Requesting help to know Cost of living for family of 3

[hibakrey]

"mother's hours" are typically part time jobs during the day (usually related to office work) that happen to work around childcare/school hours. for example, a company may look for someone who is available from 9-2, which would work out to be after drop off/before pick up. again, it's dependant on your area, and specifically what the employer is seeking in a part time employee.

WOOW THANK YOU FOR UR REPLY AND THANK YOU FOR THIS GREAT INFO :-* I WOULD LOVE TO HAVE THIS KIND OF WORK REALLY, I WILL TRY MY BEST TO FIND THIS KIND OF AGREEMENTS. I HAVE MORE THAN 8 YEARS EXPERIENCE IN OFFICE RELATED WORK AND MY CURRENT POST FOR THE LAST FIVE YEARS IS PERSONAL ASSISTANT TO THE HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGER IN A PRIVATE HOSPITAL , I STARTED AS A SECRETARY SO MY MAIN GOAL WILL BE TO FIND WORK IN SCHOOL / DAY CARE CENTERS ADMINISTRATION OR IN CLINICS OR HOSPITAL WE WILL SEE AGAIN THANK YOU FOR UR HELP

 

[rhcohen2014]

WOOW THANK YOU FOR UR REPLY AND THANK YOU FOR THIS GREAT INFO :-* I WOULD LOVE TO HAVE THIS KIND OF WORK REALLY, I WILL TRY MY BEST TO FIND THIS KIND OF AGREEMENTS. I HAVE MORE THAN 8 YEARS EXPERIENCE IN OFFICE RELATED WORK AND MY CURRENT POST FOR THE LAST FIVE YEARS IS PERSONAL ASSISTANT TO THE HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGER IN A PRIVATE HOSPITAL , I STARTED AS A SECRETARY SO MY MAIN GOAL WILL BE TO FIND WORK IN SCHOOL / DAY CARE CENTERS ADMINISTRATION OR IN CLINICS OR HOSPITAL WE WILL SEE AGAIN THANK YOU FOR UR HELP

no problem. i still would encourage you to look into ottawa. since you are bilingual, you have a greater chance at standing out and getting some kind of admin related job. most companies seem to value that for receptionists and admins. since i'm not in toronto, i can't confirm it's the same there, though my guess is it's not. and in montreal, i'd assume that skill will not stand out. Whereever you land, make sure to connect with a settlement organization. their help can be super valuable!

 

[saria1]

who in their right mind spends $10,000 a month on basic living expenses for a family of 3? that means the family must NET $120,000 income for the year. that's ridiculous. the average income is certainly far below that.

for the original poster, i believe there's a website where you can estimate how much taxes will be taken out based on your salary. try this website to calculate how much will be deducted from your paycheck.
https://simpletax.ca/calculator

as for expenses, Toronto is expensive, so you will want to start researching apartment rentals in toronto, as well as any child care you may need. those expenses are generally the highest. for utilities, you will probably need to pay for them on top of rent. i can't give specific prices for the area because i am not there, though i am in Ontario.

Also, start researching Immigrant Settlement organizations in Toronto. (google is a great place to start) Guaranteed there are plenty around that can help guide you in settling in the area.

No disrespect Rhcohen, because you've been very helpful to me in many ways, and I appreciate it. But, at $120k a year salary doesn't translate into 10k a month take home. I know because thats right around my hubby's base salary and only slightly more than 5k comes home, after taxes, 401k (at 6%) and health insurance (in NJ) and we blow right through it every single month. It's all towards bills and living expenses with ice skating lessons thrown in for our son. We by no means live an extravagant lifestyle, but we also don't suffer. I guess you can say we're modestly comfortable in tight quarters. We live in a small condo of 1200 sq ft. Neither one of us drives a car worth more than 23k and we don't really shop for ourselves too often. A big treat for us recently, we each bought a pair of LL Bean slippers, about a month ago. Living expenses are INSANE when you throw a kid into the equation.

So a $120k salary (USD) for a family of 3 doesn't really go far, when you factor in life. Now translate that all to Canadian dollars , Canadian taxes and the expense of the Canadian housing market...

 

[rhcohen2014]

So a $120k salary (USD) for a family of 3 doesn't really go far, when you factor in life. Now translate that all to Canadian dollars , Canadian taxes and the expense of the Canadian housing market...

I was estimating that as a GROSS income, before all tax deductions. 10,000 x 12 months = 120,000. i find it very hard to believe it's common for 1 person to make 120,000 income in an average job in canada. now maybe if it's a joint income, then maybe yes i can believe that. There are plenty of families who make less than this who live within or below their means and are fine. $120,000 is hardly the AVERAGE GROSS INCOME in Canada. My point is that it's not necessary for someone to move here and assume they need to make that much in order to survive. that is not the case. while making less may mean smaller housing or renting and sacrificing "luxuries" to make ends meet,it certainly is what a LOT of people need to do to pay the bills and live life. There are plenty of ways to budget and live off of very little when first starting out.
good luck to anyone who thinks they can just come to Canada and make $120,000 a year as an average person without a specific skill or outside of the sales world. it's just not practical, and suggesting it is or this is what's necessary is ridiculous.

if you make $5000 a month, then you don't make close to $120,000, unless you are telling me you get $5000 taken out of your paycheck every month? If you made a gross of $10,000 a month, you would not be able to survive on basic needs with that? Obviously you would because you are surviving on about half of that. also, you have to consider you will be seeing a difference in deductions in Canada vs. the us. Also, if your health insurance is a hefty price, you might find you will be paying less in the long run in Canada. yes, making $10,000 a month would be great for any family. it's just not *necessary* in order to survive... that is my point.

 

[saria1]

I was estimating that as a GROSS income, before all tax deductions. 10,000 x 12 months = 120,000. i find it very hard to believe it's common for 1 person to make 120,000 income in an average job in canada. now maybe if it's a joint income, then maybe yes i can believe that. There are plenty of families who make less than this who live within or below their means and are fine. $120,000 is hardly the AVERAGE GROSS INCOME in Canada. My point is that it's not necessary for someone to move here and assume they need to make that much in order to survive. that is not the case. while making less may mean smaller housing or renting and sacrificing "luxuries" to make ends meet,it certainly is what a LOT of people need to do to pay the bills and live life. There are plenty of ways to budget and live off of very little when first starting out.
good luck to anyone who thinks they can just come to Canada and make $120,000 a year as an average person without a specific skill or outside of the sales world. it's just not practical, and suggesting it is or this is what's necessary is ridiculous.

if you make $5000 a month, then you don't make close to $120,000, unless you are telling me you get $5000 taken out of your paycheck every month? If you made a gross of $10,000 a month, you would not be able to survive on basic needs with that? Obviously you would because you are surviving on about half of that. also, you have to consider you will be seeing a difference in deductions in Canada vs. the us. Also, if your health insurance is a hefty price, you might find you will be paying less in the long run in Canada. yes, making $10,000 a month would be great for any family. it's just not *necessary* in order to survive... that is my point.

Firstly, in defense of our income, because you apparently are lacking knowledge in that arena: I can tell you, making ~120k a year, after taxes (NJ and Federal), health insurance (remember that is many hundreds a month in employee contribution) and 401k, yes, our take home is a little above the 5k range, or to be more specific, $2700 every 2 weeks. It's a completely different tax bracket than a 70k salary. Why do you think the middle class are clearly pissed? We are raped in our taxes to support and fund Obamacare and many welfare programs. Per the 2012 FEDERAL tax tables: Over $108,725 but not over $194,175: $24,332.50 plus 33% of the excess over $108,725. Then if you want, you're free to research NJ tax rates and tables.

And yes, one person, an applications architect (AKA, back end developer), can easily make a salary of 120k USD a year and much more, with a few years experience under their belt, in the NJ/NY/PA market. Thats actually quite a common salary. The salary is also common in Toronto and Vancouver for the same position, which would presently translate to 136k CDN, and if the CDN keeps dropping because of oil prices and the drop in the value of Asian market, it'll translate to more in the CDN salary. When I look around on this site, I do see a lot of developers who are immigrating from India etc. So yes, I can say that's a salary they can command coming from that background, IF they have a well developed Github account showing their drive on personal projects and open source code.

As for a service person, that is a whole different ballpark, which I can't speak for. I was just trying to shed light on the demands of the expenses and the US is "supposedly" less demanding finically than Canada. With the real estate bubble in Canada ready to start deflating, which will drive up rent rates, as it did in the US. It's better to be prepared for the realities of trying to live a "comfortable" life in this region of the world. Survival, now that is what I envision in third world countries, not USA or Canada.

But, I guess there are some people who are just happy "surviving" and "existing".

 

[rhcohen2014]

i really think you are misunderstanding my point here, nor am i attacking you or your income personally. some troll on this forum was suggesting to people immigrating on their own should expect expenses to be around 10,000 a month in CANADA, right from the start, as soon as they arrive. In reality, from what i know being here IN CANADA, it is not REQUIRED for a family of 3 to move here and stress about HAVING to make $10,000 a month in order to live life, which is how i interpreted that specific response. in my eyes that's ridiculous and misleading. if you disagree, then we will have to agree to disagree.

