A NEW WAY OF LIFE BEGINS

Nick had already fitted a carpet in the living room, bought sofas and two beds, and three of each of the essentials, cups, plates, etc, a kettle, and things to make a cuppa.  The apartment already had cooker and fridge/freezer & dishwasher. He had put curtain rails up and was waiting for me to provide the curtains & bedding i had brought. Our first night was all three in one bed and no curtains, but who cares at 2am. We had already arranged for the phone, tv, and internet to be connected the week before so that was already in there.

The next day was shopping day.  We didn't have much money so decided to get cheap everything then replace as we went along. We bought essentials ie pans, dinner set, more curtains, microwave, and some bits of cheap furniture like a tv stand, coffee table, cheap wardrobes and drawers etc. I shipped over 7 big boxes  of our personal stuff and in these i also included all the bedding  and quilts and Nick's PC. I'm glad i brought bedding as it is expensive over here!! So are curtains.  Curtain heading tape doesn't exist either so you either have to buy curtains with tab tops or grommets, or put the pole through the hole at the top. You can buy rings with crocodile clips on but they are $12 for 7.  A good idea to bring them with you. Curtains come in mainly packets of one panel, and not a lot of choice. Don't know if that is just here as a small town or all over.

The next couple of days were spent putting all the stuff  together and making the place look a bit like home. We then got a bit of something each week when paid and picked up some decent furniture from a second hand shop.  Its surprising how things seem to come along and build up, and now 13 weeks in, we have most stuff we need.  We also bought a very cheap old car as the hire car had to go back, and was costing a fortune anyway. Speaking of cars, there is no tax but registration yearly, ours is a 3.2L and is $90 per year.  The inspection is around the $25 mark and is also yearly and similar to the MOT in UK. Our insurance is pretty similar cost to UK but you have to jump through hoops to get your NCB. You have to prove it from the UK, not only that you have it,but that you had no claims during it, as this is possible, and also that is has been continuous.

We also went to the bank to open a joint account whilst Nick was still off work. I chose CIBC as it was the only one i could find that had a visa card instead of just Interac. We went in, saw someone, opened the account, and was given our debit cards, setup for internet banking the lot!!!! all in that 20min-half hour visit.  Nick does have an account with RBC from when he was in Alberta so we decided that he would keep that as his running account for work.

We only have the one utility bill for electricity as there is no gas, and the water is covered by the landlord in the rent.  In summer we used about $50 a month including hot water. I will update with winter prices as we find out as I'm dreading the cost. We have the baseboard heaters in the apartment.
UPDATE: November fuel bill $299 for heating & rest of electricity, including water heating.

The hardest thing we came across was getting a mobile phone on contract for Nick.  The pay and go's are so expensive if your moving around out of the local area, and it made things worse as Nick spends as much time in the USA as he does in Canada.  He needed something with a package for calls from North America and most covered just to North America.  Verizon was the cheapest and better deal but being an American company and us not having a USA address made that impossible.  He ended up with Telus, $40 a month with free local calls 200  free mins, free calls/texts to 10 favourite numbers when in Canada and an extra $20 a month for when in the USA, so it will only cost 25c per minute to make and receive calls, instead of $1.50 a minute. Its expensive but much cheaper than pay and go. The UK is far better for mobile deals and tariffs than North America, hands down !!!

The TV is so annoying. You have to search as it is not categorised into FILMS, KIDS, DOCUMENTARY ETC, like UK, but just channel numbers. Then when you do find a programme or film to watch give yourself double the length of it to watch it, as so many ads its unreal, every 10 mins, if not sooner. Nick watched a film the other night, 1hr 30 mins long, and took 3 hrs.  I record them now and then fast forward the adverts.

I have to admit though i love the place, the people are so friendly, they say excuse me if they have to pass you in a supermarket aisle, its more chilled, no one seems to rush !!!

I have been told that work life is stricter though.  Sickness is not liked and you tend to get 10 days paid holiday per year.  I don't yet quite get the medical insurance, and am still getting my head around it.  I know after 3 months of being here we are all covered by New Brunswick Health Care for emergency treatment, but i am not sure if that covers the doctor visits and prescriptions and in the process of finding that out.  Nick can also get the private family cover through his employer as most can, but it is expensive, $80 per week, but when you search online most are more than that, and if not then less cover.

In the shops everything you buy has tax added on it at the checkout of  13% (i think) each province is different.  Your bills and utilities are all subject to the tax also.

The supermarkets do not sell alcohol and you have to go to  liquor store for this. It is not cheap either, 12bottles Canadian larger $23. They defo need the Tesco deals over here !!
Convenience foods are expensive ie ready meals, lasagne, chicken nuggets, frozen stuff like that. Beef and pork are quite cheap and more for your money here than the UK, but chicken is expensive. When you work out the swings and roundabouts of cheaper and more expensive, i would say the shopping bill remains similar.
Petrol at the moment where we are is $1.34 a litre so about the 80p mark.