Cost of Living in SJ?

[RobinHood]

Hey all,

I should be moving to NB in the next few months (as soon as my house sells here in England). Just a quick question: How much (on average) do you reckon it will cost per month to live in SJ - for a 2 car family of 4 (mum, dad 2 kids under 7 - minus the mortgage and finance on cars)?

I have calculated my own "guestimate" and would like to see if I'm close or way out in my figures ;)

Thanks in advance for any replies - I took on board the responses re: where to live - in a previous post - so will watch out for any responses with interest.

Cheers,

--
RH.

[dan j]

What kind of car will you be driving, about how much driving do you intend on doing?

Eating, drinking, entertainment habits?

Generally, Saint John is as cheap or cheaper than most places in Atlantic Canada.

Fast food runs about $5-$8 per adult person.
Casual dining runs about $8-$15 per adult person for food only.
Dining runs about $10-$30 per adult person for food only.

Less for children, usually.

500 ml of beer on tap at various restaurants runs from $4-$7.

12 bottles of beer is usually around $20 at the liquor store. www.nbliquor.com if you want to see what prices for everything is. Prices listed here include taxes.

During the weekends, movies are about $10 per adult and a combo for two is about $10. During the week, a bit less for admission. I don't know children prices but go to www.empiretheatres.com for prices.

Gas usually runs about $1.00 per litre, give or take. Gas prices include taxes.

Groceries are tougher to estimate as there are so many ways to go about feeding yourself at home. If you eat out of a box of frozen stuff each day it can be expensive. If you buy your meat and produce and have a meal plan to get full usage out of it then it can be cheaper, in my experience. There are local markets and suppliers of locally raised meat and produce that have competitive prices to the larger grocery stores.

Anything else?

[RobinHood]

Cheers for that,

>What kind of car will you be driving, about how much driving do you intend on doing?

Hopefully living off route 1. Cars: a bog standard motor for me (eg. Sebring) and a 4x4 for my wife. I guess we'll do a fair few miles.

>Eating, drinking, entertainment habits?

Unfortunately don't go out much in the UK - can't afford to - hopefully this will change in NB.

>Generally, Saint John is as cheap or cheaper than most places in Atlantic Canada.

>Fast food runs about $5-$8 per adult person.
>Casual dining runs about $8-$15 per adult person for food only.
>Dining runs about $10-$30 per adult person for food only.

>Less for children, usually.

I've noticed the difference in the above costs with England on my last 2 visits to SJ. As a rule we pay the above costs in £s - which means they are 2.25 times more expensive at the current rate of exchange!

I bought a foot long Subway (BMT) yesterday for just short of £4 yesterday. That's C$9 - and I live in one of the cheapest parts of the UK.

>500 ml of beer on tap at various restaurants runs from $4-$7.

>12 bottles of beer is usually around $20 at the liquor store. www.nbliquor.com if >you want to see what prices for everything is. Prices listed here include taxes.

Booze is expensive your side of the pond. Our local cornershop (yes you can buy beer in petrol stations and supermarkets over here!) were selling 10 large cans of Labatt's for £5 this week. That's C$11.25. I guess the government reckons we'll all be too drunk to complain about everyday living costs. We have lots of problems on the streets with drunken youths at the weekends :(

>During the weekends, movies are about $10 per adult and a combo for two is about $10. >During the week, a bit less for admission.

The last time I went to the cinema was 7 years ago - before my daughter was born and I think it was about £5 to get in. I guess the baby-sitting situation is going to get worse when I'm across the atlantic lol. I content myself with BitTorrent for my movies. Know any good (reliable) baby sitters ;)

>Gas usually runs about $1.00 per litre, give or take. Gas prices include taxes.

It is about 90p a litre in my town. That's over C$2 your money. I think there would be a revolution in North America if you got stiffed as much as we do for running a car. Annual Road Tax for me and my wife was £300 (C$675). Admittedly we don't drive as far - but you burn a lot of fuel stuck in jams. Took me 40mins to get to work last week - a 5 mile journey.

>Groceries are tougher to estimate as there are so many ways to go about feeding >yourself at home. If you eat out of a box of frozen stuff each day it can be expensive. If >you buy your meat and produce and have a meal plan to get full usage out of it then it >can be cheaper, in my experience. There are local markets and suppliers of locally raised >meat and produce that have competitive prices to the larger grocery stores.