We are not talking about US dollars here or US expenses or deductions. The deductions in Canada are different, and my guess is health benefits offered by employers is going to take far less out of a paycheck than full healthcare coverage in the us. i don't think you can really compare them, because until you start seeing your deductions in canada, you won't know what the difference will be. of course, you can use a calendar available online to estimate. deductions are based on your income, and everyone gets the same rate taken out specific to their provence.

It's not easy moving here without a job, and sometimes, you have to get a job to pay bills, and it's certainly NOT going to be $10,000 a month! While the tech industry may hire at that rate, that is not true for other industries. Also, the "average" time for unemployed canadians to get a job is 6-8 months, so it is unrealistic for a newcomer with no canadian experience or references to assume they can get a full time decent paying job in less time. either you need to have a lot of savings to keep afloat when you first get here, or you have to get a non-career type of job. Also, not EVERY person from EVERY country is going to find their credentials accepted here, so not EVERYONE is going to start at the same salary they left home at. Not to mention, not everyone who immigrates to Canada has experience with North American culture, and have an easy transition into society. I participate in a job search workshop at a settlement org. i am the only north american in the group, and the difference in beliefs and practices, even jusr for searching for a job, are incredible. It has definitately made me feel fortunate for being a US citizen who can seemlessly fit into the culture.

Also, just because US had a housing collapse, that doesn't mean canada will. the markets are completely different. First, in the US, the issue was sub-prime mortgages and balloon interest rates, both which do NOT happen here. I work in real estate, and it's amazing how different the process is. There are a lot more laws to protect people from what happened in the US. Banks don't "preapprove" or approve people for mortgages they can't afford, contracts have a high closing rate, and i have yet to hear or see anything about short sales (which has become a HUGE epidemic in the US). There are laws in canada that restrict things here that is common place in the us industry. The housing market here is quite stable, at least here in ottawa.

 

[saria1]

i really think you are misunderstanding my point here, nor am i attacking you or your income personally. some troll on this forum was suggesting to people immigrating on their own should expect expenses to be around 10,000 a month in CANADA, right from the start, as soon as they arrive. In reality, from what i know being here IN CANADA, it is not REQUIRED for a family of 3 to move here and stress about HAVING to make $10,000 a month in order to live life, which is how i interpreted that specific response. in my eyes that's ridiculous and misleading. if you disagree, then we will have to agree to disagree.

We are not talking about US dollars here or US expenses or deductions. The deductions in Canada are different, and my guess is health benefits offered by employers is going to take far less out of a paycheck than full healthcare coverage in the us. i don't think you can really compare them, because until you start seeing your deductions in canada, you won't know what the difference will be. of course, you can use a calendar available online to estimate. deductions are based on your income, and everyone gets the same rate taken out specific to their provence.

It's not easy moving here without a job, and sometimes, you have to get a job to pay bills, and it's certainly NOT going to be $10,000 a month! While the tech industry may hire at that rate, that is not true for other industries. Also, the "average" time for unemployed canadians to get a job is 6-8 months, so it is unrealistic for a newcomer with no canadian experience or references to assume they can get a full time decent paying job in less time. either you need to have a lot of savings to keep afloat when you first get here, or you have to get a non-career type of job. Also, not EVERY person from EVERY country is going to find their credentials accepted here, so not EVERYONE is going to start at the same salary they left home at. Not to mention, not everyone who immigrates to Canada has experience with North American culture, and have an easy transition into society. I participate in a job search workshop at a settlement org. i am the only north american in the group, and the difference in beliefs and practices, even jusr for searching for a job, are incredible. It has definitately made me feel fortunate for being a US citizen who can seemlessly fit into the culture.

Also, just because US had a housing collapse, that doesn't mean canada will. the markets are completely different. First, in the US, the issue was sub-prime mortgages and balloon interest rates, both which do NOT happen here. I work in real estate, and it's amazing how different the process is. There are a lot more laws to protect people from what happened in the US. Banks don't "preapprove" or approve people for mortgages they can't afford, contracts have a high closing rate, and i have yet to hear or see anything about short sales (which has become a HUGE epidemic in the US). There are laws in canada that restrict things here that is common place in the us industry. The housing market here is quite stable, at least here in ottawa.

Then there was a misunderstanding, as I said, I've always respected your input and advice on this site. The last thing I want to do is burn a bridge with you. I'm going to inbox you, I have some questions, I'm curious about, and the last thing I want is to upset people with the derailment of the topic.