Editor’s Pick: Living Expenses in Canada

This article has been long overdue. It happens to be in my drafts for over a year now. Don’t worry I made sure that the figures are still accurate. To be honest, this was intended to be a comparison of cities but I have decided to just share this with you as it is. I believe that a lot will benefit from knowing a little more about the cost of living differences between renting and owning a house. If you are interested, feel free to read more. There are some benefits to this though, as the yearly inspections by Baltimore city rental inspections are covered by the landlord as part of the lease we signed at the beginning of the year.

Currently, we are living in Winnipeg. For most of the expenses, you need to pay extra 13% on top of the price for taxes. Figures below are not ‘guesstimates,’ these are actually from our bills. Lifestyle varies from person to person, of course. For example, a car might be a luxury to other cities but in Winnipeg, it is simply a necessity.

Basic Costs of Living when Renting (Average per month)

$850	1-Bedroom Apartment
$30-40	Hydro Utility Bill (Electricity & Gas)
Free	Water Bill
$120	Car Insurance
$500	Car Loan
$200	Gas
$200	Downtown Parking
$100	Life Insurance (Term only)
$110	Critical Illness Insurance
$190	Mobile phone Bills ($65 x 2) – Having Unlimited Mobile Data is a luxury for others but this is a necessity for me. As a blogger, I need to be online most of the time. Doing FB Live videos anywhere, checking our FB Forum, and answering comments as needed require mobile data. Sino pa ang hindi member? Join here.
$80	Home Internet – This rate would probably seem to be expensive because an average household would be paying $60/month. Not everyone needs 150mbps but this is just necessary for me. I do a lot of uploads, download and stream to make sure everything is running smoothly in our FB groups and websites. Who tunes in for #RealTalk and Dr. Love, by the way? 🙂
$500-800	Groceries – Since it’s just the two of us at home, most of the time we either dine out or take out. It is simply time-consuming if we cook at home and wash the dishes if it will just be a couple of dollars in difference. Again, it depends on your preference.

TOTAL: $2,910-3-120 for a family of two each month

At this point, I guess I know what you are thinking. Do you really need life insurance? Yes, you can just put the money into your savings. Life insurance is just optional but you could even take out your own life insurance policy using sites like discountlifecover.co.uk. I think life insurance is essential as you never know what’s around the corner so it’s something that should be seriously considered.

After a year of renting, my wife and I got permanent jobs. After sorting out our financials, we have decided to buy our own house.

Basic Costs of Living with a House (Average per month)

$1,300	Mortgage
$300	Property Tax
$90	House/Fire Insurance
$35	Fire Alarm
$50-$130	Hydro Utility Bills ($50 in the summer time; $130 in the winter time)
$50	Water
$120	Car Insurance
$500	Car Loan
$200	Gas
$200	Downtown Parking
$290	Life Insurance
$110	Critical Illness Insurance
$130	Mobile phone Bills ($65 x 2) – Unlimited Mobile Data
$80	Home Internet
$400-600	Groceries

TOTAL: $3,955-4,235 for a family of two each month

The biggest expense will always be the house or the apartment. I can tolerate the big jump from $850 rent to $1300 mortgage. I didn’t think much about the other expenses related to housing like the property tax which varies depending on the location, house price and other factors, the water bill which is normally free when you are renting an apartment, and the hydro bill because gas for the heater is usually free when you are renting. Then, there are the insurance for the house and the alarm systems. There is more! The costs for the house maintenance expenses and everyone’s favourite, lawn mowing and shoveling expenses should be taken into consideration as well. Me and my friend from the UK were comparing outgoing so I had a better understanding of how things were in the UK. My friend says they have a great quote from One Sure Insurance for their motor insurance. There are loads of different types of insurance that you can get for your car though, it all depends on what you use for the vehicle for, how long you’ve been driving, etc… So if you are thinking about getting car insurance then you should probably do some research first to find out what would work best for you. You could even check out something like these Truly Insurance Reviews to give you a better idea of what you could get.

Indeed, from $900 (Apartment) to $1900 (own house), $1000 makes a huge difference. The figures above are solely based on my experience. At the end of the day, the you will live your life based on your own preferences and decisions. In no way am I suggesting or recommending either renting or owning a house. I truly hope that publishing this info out for everyone will be of help to someone.

Did I forget anything? Let me know in the comments section below.

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For the other cities, we need your help so we can do a comparison. Please answer the following and you might be featured in our next article.

City:
Mortgage/Rent:
Property Tax:
House/Fire Insurance:
Fire Alarm:
Hydro Utility bill:
Water bill:
Car Insurance:
Life Insurance:
Critical Illness Insurance:
Mobile phone bill:
Internet:
Groceries: