Hello AT,

Have a nice break and get refreshed.....will miss you....

Thank you for your uncountable contribution to CD....

cheers....

Payal read this thread for experiences of AE who just moved to Toronto recently.

He lives in Davisville area and his wife is in IT and works in downtown. Your life is just the opposite of him, with your husband in iT and works in downtown.

For new Immigrants

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Originally posted by adamthorat

Employment agencies like Kelly et al are just crooks.

They take a HUGE cut from your salary..if possible get a job directly from the company as opposed to these recruiting firms and temping agencies like Kelly , Drake, Randstand, Aplleone etc.

Have you been provieded accomodation by your wife's employer ?

1.Cell Phone :

Go fro WinD Mobile . They are cheaper. Both their voice plan and data plan. Go for Pay Before as opposed to Pay After to avoid surprise charges. for $ 35 month you will get unlimited calling and data plan.

Bell, Rogers,Telus are crooks !

2.Groceries :

Food Basics , No Frills , Freshco or Wal-Mart.

3. Department Store : Pots, Pans, Clothes, Shoes, Jackets, Chairs, Tables etc

Wal-Mart

4. Dollarama for cheap goods required in household. DOLLARAMA

5. Coffee :

Only Tim Hortons No Starbucks ..too expensive.

6. Public Transit : TTC monthly pass for $ 140/month ..both bus and train ( subway aka Metro ) included.

7. Eating Out : Cheap Indian and Chinese buffets. samosas 3 for $ 1.00. White people food and restaurants NOT included in the above.

8. The Beer Store for beer and LCBO for wine. You get 24 bottles of beer for about $ 30 at The Beer Store, depending on yhe brand you go for. And 1 litre bottle of wine for $ 10 at LCBO.

Ofcourse the above is only if you want to live a cheap DESI life and 90 % of desis do that ..if you want to live a GORA life and spend money , Other options available like bars, clubs, expensive shopping malls, restaurants, cars, stores.

I am familiar with BOTH the Goras and Desis..and I have lived both the lives

Desis have a CASH mentality and Savings mentality ..Goras have a CREDIT mentality and Spending mentality.

Goras live for today and don't leave anything behind for kids and family..Desis live for tomorrow and want to leave something for their kids and family.

Desis mostly live poor and die rich ..most of them are house rich and cash poor.

Goras are good at using credit, loans, leverage etc..they don't care about bankruptcy etc either.

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For New Immigrants.

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Originally posted by adamthorat

Basic expenses in GTA for frugal living.

Prices for groceries have gone up by 15-20 % since I made this post ..as Canadian dollar has gone down a lot and Canada imports most of groceries from outside like China , Mexico etc as very little grows over here due to the cold weather.

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If you want expenses :

1. 1 Bed Room , Living Room aka Hall , Kitchen - Apartment - $ 1,000 - $ 1,200 / month.

Basement Apartment in some desi's house will be cheaper around $ 850/month

1 Room in some house will be $ 400/$500 -per month , if a single guy/girl wants to live as a Paying Guest

First & Last mont's rent - So 2 months rent has to be given in advance. 1 year lease has to be signed.

2. Groceries/Food - $ 100/month per person. If you eat basic food like rice, dal, roti,chappatis,parathas,puri, vegetables, fruits, bread, eggs, milk, butter etc. Mostly if you cook at home & don't eat out much.

3. Cell Phone $ 35/month with Unlimited Internet & Unlimited local calls on it , if you go with WIND MOBILE.

4. Highspeed Unlimited Internet at home $ 40/month if you go with Distributel , Teksavvy etc.

5. Homephone landline Unlimited local calls - $ 30/month . Calling back home to India is about 2 cents/minute..with G3 telecom. Line will be with BELL , but Long distance with G3 Telecom.

6. Very good used car for $ 5,000 or less..like Corolla , Camry , Honda, Ford , GM, Nissan etc.
Even brand new cars like Kia, Hyundai can be had for $ 12,000 all inclusive.

7. Gas aka Petrol $ 1.15/litre. You easliy get 15 Km/litre.

Car Insurance will be expensive for a NEW driver, so shop around a lot. Usually third party liability insurance is enough, don't go for comprehensive insurance if its a used car.

8. Publice Transit. TTC - Both Subway ( Metro ) & Bus included in it for $ 140/month for Adult Monthly pass.

9. Healthcare , Doctor , Hospital, Tests, Reports etc is all FREE ...3 months after you land...i.e OHIP

Dentist is NOT free. Eyecare like Optometrist etc is NOT free either. Prescription drugs are not free either. But if you have a drug plan from your company , most of dental , eyecare, drugs are covered.

10. Education is FREE for your kid upto Grade 12 . University & College education is pretty reasonable, much much cheaper than if you come here as an International student.

11. Libraries are FREE. They have lots of movies , books , games , video games, newspapers, FREE internet access.

12. Clothes are cheap too. If you shop at stores like Wal Mart . You can get a very good high quality Winter Jacket for less than $ 100...winter shoes for $ 20.

13. Movies are $ 10/ticket. Bollywood , Hollywood everything shown here.
Indian restaurant $ 10/person lunch all you can eat buffet . Dinner & weekend is more expensive.

14. Minimum wage is $ 11/hr . So survival jobs like MacDonalds , factory jobs, warehouse jobs, security guard jobs, retail store jobs, mall jobs, restaurant jobs, gas station aka petrol pump jobs

Some of these survival jobs might pay $ 2 - $ 3 more per hr..so $13 or $14/hr.

Bank teller will start at $ 13 - $14/hr.

15. If you get a job in your field then well & good..obviously it will be more than above..
$ 45,000 per month will be minimum in your field, if you are just starting.
Most probably you will start from bottom, irrespevtive of how much experience & education you have got in India. So be willing to start from scratch.

16. Child care & Day care is ridiculously expensive over here. So unless both of you have good jobs, it makes more sense for one parent to just stay home & take care of the kid, if he is small. Once he goes to school, its OK as only 3-4 hrs of child care will be required after school, so not that expensive. Some subsidised child care is available or some cheap desi baby sitters are also available if you really want

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So come with atleast $ 24,000 or 12 Lakh Rupees, if you want to survive the first year without a job. 1 CAD = Rs. 50 , it used to be Rs.60 , but CAD $ has weakened recently & Rs. has become stronger

Budget atleast $ 2,000/month. Almost 50 % of which will go in rent , & other mostly for transport & groceries. Just doing a survival job you can earn $ 1,700 - $ 1,800 per month after tax.

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Make sure you shop at cheap & non fancy grocery stores like FOOD BASICS , NO FRILLS , FRESHCO etc.

Food Prices : ( Check out the store flyers & see where/when things are on sale , Also Price Match when you can )

Milk 4L - $ 3.99
Eggs 12 Dozen : $ 1.99
Bread : $ 1.99 for 675 gm loaf ( Brown , Multigrain , White Bread )
Atta 20 lbs/9kg : $ 7.99 ( Golden Temple , Deep , Shakti Atta etc )
Rice 10 kg : $ 7.99 - $ 9.99 ( Brown Rice , Regular White Rice ) - Basmati is slightlty more expensive.
Dal 8 kg : $ 9.99 ( Yellow Split Peas )
Cooking Oil : $ 3.99 for 3 L ( vegetable oili , sunflower oil , canola , mazola etc etc )

Apples : 99 c/ lb or $ 2.18/kg
Oranges : 99c/lb or $ 2.18/kg
Bananas : 50c/lb

Butter 454 gm : $ 1.99 - $ 2.99
Margarine : $ 0.99
Dahi 750 gm : $ 1.99 - Indian Yogurt

Most Fresh Vegetables : $ 0.99 - $ 1.99 / lb ..like Egg Plants , Green Pepper etc etc.
Most Frozen Vegetables : $ 0.99 - $ 1.29 for 300 gm - 400 gm - Deep , Shana Brands
Frozen Peas : 1 kg bag for $ 1.99
Frozen Corn : 1 Kg bag for $ 1.99

Potatoes : $ 1.99 - $ 2.99 for 10 lb
Onions : $ 1.99 - $ 2.99 for 10 lb
Fresh Garlic : 50 cents for 5 Garlic Round globes
Fresh Ginger : $ 1.99/lb
Cilantro : $ 0.99 for a bunch

Canned Tomatoes 800 ml - $ 0.99
Fresh Tomatoes : $ 0.99/lb

Chicken : $ 1.29 - $ 1.99 / lb - Leg qtrs , Leg pieces , Thigh pieces etc.

Spices are the same price as India : Turmeric , Garam Masala , Mirchi , Powder Ginger , Powder Garlic , Dhana, Jeera, Coriander powder , Mustard seeds etc.

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Looks like AE has got a job in his field ..He He.

Now for a true taste of Canadian Winter & Snow in Jan & Feb..He He .

Adam,
+ 1. I agree with you.

Recently there was a guy who was worried about an agent filing an work permit for him. The agent delayed his LMAO for over 1 to2 years. He asked the forum for help and I offered to help him (both being in India). Based on my feedback, he approached the agent in a harsh way and it was disclosed to him that the interview was on June 10 th. He had put it up on CD and you had even replied to it.

Now after 2 months, we donot have any information on this. I am guessing that he got his work permit and will be on his way to Canada. Soom (in 1 or 2 months) we will be having questions from him on how to settle down.

Anyways, people who help will always continue to help, irrespective of the outcome or the back stabbings.

Murali

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I am a Gents and not a Ladies.

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[

When I was there in India, I TRIED TO GET MY E-MAIL through these ´Cafe´s there and most of them were crowded and had a long line to contend with and a few used to barge in and used to ask how much longer¿ It was embarrassing and after I returned back to Canada, I realized why people just post a query and VANISH. May be now with G4 services they might acknowledge or say thank you. It is not that they are not willing to post to CD web site, It is not a force of habit like it is for us.

Hence, I started to post almost all of the details through links, just that they get spoon fed with all of the details. Most of them know Canada starts with a BIG ´C´the rest they want to get to know after landing here. The Indian Style.

Some times I wonder if there is word such as thank you in Indian languages. You extracted out of me here today.

FH.

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