Hello everyone. So this is our first blog. There are no marks given for this blog but I just want to get you started to see how it works.
Remember that what you post can be seen by everyone. Please do not use any language that would not be considered acceptable for a post-secondary student. Try to think like an economist when you address the blog questions. That is, feel free to use economic terminology or relate your answer to a topic discussed in class. Use your imagination as well.
Please respond to the following questions:
1. Name a city or country that you have visited that you found to be very interesting.
2. Tell us what it is about that city or country that was the MOST interesting.
3. If you purchased anything in that city or country, how do prices compare for items between Calgary and the city or country you visited? Think about the price of gas, price of houses, food prices, restaurant prices, beer prices, whatever you like.
4. Do you think it would be more or less expensive to live in that city or country than in Calgary?
Keep your answer short - about 1 paragraph.
I can't say I have been somewhere very interesting. I have been to the USA, to be exact mostly Castle Rock Colorado. And I wouldn't call it interesting but I call the USA intriguing. As far as Colorado, and Castle Rock and the area mostly Denver, goes it is similar to Calgary. Probably most interesting about Denver and Castle Rock is that Denver really can't grow anymore due to the other cities around and blocking it and most people live in other towns or such and commute in, such as Castle Rock. If you were to purchase anything there it is mostly similar, except for the fact that you are going to get the cheaper US price. but as for food, and that it is relative. Housing is currently down but not too much about $100,000 or so off most mortgages. Gas prices how ever are better you pay about $2.60 a gallon which is roughly 60 cents a litre so that is way better due to less taxes on gasoline. For the most part living expenses are about the same. but what does make it more expensive is the social programs and how expensive insurance is and how much healthcare and pharmacutical drugs are. Now if you can avoid any of that then you are fine. but lets be honest no one can avoid that indeffinatelt. So on the whole it would be more expensive to live there.
ReplyDeleteLast year I took a flight to Europe. On the way I had a two day stopover in London, England. This beautiful country amazed me at every turn. Upon leaving the airport I took the tube to Westminister and surfaced directly in front of the British Parliament Building. This historical building was a portrait of political strength. Having only Canadian currency I exchanged my dollar for British Pounds which cost $1.80.Later that day I went to visit Harrod's. I couldn't believe the price of a handbag,so expensive! Buying the bag cost twice as much as buying it in Canada.I soon realized living in London would have broken my pocketbook. The gross wages of a worker are just enough to cover the high cost of renting in the city. Housing is a scarce resource for the brits who live in small townhouses and condominiums with huge price tags.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like only yesterday I was doing my second international exchange...In September 2008, I arrived in the remote, but gorgeous town of Kajaani, Finland. The landscape was gorgeous! It had ruins which were hundreds of years old, that had gone through Finnish, Swedish and Russian ownership, surrounded by lakes and trees everywhere. Now, as much as it looked like British Columbia, the prices for renting a small flat and even eating out were amazing. I could see why this area had a hard time attracting and keeping young professionals. With the travel bug I have, I always am interested to compare Cost of Living with actual salaries. I found Kajaani to be about double the price of living in Cochrane- a town of comparable size. After living there for a semester, I was ready to leave- and so was my debit card. To give you a comparison, my shared 3-bedroom flat (w/o internet, etc) cost me $1000CDN/month and a beer cost $14CDN. Finnish salaries are also almost equal to Canadian ones!
ReplyDeleteAs a Japanese, I have been to Calgary, Seattle and Korea. The most interesting city for me is Seattle. I went to Footlocker and I found many stuffs were cheaper that Calgary's Footlocker. I think it is because most of the products at Footlocker are made by American company. Therefore they can sell them at cheaper price. However restaurants were much more expensive than the restaurants in Calgary even though they are same kind of level of restaurants and I think rent fee is more expensive too. Because Seattle is bigger city than Calgary.
