Life in Edmonton, Alberta?

[Stay away]

Moving to Edmonton, Alberta, need some tips on how much will I spend per month living there, rent, transportation (public only) groceries, electricity, heat, and other costs we are a family of 3, my wife and I and our 10 year old son.
If you could please give me detailed info on how much I could expect to spend monthly that way I can know about how much I need to earn so we can have a decent life, we are frugal people so we don't dine out much, maybe once every 2 months.

 

[Annie]

Where are you from? If you're from somewhere where you don't get a lot of snow, you may be in for a little surprise.

About 50% of the time, you will have snow sometime around the first day of school - I'm very serious about this. You can almost guarantee that you'll get snow sometime around Halloween that will stay on the ground for a good 5 months.

If you do end up with a vehicle, your power consumption will go up in the winter because you'll have to plug it in in order to turn on the block heater (you will see little electric plugs hanging out of the front grill of most people's cars, trucks, etc), unless of course you live in an apartment building with heated underground parking. You should also have a winter emergency kit for your car, just in case. Also, keep a couple of big bags of kitty litter in the trunk of the car, 1 above each tire. These will give you a little extra weight and therefore a little extra traction. You can also use the litter (open the bag first, of course) to sprinkle in front of the tires to also give you some traction if you happen to slide in a ditch or are in a parking spot you can't get out of due to the ice. http://www.getprepared.gc.ca/prod/tp/tp201012-eng.aspx

You can find all of the info you need about buses and the LRT (light rail transit; aka train/subway) here: http://www.edmonton.ca/transportation/edmonton-transit-system-ets.aspx

I think Edmonton is a good city, even if I am a native Calgarian. You'll learn pretty quick that there is chronic rivalry between the two cities, regarding: hockey teams, football teams, the population of the city (depends if you add in the suburbs or not).

I hope my little contribution helps you out a bit.

 

[Bugsy A]

rent is avg 850 for an apt. There is no provincial sales tax, if there are two of you working an average of 30,000 each would be a frugal lifestyle,

But, in my opinion, it's one of the best cities on the planet.

Someone gave a thumbs down to the poster, Annie who wrote after me. That was unfair, she gave a lot of good information there. Yes--it's cold. But, it's very warm in the summer. It boasts world class shopping, art and culture. (so does Cowtown <Calgary smile>) Jobs are plentiful, and the people for the most part are good, open and honest.
Best of luck on your move, after a couple of years in BC, my wife and I are moving back, simply because it is----home.

 

[Unregistered]

rent is now about 1100 a month fr an apartment, and 2000 for a house.