats after his company payed 60%) here, FREE for life.
My prescribed migraine tablets, $27 for 8 tablets ( again not inc 60% paid towards from hubby's company) here prescription charge around the 8 pound mark for a box of 48 tablets that will last a year.

So for us, living back in the UK is financially the better option, we earn more money and pay less out than we did in Canada, my husband earned 3xs his Canadian wage last week, we are lucky that we live in a nice area, We were/are happier here and it took moving away to make us realise that

I do though, understand that everyones situations are very different, at the end of the day you have to do what's best for yourself and you're own family's happiness.......and for us it's the UK

Cumbrian Lass

yes the owners live in the house,so this is the first time its been rented out.I must say they are doing a good job making sure its going to be perfect for us to move into.I did the same when i rented our house out in Canada.......there wasnt a speck of dust any where.So its nice that they are getting it proffesionally cleaned ,carpets cleaned,windows inside and out.Its going to be great.Maybe not exactly what we are looking for but atleast its getting there

Cumbrian Lass

WoW good for you doing this !!!!!! well done and yes its proof that Alberta is a rip off due to the oil and gas.
I can remember when we got a Indian take away over in Sylvan lake and hubby came back to say it was $97 and there was only3 of us eatting........UNREAL!!!!! and the entire of it went in the bin ...DISGUSTING it was.Over here it is sooooo yummy and cheap....you cant beat it

brits1

Always lovely to read a happy story, Good luck and Best Wishes for the future.

marietuluse

Thank You

Dashie

I am jealous of all of you. Can I please come and join your gang in a couple of years?

Piff Poff

I'm just going to say something then quietly wander away...

Marietulouse - I am so pleased you have found your 'place'.

Cumbrian Lass - we had a Indian meal on Sunday night, 3 of us, I had alcohol, super scrummy $65 incl tip.

We were in the UK at Christmas, we didn't find everything super cheap as is being touted here, we found it quite expensive actually, especially fuel costs and parking costs. We bought our daughter some DM's that we had promised her and they were more expensive in the UK than what we could get them for in Edmonton, seeing as these had been promised since Sept, we got them then and there rather than making a separate trip to E'town.

Now I'm not bashing the UK - but prices are comparable, you may pay more for one thing and less for another in either country. I have always said this and always will.

We were so pleased to arrive back to 'Our Happy Place' and the sunshine after 14 days of wind and grey skies

I wish all returners the best of luck, this emigrating lark is not easy. I will be back in the UK later this year, my OH never wants to set foot in the country again - his words not mine

Cumbrian Lass

When we first came out to Alberta 10yrs ago the prices of things were very cheap....including houses.We would get a trolley loaded to the top of groceries for $75,now a couple of carrier bags come to the same price. I found the cost of living there had rocketed over the past few years,not having returned to the UK for some time i didnt really compare prices until the last 2yrs.
Now we are living back here,we can compare prices and really appart from petrol,i havent personally come across any thing that is more expensive!
I find there is more choice of food.The fruit and veg are fresher and cheaper.The meat (i get mine from the butchers) is slightly cheaper and is just as tasty.Milk is much cheaper,and flowers ....well i can now afford to have the house full of fresh flowers every week.Clothes are of the highest quality .....i never found any thing fashionable nor of good quality in RD,however much i paid.
I love the fact there are so many high quality restaurants and at such reasonable prices.We went to a gorgeous little restaurant in Kirkby Longsdale the other day ,every thing was gourmet on the menu and the bill was probably what we would have paid at "tony Roma's". I love the fact you can take your dog every where too ............restaurants,pubs,some shops,no one seems to care.I suppose its all set up for walkers in the lake district ,that take their pets with them.
I didnt regret living in Alberta it was a fantastic experiance,but i am so glad to be home amongst lovely friendly people,that take the time to stop and have a chat and are really interested

marietuluse

Ohh Hello stranger! Nope, don't think you can get a full picture of prices in Supermarkets, clothes shops etc..... in just a two week hol to be able to compare, unless you spent your whole two weeks in Tesco and Asda

And, where did you find this scrummy curry in Red Deer?? and you say it's $65 for 3 but if you're earning in dollars, it's still the same as paying 65pound, which I think is expensive..............and more to the point, did you get kicked out at the end of the night

I'm glad to hear you're now happy where you are, hope the house is coming on ok? is Ontario still on the back burner?

We are all really happy to be home and I do agree that everyone's circumstances are very different , Sam's back to earning big money ( and I'm back to spending it ) He's just landed a big contract so that's made it much easier for us.
FINALLY, our stuff arrives next Wed, after 8 long weeks of 'camping out'
& I can start back to work too......I've had a very looooonnngg holiday!

What a shame you picked the worst two weeks, weatherwise for your visit, blue sky and sunshine over Stafford again this morning.

Missing Timmy's though, have a coffee every morning in my Timmy's mug but it's not the same

sallysimmons

5 years ago, mine said that too. Now we're packing up and selling our house to go home. Never say never!

Cumbrian Lass

I can actually hold my hands up too ,as i said that for the first 5yrs of living in Alberta . I loved it and then i think every thing went down hill after that.We had done every thing and been every where and i was bored.My OH wanted to come home after year one. He found the place very empty and boring.We had every material thing going including the house of our dreams,but some huge part of our jigsaw was missing.............humourous people,family,history,good cheap holidays,nice choice of restaurants and food oh i could chirp on for an hour.It was just time to go home .