ReplyDeleteAfter immigrating to Canada 5 years ago from Kyrgyzstan I didn’t really have a chance to travel a lot. I lived in Saskatoon for over 2 years. Though, it’s a smaller and older city than Calgary and it’s cold in winter, I think Saskatoon is quite nice city. When I came there first, I was fascinated by the South Saskatchewan River, trees and bridges. Prices are slightly higher for gas and about the same for food and clothing. Car insurance is much cheaper since it’s government insurance. However, Saskatoon has had a lot of speculation on real estate in the past 3 years. Prices on the housing are high in comparison to the wages people are paid and considering that there is still not so much business going on in the Saskatchewan economy. I think the cost of living in Saskatoon is less expensive than in Calgary, but Calgary has more opportunities and higher wages which justify the costs.
ReplyDeleteVisiting Venice 10 years ago I got a big knock on my heart because of its great history, awe-inspiring architecture, and lovely attractions. Having a chance to visit many parts of this city I was surprised from its exceptional and colorful historical background. Venice is a city surrounded by water as a result people who live in Venice don't have access in using cars for driving around the city. During my trip I heard from people that this city is called also the "City of Bridges” because there are 455 bridges, which connect different parts of it. Even though it wasn't a week of Carnival celebration, everywhere on city's sidewalks people shopped souvenirs. It is important to tell that masks have always been a very significant feature of the Venetian carnival. I bought a Bauta which is a whole face mask with a stubborn chin line, no mouth and lots of gilding. I bought this mask for $150 which was actually very expensive. The food there was also quite expensive. For instance, I had for lunch pizza which cost me $50 and a beer was about $20. Comparing the price for the same kind of food, in Calgary you can have pizza or beer for much more chipper than in Venice. In summation, I believe that cost of living expenses in Calgary can be significantly lower than in Venice. However, staying in this city for a while 10 years ago made me feel delighted.
ReplyDeleteThe country that I visited recently is my home country India and the most interesting thing about India is that it has so much growth opportunity for a young entrepreneur who wants to make a mark in the industry. There is so much freedom to work on different project and the perfect competition makes it easier for a person to enter business as compared to the monopoly in Canada where entering a business is a challenge for a person. The prices in India compared to that of calgary is mostly even as in the past India has picked up its pace and prices have hiked rapidly but still most of the things that we buy in India are usually inexpensive as compared to Canada for example cell phones in India can be afforded by almost everyone with all the services included and also they have excellent prepaid plans that go with everyone's needs. It is less expensive to live in India but it also depends on how much you earn and what is your life style things are definately inexpensive but if you don't earn a good sum of money its hard for you to afford even that.
ReplyDeletewhen i was traveling europ me an my friends we visited France in particular Paris and i found it very intersting how its always hyped yup in the media saying that it a clean city romantic and so on.
ReplyDeletewhen we we arrived in Paris we were taking by surprise as it is nothing like you see on tv or in picture i think it is one of the dirtiest cities i have ever visted and not to stop there the people there are ignorant and as soon as you ask them a question in english they just flip and turn around and start walking.
when it comes to comparing it to calgary oh man i would live in calgary over Paris any day, the price of gas is double compare to here and calgary is better financially to live in cause verything is cheaper, and the standard of living is much better, I remember buying a Soccer Jersy it costed me 125 euro wich is about double what i would get it here for. when it comes to McDonalds food oh man it is much cheaper than here we bought a meal each for 2 euro where her in calgary it is tripple the price
so with that being said calgary rocks and people take living her forgranted as it is an awesome city buy nothing copared to me home land (Palestine)
Libya
ReplyDeleteI chose this country because I can talk about it. I lived in this country for 10 years. It’s very rich country (oil and Gas producer), every person has his /her own house and at least one car, the buy full tank of gas for their cars only in 6 Libyan Dinnars (about 6 Canadian dollars). The food prices are very low because the government support these prices, the education for all levels are almost free. The health care are free. From few years this country started new policy in economy by open all the opportunities to the foreign companies to work in different fields, especially in oil and gas production. Libya has great and very beautiful historical places, but still they didn't invest enough in this field. Anyway, this country needs more effective plans to be what their people looking for.