A leaflet I picked up from the NB Government website gives a figure of C$150 per week for a family of 4 - C$600 a month.

http://gnb.ca/immigration/PDF/Brochure.pdf

Are the figures on this brochure roughly right? Seems reasonable I think we currently spend £80-£100 a week on groceries over here (C$180-C$225) - and both our kids are very young with little appetites :)

Any extra advice most welcome,

--
RH.

[dmbeyea]

some of the figures on that brochure is right, but the on for cable is wrong we have basic cable and we pay $60 a month, and $5 extra for cable in a another room, baisc phone service with Aliant ia bout $30 and thats only 1 phone line and no extras like call waiting, double line ect ect they are extra. UNlimited internt is righly $30 a month on high speed roghly same price for dial up.

[dan j]

ohh, those are costs too! i forgot about that.

www.aliant.net for aliant's prices.

quick notes:

$22.00 regular service. $36 basic plus all calling features.
$0.82 911 fees

ultra high speed internet value packages:
$45
$60
$75
different prices for different LD plans. $5 first 12 months for new customer.

simply the world comes free with VPs. $0.15/$0.39 back to the UK based on the receiving call going to landline/mobile phone. thought that might be handy.

cell phone plans start off at about $35 with taxes and fees included on monthly plans with no features.

You can see TV prices at the website too.

The grocery store prices for a family of 4 seems like they are low-balling it a bit but depends on how smart a shopper you are and what your tastes are.

What are you moving to SJ for?

[RobinHood]

>What are you moving to SJ for?

Why are we moving to SJ? In short - we love Canada, NB in particular and we want to improve the quality of life of ourselves and the kids. House prices in the UK are horrendous - there's no way our young 'uns will be able to buy a decent house. Our house, for example, has (bizzarely!) increased in value by £100,000 in the last 5 years - and as mentioned earlier - we live in a cheap part of England. It is 75 sqm (small by Canadian standards) and is currently valued at over C$400,000! Quadruple that and that's what it would cost in London.

In addition, the town I live in has a great deal of social problems :( At least 5 people I went to school with have died of heroin overdoses and there have been 4 murders in the last 12 months (the town is half the size of greater SJ). As if that wasn't bad enough - the leader of the suicide bombers on the London Underground came from our town (40% of residents are Pakistani) and race relations are so bad that the far-right British National Party (BNP) have gained a number of seats in the local elections (no - I didn't vote for them).

Things are pretty bleak in North-Kirklees. I'm well aware NB/SJ is not perfect - but I've spent a good month your side of the pond over the last 2 years and its like rewinding time 30 years. You have all the mod-con's of western society but you're under-developed in terms of "anti-social behaviour" (a huge bonus from where I'm sitting).

So I'm cashing in my house equity - and moving to NB where I can live at a pace of life that suites me - rather than staying in the UK, working long hours and having most of my wage spent before I'm even paid. I love the Maritimes and can't wait to start a new life in Saint John :)

--
RH.

[dan j]

wow, RH. it'll be nice to have you. hopefully the life change will be good for both you and your family.

the other message boards on isaintjohn give good information on a lot of things.

some other NB stuff:

www.herenb.com
www.canadaeast.ca
www.cbc.ca (you can go to NB's section of the page)
http://www.grannanhospitalitygroup.com/index.jsp
http://216.109.132.141/opera_events.asp?channel_id=122&parent=118
http://www.happinezwinebar.com/happinez/
http://www.saintjohnalehouse.com/
www.harbourstation.nb.ca
http://www.imperialtheatre.nb.ca/site/index.php

thats all i can think of quickly.

[friskeywhiskey]

The figure that you were given for groceries is about correct, on average you should figure $25-50 per person per week depending on your eating habits.
Housing is most definitly cheaper, despite our fast increasing prices in the housing market. Housing is about 1/2 as it is in the UK.
Gas is also about 1/2 despite our increasing prices.
I am told that there are many cheap entertainment options for the under 7 families in our city. However, my child is now 12 going on 13 and I have not been able to access these opportunities (was not aware of these opportunies before the last few years - you have to look for them but they are there).
I wish you luck in your travels to the "new world".
Several of my daughter's relatives have moved to canada from england (from her father side) over the 20 years or so, they love living here and would not live anywhere else after making the move here. They love the vast areas of space to live/travel and the much cheaper cost of living as compared to england.

