Average Cost of Living

[ali79uk]

Hello,

I am trying to prepare my budget for life in Canada, and wanted some help from those with a bit of experience.

How much would you budget for a family of 4.
So far I have the following for monthly costs.
Rent $2000 (furnished 3 bed condo/townhouse)
service charges etc $200
Food $400
Entertainment & Eating out $200
Mics Spending clothes etc $500
Travel costs $200
Car Costs (Insurance & Petrol) $400
Broadband $50
Mobile (*2) $100
TV $50
Utilities $300
Insurance (Medical) $250
Gym $200
Nursery costs for 1 child??? (not sure how much this is per day or half day, any ideas?)

Are these costs reasonable? Is there anything I am missing.

Thanks for your help, am planning on Toronto and will be flying out in August.

 

[newtone]

Hello,

I am trying to prepare my budget for life in Canada, and wanted some help from those with a bit of experience.

How much would you budget for a family of 4.
So far I have the following for monthly costs.
Rent $2000 (furnished 3 bed condo/townhouse)
service charges etc $200
Food $400
Entertainment & Eating out $200
Mics Spending clothes etc $500
Travel costs $200
Car Costs (Insurance & Petrol) $400
Broadband $50
Mobile (*2) $100
TV $50
Utilities $300
Insurance (Medical) $250
Gym $200
Nursery costs for 1 child??? (not sure how much this is per day or half day, any ideas?)

Are these costs reasonable? Is there anything I am missing.

Thanks for your help, am planning on Toronto and will be flying out in August.

Car Costs (Insurance & Petrol) $700
Nursery costs for 1 child: $1000

 

[ali79uk]

Thanks,

the nursery cost for 1 child for $1000, how many days per week, or half days per week would that be?

 

[newtone]

$1000 per month 5 days a week. You could call the nursery directly about half days if they have any

 

[rhcohen2014]

i would say phone and cable are higher than you quote.

comparing the 2 large companies, rogers and bell, cell phone packages start at $70-80ish dollars for 1 line. When you add lines for "family plans" you are still paying more than $50 for the line. there are of course smaller carriers that might have smaller rates, though i doubt it's going to be drastically different.

for cable/internet you're looking at more like $120 for "bundle" packages (which means cable and internet together). when you separate and only get 1 or the other, the price goes up, not necessarily down.

perhaps the prices differ where you are, though my guess is it's pretty standard across canada.

 

[steaky]

I would say gym and rent can be a combined because some condos have in-house gym facilities.

 

[EmploymentOppty]

Hello,

I am trying to prepare my budget for life in Canada, and wanted some help from those with a bit of experience.

How much would you budget for a family of 4.
So far I have the following for monthly costs.
Rent $2000 (furnished 3 bed condo/townhouse)
service charges etc $200
Food $400
Entertainment & Eating out $200
Mics Spending clothes etc $500
Travel costs $200
Car Costs (Insurance & Petrol) $400
Broadband $50
Mobile (*2) $100
TV $50
Utilities $300
Insurance (Medical) $250
Gym $200
Nursery costs for 1 child??? (not sure how much this is per day or half day, any ideas?)

Are these costs reasonable? Is there anything I am missing.

Thanks for your help, am planning on Toronto and will be flying out in August.

Furnished 3bdr condo for $2000? Would seriously depend on the area. I'd say budget $2200 and you'll have the one with a gym.
Gas and car insurance: it is more than possible to have it within $400: say, you could negotiate car insurance with TD for $200/month and will spend about $50/week on gas (Corolla). Very reasonable

 

[redgdon]

Suggest you budget closer to $800 for food and other groceries for a family of 4 for a month.

 

[Lammawitch]

Suggest you budget closer to $800 for food and other groceries for a family of 4 for a month.

I agree that the grocery budget is too low, especially living in a city. Having said that, it would also vary wildly depending on whether one has 2 toddlers or 2 teenagers !! And so is the "going out" budget: subjectively, I could spend 200$ as a single adult in Tto in a weekend, or less as a family - depends on one's lifestyle...

Car: on the low side too, check if parking costs are applicable & how much, as well as insurance/gas.

Also, as a general observation, long term furnished rentals are few and far between; short term are expensive. Area of the city will matter too.

This is a very good subject, I hope it can be expanded on with real life examples added from different cities/provinces .