I went to Scotland for vacation last summer and it was one of the most interesting places I have been. The social gatherings and surroundings were unfamiliar to me and was somewhat hard to adjust. Living in Calgary all my life, I am use to how modern our economy is whereas Scotland has a lot of history. The buildings and homes were all fairly old and I learnt that most families there do not use laundry machines. I also noticed that food as well as alcohol is significantly cheaper than in Canada. Having such cheap alcohol makes having a pint or two during your lunch break is normal. However, there is little to no variety in food there, it mostly contains pubs. I think it would be a lot cheaper living in Scotland than it is here because of their way of life. Families there seem pretty set on their ways and I have heard that their education system is better there.
ReplyDeleteAbout 3 years ago I visited Paris, France. It being a very famous tourists atraction and very very croweded in the middle of the summer. Maybe because of this it is very expensive when it comes to almost everything. So as the demand goes up in the summer so do the prices. A single summer jacket cost 60 euros! If I were to buy that same jacket in Canada it would cost me about $40. I think living in the towns outside the city would be less expensive but Calgary is still better.
ReplyDeleteI come from India and have moved to Canada since 2009 but haven't got a chance to go to any other country. I have seen almost every part of India. The most interesting thing about my country is its culture. The cost of living in India is less expensive than compared to Canada. If you go shop for any international brands the prices are fairly the same. For e.g. if you buy puma shoes they are fairly the same price be it India or Canada. Whereas if you buy coke/Pepsi the price in India are 0.41$ compared to 1.65$ in Canada. The price of a house in the metro city of India is nearly 1/4th or 75% less than the average price of a house in Calgary. The currency rates play a major role in deciding the cost of living in either country. It would be less expensive to live in India provided that you have a good and a stable kind of a job, but if you do not then living in either country would be expensive.
ReplyDeleteI haven't done much traveling. One place though that I thought was really interesting was New York. The most interesting part I found was visiting ground zero. It had just had started construction but you still got to still a lot of damaged that it caused. When it came to purchasing items in New York our dollar was around par so the prices weren't to bad. I would say it would be more expensive to live in New York because of the setting. New York also has more features for tourists to go see.
ReplyDeleteThe last city I travelled to was Montreal. The city was amazing. So much to see and do, and the night life was exciting and fun. I thought the most interesting part to see was the underground mall.
ReplyDeleteI remember stopping at a gas station with a friend and could not believe the gas prices. They were so high compared to Calgary. It was ten years ago but if I remember correctly they were about 30 cents more/litre.
It is definitely more expensive to live in Montreal. There are two different taxes in Montreal that are applied to products and services. The federal Goods and Services Tax (GST) is 6%, while the Quebec Sales Tax (QST) is set at 7.5% and applies to the selling price including the GST.
I visited california in 2007.The best thing about that city is the weather and lots of attraction places. Apart from that food , gas, clothing everything is cheaper there. The same brand you can buy there for almost half the price as in Canada. I bought puma shoes which were 30dollars less than in calgary.The most interesting thing about that place is as a visitor you have lots of places to visit which according to me is not in Calgary.Comparing to todays housing prices it is lot cheaper in States(Most of the cities) than in Calgary. We bought 2 condos in Florida for 60,000 & 70,000 which as per my view is lot cheaper than in Calgary. The education opportunities are more in States. The only negative factor is health system.
ReplyDeleteLast winter my husband and I enjoyed honeymooning on a resort in Varadero, Cuba. The most interesting thing about Cuba had to be the locals, being some of the friendliest people I have ever encountered. The service was impeccable and the food was delicious. I know that life for the people of Cuba is a little different, but I was surprised at how excellent the food was after hearing such bad reviews of Cuban cuisine. Another great thing about Cuba is that booze is REALLY cheap! Let’s just say we bought a few bottles of Cuba’s finest rum for less than the price you would pay for one mediocre bottle in Calgary. It is very difficult to make a fair comparison on the cost of living between Calgary and Cuba. If I lived in Varadero, I probably wouldn’t be making as much money as I would be if I lived in Calgary, but living expenses might also be cheaper in Cuba. When you compare everything, it would be cheaper money wise to live in Cuba but your standard of living would be greatly decreased. It would be nice however, to escape the snow and the cold.