[tred816]

Hi Robinhood...
Sounds like you're making a good sound decision for your family.:)
During my youth I used to think "why would anyone want to live in the Maritimes???" I moved out west to Calgary, Alberta and lasted a total of two months before I hightailed it out of there and came home with my tail between my legs lol...
Simply put, I'm a country girl at heart and never realized just how much I was until I was turned into a fish out of water and had to look out my window each day and wonder where the nature had gone.
I live in Westfield now just outside of the city and absolutely love sitting on my deck and having my morning coffee with nothing around, but trees, whistling birds and the warm sun beaming down on me. This is the life :cool: .

The Maritimes are a goldmine of opportunity for families with young children whom they want to raise with good morals and safe surroundings. Perhaps not absolutely perfect, but it sounds like a great step in the right direction considering the circumstances you are facing there...

We still have our young offenders, very little racism that I've seen compared to other areas, but then again, I tend to be naive and turn a blind eye to those types of things (stick my head in the sand for lack of a better expression).

The sale of your house will, no doubt, enable you to buy a nice home (mine is in the country of course, but it's a 5 bedroom with 3 baths a garage, large deck and over an acre which cost us $143,000 CA).

Owning your own home or at least having some equity will lower your monthly bills dramatically!

Here's an average monthly budget for my family of 4 (kids are 9 & 11, husband and myself):

Mortgage $990 (includes property tax)
Insurance $200 (3 cars & house)
Groceries $450
House Phone, 2 cell phones, high speed internet - bundled in one bill $300 (could be lower if we'd stop talking so much or went to Rogers which isn't in our area yet) lol
Satelite (thru Bell Express Vu) $85
Gas $300 (25 minutes out of town and 2 vehicles regularly driving daily)
Babysitting (average is 15/day part time and 20-30/day full time)
Entertainment????:confused: HA :rofl: (joking)I'm sure there are a couple of other little bills I'm skipping and realize we could be more tight with our budget, but as a two parent working couple, we don't have the time to tighten the purse strings and look for cheaper alternatives.

Hope this helps shed some light on things for you. Really, your budget can range so much....the more you have, the more you spend. I spent 10 years as a single mom and worked what I could with two small children and made ends meet with only $1000 a month, so it all depends on your needs and resources as it would in any economy.

Other things to consider in Canada are (numbers depend on household income...)

Quarterly GST rebate (we don't get anything now, but it's about $100 every 3 months that the gov gives you)
CCTB (Canadian Child Tax Benefit) can range from $60 per month to $275 per month per child (the more you make, the less you get)
Every family with a child under 6 years of age gets $100 per child per month for child care (taxable income)These are nice little perks that come with living in Canada...

I'd say we are the greatest Country in the world to live in, but that's my take and I'm sure some people might disagree, but we are a peaceful country and living in the Maritimes...we rarely see weather phenomenon's such as Earthquakes, Floods, landslides, tornados, etc...

We're well protected and our own worst enemies are ourselves.

Good Luck with the move and Welcome Home :D

[RobinHood]

Thanks very much for all the responses - it really underlines my decision to move to NB/SJ - when I get such friendly and informative replies. Rest assured I'm going to make every effort to become a "Real Canadian" - my only vice is real football (soccer) and proper tea :P

Hmm... I have to admit I'm tempted by Grand Bay from what I've heard - as a location to settle - I might have to take a drive 'round when we finally land.

Thanks again all, keep any other advice coming - it's much appreciated.

--
RH.

[Dashumps]

Thanks very much for all the responses - it really underlines my decision to move to NB/SJ - when I get such friendly and informative replies. Rest assured I'm going to make every effort to become a "Real Canadian" - my only vice is real football (soccer) and proper tea :P

Hmm... I have to admit I'm tempted by Grand Bay from what I've heard - as a location to settle - I might have to take a drive 'round when we finally land.

Thanks again all, keep any other advice coming - it's much appreciated.

--
RH.

Hello Robin Hood,

Sounds like your family and mine have the same ideas as to the why and reasons to move to NB. ;)

We are selling our home in Calgary, Alberta for a ridiculous amount and will be out east this summer. (I’m so excited!)

Because I didn’t have much knowledge on the area I post a few thread and was delighted with the over whelming support and information I received from this site. Instead of going over all the replies (there’s three pages of responses) you might wish to view some of them yourself… it is listed under “Travel Talk” titled “Moving to New Brunswick from Alberta….opinions?” I also received a large number of PM's that held even more information on the province.

So far we're most interested in the areas in and around Grand bay, Rothesay Quispamsis etc.

