I'm seriously thinking of doing a four-month co-op semester outside of Canada, in the UK, Finland, or Australia if possible. Those three countries have the most companies snooping around our school trying to hire students. (I'm not counting the United States because, well, it is basically Canada Sr.) Now before I jump into something like that, I'm wondering about cost of living. In fact, I'm trying to be more general here because I'm kind of interest in knowing where you guys' money goes to. I know the UK is a bit more expensive than Canada, but I'm sure some stuff is cheaper. Where does your money go to? And if I'm a single student living in London, how much should I be expecting to pay for accomodation, utilities, and food? I'm trying to figure out the economics behind getting a work term done outside of Canada.
Here is what it costs to live in Canada:
Cellphone: C$40 per month [£16] gives you 200 anytime minutes.
Telephone: C$45 per month [£18] gives me unlimited calling in North America.
Internet: C$65 per month [£26] gives me 10/1 Mb cable line.
Television: US$45 per month [£23] gives me America's 180 (all regular channels, no HBO, Starz, etc.)
Housing
A house in a middle class neighborhood near Toronto is about C$250,000 [£100,00 0]. A family where both parents work can probably afford a house of $400,000 [£160,00 0]. (It is significantly cheaper the further you move from Toronto... this money will buy you a mansion in Calgary) Interest rate is 1% below prime, [3.5%]
Thus, assuming you buy a house of $250,000 at 3.5%, your monthly interest payment is $729.
In Waterloo, one can sublet (meaning, someone rents a house for a year and then "rents" it to other people, the subletters) a room in a 5 bedroom house with kitchen, basement, etc., for $275 a month [£110] plus utilities, usually $50 [£20].
Utilities
Hydro (electricity) is about 4.5¢ per kWh. Gas is measured in cents per cubic centimeters. I don't remember the price now. Hydro is used for air-conditioning, and gas is used for heating. Usually, when one goes down, the other goes up. Combined, they are about $400 [£160] per month for a 3,500 sq. ft. house with 5 people. That is to maintain a temperature of 20 C or so.
Water is usually $200 a month [£80] for a house with 5 people with lots of showering, washing machines, and watering the lawn.
Hydro + gas + water is £20 a month for me when I sublet in Waterloo.
Car
Cars range from C$12,000 to C$35,000 [£4,850 to £14,200]. A small econobox car is C$12,000, whereas a minivan is about C$35,000. If you buy GM, interest rate is 0%. If you buy Japanese, it is 0.9% or 1.9%. My folks are leasing two cars, a minivan and an econobox. One is about $200 a month, the other about $300. [£160 and £120]
Food
Expensive. For myself, I spend about C$50 [£20] a week on groceries. That is for one person.
Clothes
t-shirt: C$10 to C$15 [£4 to £6]
nice shorts: C$20 [£8]
jeans: C$20 to C$40 [£8 to £16]
dress pants + dress shoes + dress shirt + tie: C$400 [£160]
Did I miss anything?
Oh yeah, salary:
Math/Engineering students:
1st year: $500 per week [£202]
2nd year: $550 per week [£222]
3rd year: $630 per week [£255]
4th year: $700+ per week [£285+]
Graduation: Expect $44,000 [£18,000] or more.
Last semester I got paid $20.771 per hour. [£8.41]