ReplyDeleteOne of the few cities I have travelled to and seen was Edmonton. I have to say, in my opinion, I wasn't really impressed. Of course, there was a large tourist attraction there, which is known as the West Edmonton Mall. When we arrived at the mall, it was full packed with hundreds of people. The food prices there seemed to be more expensive than Calgary's, especially in the food court at the mall. One of the many things that I enjoy more about Calgary is the better weather. The chinooks sure do lighten up the cold, dry winters. I also enjoy everybody's enthusiasm during the couple of weeks in July, when it's Stampede Time. One of the things, that surprised me the most, was how much cheaper the gas prices in Edmonton were compared to Calgary. They were almost 6% cheaper. I guess each city and country has it's own personality, it's goods and bads, and why its special.
ReplyDeleteWithin last three years I visited to India twice. It is a really beautiful country. India is a leading country in IT sector. India is my home country. The cost of living in India is less expensive than Calgary. One Canadian dollar is equal to more than 40 Indian Rupees. Whenever I visit to India always I bought lots of things from there like jewelry, decoration stuff, and clothes and all those things have very low prices compare to Calgary. And even cell phones are very cheap in India. But it is very hard for those peoples who live in India because their earning is very low whatever they do. Even there is really hard to buy grocery for middle class people. Some people are very rich in India. But some people are very poor.
ReplyDeleteFour years ago, I moved to Canada with my family. However, I still have special feelings to my home country, China. That’s not just because of some interesting things. I lived there for so many years. I am familiar with the environment where I live. Comparing to Calgary’s harsh winter, the climate in my home town is much gentler. There are clearly four seasons. Spring and autumn are especially pleasant. Also, there are two statutory holidays that are called “Golden Weeks” in May and October. Thus most people choose to travel in these two seasons. It’s a good time to enjoy our lives. The other thing is living in China is much cheaper than living in Calgary. In general, most consumer goods in China such as food, clothing books, and medicines are cheaper than that in Calgary. For example, there is a famous snack street in my city. Where you can taste three to four different delicious foods for only a few dollars! In addition, the housing price in a middle-level city like my home town is only about 400 Canadian Dollars per square meter. The main reason is that there is a large population in China. As a result, the labor is relatively cheaper. The costs of most goods are less expensive than that in Calgary. Thus, living in China costs less money than living in Calgary.
ReplyDeleteI have never been anywhere interesting before. Vancouver is the nicest place I have ever been. If I could go anywhere it would be England or Japan. I am so interested in their past I could spend weeks and weeks in these places. In England the places I would love to visit is anywhere Anne Boleyn has been. I am so incredibly interested in her life. I want to stand where she stood. I want to visit her “grave” (they are not sure she is really there). I want to go to all the museums, castles and palaces. In Japan I want to go visit all the temples, participate in Japanese rituals like a tea ceremony. I want to go visit rural towns, see how their life style is so different and traditional compared to ours. I want to eat the interesting food and buy lots of Anime. In Japan I would assume that their anime would be a lot cheaper than here. It’s produced their so it would be more available. To be honest I have no idea how expense it would be to live in Japan or England. I don’t live on my own in here in Canada so I can’t even begin to compare too.
ReplyDeleteA few years ago I flew to the United States of America and visited Anaheim, California. The weather was beautiful and the city was populated with palm trees. The most Interesting thing in Anaheim was Disney Land. Too see all of the park you had to keep going back. Everyday there was always a different event being held within the park. During the time when I went, The Canadian dollar was well below the American dollar. Because of this, everything was more expensive then in Calgary. Also, because it is a popular tourist attraction, almost all goods were overpriced. I believe it will be more expensive to live in this country if I were to continue to work in Canada. I do not have enough information to draw a conclusion if it would be cheaper or more expensive to live there if I decided to move and work in California.
ReplyDeleteLast year, I've visited my home town, Philippines. I think Philippines would be the interesting country for me because it has a lot of tourist spots. In Bohol, one of the beautiful spots I have known. Chocolate hills is one of the most visited spot in Bohol because it changes green to brown color when the summer comes and it turn back to it's color when the rainy day comes. As a Filipino I think Philippines would be the cheaper country than Calgary. One Canadian dollar is equivalent to 45 pesos, so when you buy food in Philippines it's only going to cost you 100 pesos including appetizer, main food, drink and a dessert but in Calgary you are going to spend more than 10 dollars in that package of food. Base in my own experience Calgary is more expensive to live than Philippines because it is more civilize here.