Anyway, I wish your family a safe move.:)

[AreWeThereYetMom]

Here's a few Saint John websites that may be informative on additional resources for your move.

http://www.saintjohnlifeonyourterms.ca/Home.aspx

http://www.truegrowth.ca/

We love this city with all it's diversity and coastlines... but the roads aren't so great right now :(
(my rant in another post lol)

[RobinHood]

Cheers for the vote of confidence Dashumps- nice to see a Canadian voting for NB (with their feet). I did look at AB for a bit (even bought a book about Calgary about 7 years ago - according to my Amazon account) - but it just didn't "do it" for me. Now when I look at MLS.ca I thank heaven's I chose the Maritimes early on in the immigration process. I would be just as skint (broke) there as I am in England.

I will take a look at the posts you mentioned - see what the iSaintJohn regulars have to say... :)

[RobinHood]

Those are good sites (lifeonyourterms etc). I like the video that accompanies them - brings back memories of my visits to SJ City Market. The market is almost identical to at least 2 covered markets near my home - I still have a soft spot for Yorkshire (sniff).

[notfarnow]

Consider renting for 2-3 months before buying a home. You'll want to really hunt around to find a perfect spot.

If I were coming over from abroad, I would want to land somewhere relatively close to the river.

West of saint john, the river heads towards Grand Bay & Westfield. Housing in comparatively inexpensive, but not a whole lot of ammenities. Upside is that it's growing, and values will probably increase a lot in the next 10-15 yrs.

East of Saint John, the Kennebacasis river stretches from Millidgeville, Rothesay, Quispamsis & Hampton. Millidgeville is expensive if you are close to the water. Rothesay & Quispam still have some great deals on older homes near the water, if you take your time and then POUNCE when the right place comes along. Hampton has some great homes, but then you're looking at a 25-30 minute commute.

The advantage of the river valleys (both ST John & kennebasisi rivers) is that you get far better weather. Like, DRAMATICALLY different. I can't tell you how many times I leave town in fog so thick I can't see, and only 5 minutes outside of town I drive into a beautiful 25*C sunny day.

I lived downtown for years, and over on the west side, and on the east side too. Never again. I live 17 minutes from town (door to door), my drive to work is along the water, so I actually ENJOY the commute, I have a 5 minute walk to a beach where my wife and I swim 4-5 times a week, and I have low property taxes.

[notfarnow]

As for cars, you'll find that comparatively cheap here to. Buy a good used Toyota Corrola or Honda Civic. If you want a 4x4, get a RAV4 or CRV.

All of these were heavily leased when new, so the used car market is inexpensive.

Avoid the Yankee junk at all costs

[RobinHood]

As for cars, you'll find that comparatively cheap here to. Buy a good used Toyota Corrola or Honda Civic. If you want a 4x4, get a RAV4 or CRV.

All of these were heavily leased when new, so the used car market is inexpensive.

Avoid the Yankee junk at all costs


You see being English - this could be a problem. Japanese cars are thought of as less desirable in the UK - big North American cars are seen as super-cool. It's going to take a lot of will-power not to buy one LOL.

Incidentally - do you live on the west side?


--
RH.

[notfarnow]

You see being English - this could be a problem. Japanese cars are thought of as less desirable in the UK - big North American cars are seen as super-cool. It's going to take a lot of will-power not to buy one LOL.

Whatever floats yer boat, but don't say I didn't warn you

Incidentally - do you live on the west side?

Nope, but I did grow up there. I'd never live there again... you had to keep your windows shut to keep the fog out. you get so much fog and humidity that you'd get mold in your hair and mildew in your armpits.

I got a great deal on a fixer-upper in rothesay. 3/4 of an acre with 28 maple trees!

There a few hidden secrets out this way; a friend of mine bought a great little 2 bedroom house for $80k. He's on a small dead end road that goes down to the water... hard to beat that

[RobinHood]

Whatever floats yer boat, but don't say I didn't warn you



Nope, but I did grow up there. I'd never live there again... you had to keep your windows shut to keep the fog out. you get so much fog and humidity that you'd get mold in your hair and mildew in your armpits.

I got a great deal on a fixer-upper in rothesay. 3/4 of an acre with 28 maple trees!

There a few hidden secrets out this way; a friend of mine bought a great little 2 bedroom house for $80k. He's on a small dead end road that goes down to the water... hard to beat that

The KV is fantastic - its a world away from the urbanised area I live today. I can't wait to get my butt over there...