# Have a firm offer in Regina but is it enough?



## bound-for-canada (Mar 22, 2013)

Hi everyone.

I have been lucky enough to be offered a job in Regina (gotta stop laughing when I say that out loud) permanent salaried position. They have offered 85,000 plus bonus (to be negotiated but somewhere from 8,000 to 15,000 guess 8,500 and paid once at end of year) :clap2::clap2::clap2:
Lots of benefits, full dental, full additional health including prescriptions etc, 
Defined benefit pension, thought they gone the way of the Dodo to be honest.
No overtime but flexitime allowed.
Use of a company vehicle but only occasionally, it was put to me no problem using it to move furniture or collect something but don't expect to have it parked outside your house most nights 
I have been told I should expect about 5000 a month after taxes and pension and to be paid twice a month? Is that normal? 
Looking at rental properties I think we'll be paying out 2000 to 2500 on rent a month  so we will have somewhere around 2500 to 3000 a month to feed, heat and amuse ourselves. we' would be paying out half my take home in rent!!!!!!!!
That seems tight for Canada as food looks expensive and what's the story with cheese???

So the big question is.........can I support 5* of us in Regina on a take home of 5000 a month? If we rent outside of Regina what it like commuting in winter in -30. Would a 30 minute commute to the city be weird over there or perfectly normal? 
Finally. for the love of God will someone in Canada come up with a usable property website. If daft ever make the move over they'll clean up 
Joe 

3 kids in primary school and 2 adults


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## Liam(at)Large (Sep 2, 2012)

I would say it is quite normal to pay 50% of your gross income on rental accommodation (alternately on average you pay about 30-35% of gross on mortgage, plus other expenses).

$85k plus an $8k+ bonus is well over the $75k "perfect salary for happiness" and well over the national average of $46k and you will find your money goes further in Regina than Toronto or Vancouver.

A 30min commute is minimal... Many, especially in larger cities, commute over an hour.

I'm not sure I can agree with your thoughts on food, having lived in the UK and Canada I find groceries cheaper here. I don't understand what you mean about cheese?

The real question is, do you want to live in Regina? Have you ever been there before? I have, and I can say that personally I wouldn't want to live there, but I have lived in Toronto, London, Paris, NY and now Auckland, so that's my taste.


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## Caz n Neil (Oct 6, 2010)

I think he means cheese is more expensive here, which it is, plus I would say so is chicken and wine : ( however in general our weekly shop here in Ontario is a little cheaper than the average in the UK, but not a huge difference.


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## bound-for-canada (Mar 22, 2013)

Yes, I think the cheese is very expensive. So too milk, bread, butter, eggs and meat.

guess an hour commute in a city is fine but 30 miles away in the prairie in mid winter in snow and ice is what's worrying me. 
But if people there live on much less who am I to complain.


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## Barbara-Andrew (Feb 25, 2013)

So how much is cheese then? my hubby is a cheese man and we buy a lot of cheese!! all sorts of cheese!!

we pay around €4 for about 200gr of decent mature cheddar and there? 

Ahh well I dont complain because cheese will be bought no matter how much.


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## Liam(at)Large (Sep 2, 2012)

I paid about $15 for 750gm-1kg of a decent cheddar. Another favorite was about $8 for ~350gm.


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## Barbara-Andrew (Feb 25, 2013)

I had to laugh my son told the dad " bad news dad no cheese in Canada" imagine the replies.


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## Wexford_Ireland (Mar 6, 2012)

On the plus side
Broadband + TV package is cheap as chips compared to Eircom and Sky 85 dollars a month for all combined "With High Speed Plus as low as $84.90/mo." and I think that includes a phone line but you have to pay for calls but it's a bit vague on the website.

House contents insurance for a rented property in the region of 300 dollars a year as quoted by aviva

Electricity bill in the region of 110 dollars a month depending a lot more if relying on electricity for your heating

Expect to pay an average of 120 plus a month on gas for heating or more likely 200 to 250 a month in winter and very little the rest of the year but you can go on a plan to spread the payments out over the year. Don't know what deposits are required for that.

25 dollars a month for a prepaid mobile/cell plan 


> UNLIMITED evenings and weekends calling,
> UNLIMITED text messaging,
> 200 daytime minutes.


 although data seems to be super expensive. 

public transport seems ok at 20 dollars a week for 10 trips

Food seems to be swings and roundabouts, some stuff cheaper, some stuff more expensive, getting into couponing and watching the flyers would be my guess.

Rent is lively and I've stated before that I think its rapidly reaching Ontario levels or as close as doesn't make much difference.

However from an Irish perspective don't forget that it includes the property tax which pays for your bins. However water and sewage charges are expensive
Current Rates For Water, Sewer & Storm Drainage - City of Regina so it looks like a standard house is about 500 dollars a year for water/sewage/storm drains Apartments typically have this included in the rent.

Don't forget to add tax to all prices 15% in Saskatchewan (excluding alcohol) which sounds like a lot but is actually the Canadian equivalent of VAT and is quite reasonable compared to our 23%. For some reason petrol and cinemas* include the tax in their prices, go figure.


I personally think 85K gross as a household income is doable but you won't be partying. However if your wife were to work, even part time, then you would rapidly go from being OK to reaching the end of most months with a decent surplus and putting an amount away for emergencies, holidays, toys or college funds. The average household expenditure in SK is 70K all in including income taxes etc but not including savings. 52K for food, shelter heat etc or roughly 1000 a week.

So your 5K a month should see you right with a bit to play with. Just dont let the kids take up hockey or dancing or ponies or .... 


John

*actually anything charging an admission shows a price that includes taxes.


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## Wexford_Ireland (Mar 6, 2012)

45 dollars gets you 400 minutes anytime a month, free texts and 250MB a month

but 60 dollars gets you 400 minutes, free local calls to other wireless customers, unlimited texts and unlimited data (skype or viber, here I come). Thats cheaper than meteor.ie, vodafone.ie or o2.ie
And the out of bundles costs are cheaper 30 CAD cents per minute versus 30 EUR cents in ireland


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## mikejb (Mar 12, 2012)

Cheese prices in Canada may or may not be expensive compare the UK prices but there is one thing, in my opinion, cheese in Canada SUCKS!!!!! Most cheese can be best described as tasting like candlewax... (you will have to assume I tried the comparison).... SO far, I have tried any number of supposed 'mature' cheddar cheese and not one has come anywhere near to tasting like mature.... 

So far as someone saying meat in Canada is expensive... maybe so but I personally do not think it is as expensive as meat in the UK and more importantly, here in Canada the meat quality leaves the UK for dust.... 

Chicken on the other hand is quite something else. I can only assume they feed Canadian chickens on gold nuggets.... 

That's my tuppence worth. Good luck with the move


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## bound-for-canada (Mar 22, 2013)

Thank you for all the replies

www DOT bbc DOT co DOT uk/news/world-us-canada-19751695 Canada cheese-smuggling ring busted - policeman charged 

I rest my case :rofl:


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