ReplyDeleteLast year I've visited London, England. London was very historical city so that I mostely spenig time on finding historical place such as Seven Sister's Country Park. There were a lot of natures to enjoy but the cost of living there was very expensive. Buying products and renting a place was way more expensive than here in Calgary. Canadian currency I exchanged my dollar for british pound was $1.60 so I was really careful whenever I spend money there. One of my big experience there was the rates of taxi was extreamely expensive. I spend 60pound to go to the airport which takes around 40min. I would never take a taxi if I visit there next time. Average money spending in London would cost me a lot if I live there it was mostely costing double than Calgary. In My opinion, even it costs a lot to live there, their magnificent nature and historical places would worth it.
ReplyDeleteI visited China last year. China is a great country with huge populations, its crowd everywhere. They use Yuen for the unit of money, an average fine cloth in the market could be anywhere between 50~ 200 yuen per piece, and you can bargain with the seller to drop the price even further, unless you go for some really fancy brand. According to the exchange rate when I was traveling, one Canadian dollar is equal to about six and half yuen, therefore, an average cloth in China is equal to anywhere between 10 dollars to 30 dollars Canadian, which is totally neat, its cheaper to get cloth in China than Calgary. But on other hand, Cars, electronic products are generally more expensive than in Canada.
ReplyDeleteI think the reason of cheaper cloth and expensive electronics and car in China is because of China has cheaper labor to make Cloth, but car and electronics imported from different places, the tax made them more expensive.
One of the cities that I have found interesting was Toronto. I lived there for one year. What made it interesting was the multi-cultural society from the food, music, clothes, and dancing. There is so many things happening. Not to mention that it did not take long to drive over when the US dollar and Canadian dollar were at par, to get a great deal.
ReplyDeleteComparing the prices of items with Calgary, I found that it was slightly higher in Toronto. One reason was the PST. I was living in the basement an elder’s couples house . I had one small room and a bathroom which I had to share. My landlords rented out the basement to earn extra money. This was common to rent the extra rooms in the house for extra cash. The price of food, entertainment, and gas was much higher than Calgary. My salary was not enough for me to survive too long in Toronto. I quickly moved back.
The one thing that was cheaper, quicker and more efficient was public transportation. I knew many people who lived in Toronto, but did not own a car. The comment was it was cheaper then the car insurance, gas, and maintenance.
I moved to Calgary during the boom and was able to find a great job, comfortable housing, and was able to save to buy my own place. No more sharing the bathroom :>
In the month of December I was lucky enough to sneak away to Mexico Los Cabos. I went to the RIU palace and stayed all inclusive. I found this place to be very interesting because of their 5 star customer service. I enjoyed endless buffets full of almost every food you could imagine, my room was cleaned 3 or 4 times day, unlimited liquor (that may not be the best thing) and anytime I had any questions or concerns the employees were right there to address them. The weather there was gorgeous and my hotel overlooked the ocean which was absolutely beautiful.
ReplyDeleteDuring my stay I did not have to purchase much but I ended up going into town for the UFC fights on a saturday. The food and liquour was extremely cheap I think I had 2 beers and a appetizer and it wasnt much more than $20.
However housing prices in Cabos are still very expensive very similar to Canada. The average condo out there goes for about $250 000 and houses are about $300,000- $1,000,000. Cabos is mainly a tourist city and the majority of the business I believe depend on tourists. The amount of work out there is very limited due to the multi million dollar resorts and businesses bordering the ocean.
This makes me believe that it would be more expensive in a live in Mexico because it is harder to find a job that pays well. Canada is relatively expensive however there is more opportunity to find work with good wages.
As I have visited and lived in Nairobi Kenya, I like to say few words. Nairobi is the capital city of Kenya which is in the eastern part of Africa. Nairobi is a really beautiful city, especially the downtown area, even some people call Nairobi as half London. The other thing which makes this city different and interesting is the only city in the world, which has a real natural park with a lot of animals in a few kilometers from the city center. This is not manmade Zoo it is natural, which is unbelievable.
ReplyDeleteAbout the country, Kenya is the land that has given birth to the most popular African activity for tourists, namely the safari, and its easy to see why. Blessed with tremendous topographical diversity stretching over four climatic zones and featuring coral reefs, desert landscapes, volcanoes and snow-capped mountains, Kenya has it all in one.
Inhabiting these diverse landscapes and wilderness areas are Kenya's world-famous wildlife, which can be viewed from horseback, 4x4 vehicles or on foot. There are over 1000 species of birds and huge colonies of colorful butterflies. Also attractive is the rich history, which dates back to the Stone Age, and the various cultures expressed through the sought-after arts and crafts.
This country also known by the world's greatest wildlife spectacle, which has the annual wildlife migration.
In terms of price I can say everything is very cheap, to generalize $1 can dollar = 700 Shilling of Kenya money at that time.
Therefore living or buying anything including gas, houses, food, beer are very cheap compare to Calgary, Canada.
The greatest city I've ever visited is Bangkok, Thailand. The coolest thing about the city is the insane driving habits of the locals on the freeway. Between each lane there would be a scooter or motorcycle on each side of a car riding just inches away from it. They prices were way cheaper than in calgary, our hotel room (with a rooftop pool) was $20.00 a night. 12 beers cost around $8.00, and food was cheaper. Virtually everything was cheaper over there, the tourists live like kings, but there economy is very poor so there is a low standard of living for the locals.
ReplyDeleteThe first country I have visited and was really interesting was UAE (United Arab of Emirates), I went to Dubai on 2006 and I was very surprised with the new buildings and the development of the whole country. Dubai in specific was a desert about 15 years ago, and I was really surprised the whole revolution that happened in Dubai, Dubai was awarded for best practices in human settlements in 2005 and that's not the only thing I found lots and lots of high rise buildings, new hotels and lots of new and great restaurants, I remember I was in Burj Al Arab in that trip and one of the restaurants owners and the Chef of Al Muntaha restaurants was awarded of the chef of the year which was great cause we got free food cause they got the news at the same day. By that time I was living in Syria and the prices in Dubai was way higher than the prices in Syria where am I from, but because of the economical problems that Dubai is having right now the prices there are cheaper that the prices in Calgary because I love shopping SO MUCH I found huge difference in prices last year when I went there, I got great deal at Bebe I got two skirts for 120 Dirham’s which is around 33 Canadian dollars where I got one skirt here for 89 Canadian dollars. That's about shopping but if we talk about restaurants I think the prices was fair but little more than Calgary cause it's European restaurants, housing was really expansive in the 2006 the rent of the room at Burj Al Arab was about $650 for single room but a single room there was like a full suite in other hotels. That was for hotels but I remember a friend of my father was living in Dubai he got two bedrooms condo he used to pay about 80,000 Dirham’s a year which around 1800 Dollars a month which I think very expansive. Comparing living in Dubai and living in Calgary, if we put all aspects of living which is housing prices, food prices, transportations and most importantly jobs salary I think living in Dubai is cheaper than Calgary at the moment. For a senior CSR in Dubai the salary would be around 15,000 Dirham’s which is around 4000 Dollars no taxes on the salary, where I make around 1700 Dollars a month after taxes. These prices are the current prices but since the economy was great in 2006 I think at that time living in Calgary is better than living in Dubai.
ReplyDeleteThe first country I have visited and was really interesting was UAE (United Arab of Emirates), I went to Dubai on 2006 and I was very surprised with the new buildings and the development of the whole country. Dubai in specific was a desert about 15 years ago, and I was really surprised the whole revolution that happened in Dubai, Dubai was awarded for best practices in human settlements in 2005 and that's not the only thing I found lots and lots of high rise buildings, new hotels and lots of new and great restaurants, I remember I was in Burj Al Arab in that trip and one of the restaurants owners and the Chef of Al Muntaha restaurants was awarded of the chef of the year which was great cause we got free food cause they got the news at the same day. By that time I was living in Syria and the prices in Dubai was way higher than the prices in Syria where am I from, but because of the economical problems that Dubai is having right now the prices there are cheaper that the prices in Calgary because I love shopping SO MUCH I found huge difference in prices last year when I went there, I got great deal at Bebe I got two skirts for 120 Dirham’s which is around 33 Canadian dollars where I got one skirt here for 89 Canadian dollars. That's about shopping but if we talk about restaurants I think the prices was fair but little more than Calgary cause it's European restaurants, housing was really expansive in the 2006 the rent of the room at Burj Al Arab was about $650 for single room but a single room there was like a full suite in other hotels. That was for hotels but I remember a friend of my father was living in Dubai he got two bedrooms condo he used to pay about 80,000 Dirham’s a year which around 1800 Dollars a month which I think very expansive. Comparing living in Dubai and living in Calgary, if we put all aspects of living which is housing prices, food prices, transportations and most importantly jobs salary I think living in Dubai is cheaper than Calgary at the moment. For a senior CSR in Dubai the salary would be around 15,000 Dirham’s which is around 4000 Dollars no taxes on the salary, where I make around 1700 Dollars a month after taxes. These prices are the current prices but since the economy was great in 2006 I think at that time living in Calgary is better than living in Dubai.
ReplyDeleteI haven’t traveled much, but the country that interests me the most is Israel. I have lived there for a few years before moving to Canada. This country has interesting architecture, education; also one of the cities is divided into four religions. I also liked to visit the red sea that is located in the vacation city Elate. The prices in Israel are cheaper because the currency change $1CDN worth 4Shekles. Some things like gas, food, and restaurant are cheaper, but the housing and alcohol are cheaper in Calgary. At the moment the cost of living in Israel since 2009 went up for food, gas, heat and more but, at that time you will be better to live in Calgary.
ReplyDeleteI went to Vancouver last summer on June for just a week. I have heard a lot of fascinating things about Vancouver before being there and it was even more interesting when I got actually there. I liked very much the huge waterfront and the pathways surrounding it. I also had the chance to visit the Capilano Suspension Bridge which was really amazing with the green environment around it and the beautiful river that runs underneath. Because I went there for just a week, I didn't have the chance to live except in a motel; however, my friends who live in Vancouver gave me an idea of the housing prices over there and it is more expensive than Calgary for people who are preferring to stay around the down town area. For example, the average price for a two-room apartment in Calgary is between 1100 to 1500 while in Vancouver ranges between 1500 to 2000. Also, the prices of food, clothing and gas are much more expensive than Calgary due to the higher tax rates that are applied on the province of British Columbia. To sum up, Vancouver is a great city to visit; nevertheless, it is way costly to live there comparing to Calgary financially wise.
ReplyDeleteLast Fall I visited Las Vegas Nevada. It was definitely the most fun and exciting place to ever visit. There are two things I found interesting about Las Vegas. Firstly, the prices were fifty percent lower than Canadian prices in general. Secondly, people in Las Vegas party and have fun 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. If you were to purchase a steak combo at a restaurant in Las Vegas, it costs from 10-15 dollars USD. However, In Canada it would range from 25-35 dollars Canadian. Also, housing is much cheaper in Las Vegas compared to Calgary. In Las Vegas, housing prices range from 180,000-300,000. In Calgary it ranges from 260,000-500,000. In my opinion, it would definitely be cheaper to live in Las Vegas because everything is fifty percent lower than Calgary prices.
ReplyDeleteI would have to say that the most interesting place I have ever visited would be Montreal. Even though I was only 15 at the time, I found that the whole experience opened my eyes in many ways. Spending time exploring Old Montreal would have to be the most interesting part of my trip, and to this day I remember parts of it quite clearly. I was too young and not responsible enough at the time to really remember what the cost of our trip was and all the material items we purchased, I was more focused on the surroundings. Two things that do stand out above all of my other memories are the people and the architecture of some of the old buildings. I do know that living in Montreal would be more expensive than living in Calgary; the cost of living is higher there. One example of this is minimum wage, currently we are $8.80 and Montreal is at $9.50 and it is expected to rise on May 1st to $9.65.
ReplyDeleteWithin 3 years ago, I went to my hometown China. I still think there is really interesting place. The Calgary's weather really same with there. They both do not have spring and fall, that is a short time season. In the Calgary, there are lots of supermarkets in the city, but in the China, there are a lots of free market the seller from famer. That free market the business time from 4am to 9am in the morning every day. In the free market the people like to dicker the price.The people very enjoy to shopping at there. Comparing the restaurants were much cheaper than the restaurants in the Calgary.If there are 4 people go to the restaurant that only 60 Canadian dollars, but in the Calgary that is not enough. But only the house price is more higher than Calgary. There are about 950 Canadian dollars per square meter. That is amazing price. Except that I think live in Calgary more expensive than China.
ReplyDeleteAfter living in Canada for 10 years, I had a chance to visit my home country Philippines. Having been away for that long, my visit turned into an interesting experience. During our last visit, we were able to visit a few tourist destinations such as Boracay, Hundered Islands, Mines View Park, and other smaller destinations. Boracay is known for its long white sand beaches. While in Boracay, we went island hopping in which we went to visit the bat cave and we also went snorkeling which exposed us to the island's coral reefs. Its so amazing that a small island such as Boracay is so rich with natural resources. Money wise, Canadian dollars is worth a lot in the Philippines, on average, the exchange rate is 42 pesos per $1 canadian. If you're coming from abroad and thinking of living in the Philippines, you might find yourself in a better position when it comes to housing. Houses are cheaper depending on where you want to live. But if weather is of importance to you, you can live anywhere in the Philippines and enjoy its tropical weather. The standard of living in the Philippines is much cheaper than in Calgary. For illustration purposes, a household can afford to have a maid do all the household chores for about $75 per month.
ReplyDeleteLahore is the city where I had enjoyed the most during my vacations in Pakistan. The unique culture made this city impossible to resist. The people of Lahore celebrate many festivals and events blending Mughal, Western and other traditions. Basant (kite flying) celebrations in Pakistan are centered in Lahore; the Festival of Lamps is another important and popular in Lahore. The art, historical tombstone and buildings of Lahore stand as the specimen of Mughal art and architecture. Lahoris are known for their love of food and eating. While Western fast food chains such as McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, Domino’s Pizza; have appeared all over the city and it also remains a traditional center of Pakistan Chinese cuisine. Living in Lahore is fairly inexpensive than in Calgary; cost of living is 60% cheaper than Calgary. Price of gas is 0.99 cents / liter is the same but 3-4 bedroom house cost around $125,000 CAD that is very less than the amount that we pay here in Calgary. The food cost around $600 CAD. Anything that I would purchase there is fairly inexpensive because of the difference in the currency rate $1 CAD= 80 rupees Pak so it is very easy for a Canadian earning person to spend money and still save it.
ReplyDeleteThe country that I visited recently was my home country Kashmir and it’s considered as the most beautiful country and second paradise on earth due to the natural, beauty. The main attractions of Kashmir are its green mountains, lakes and snow (in winter). Kashmir has always been a supplier of many world famous products, whether it is human-made or nature blessed. In Kashmir most of things are homemade and in foreign countries they are really expensive, such as embroidery shawls. Household industries produce carved wooden objects, textiles, and carpets. Carpets made in Kashmir are famous because of their design and the effort in it. Official language is Urdu but we can find a variety of different languages as well as English is fairly widely spoken among the educated classes and those involved in the tourist industry. I think it would be cheap to live in Kashmir because most people have their own houses and some land so they don’t have to pay a lot of bills and even renting a house is not as high as in Calgary. Food prices are reasonably low-priced as most people produce their own food.
ReplyDeleteThe last county I visited was my home country Pakistan. The most interesting thing about Pakistan is its culture and natural beauty. Pakistan is like paradise. It is full of greenery and loving people. You get to enjoy four seasons (summer, spring, winter, fall). The cost of living in Pakistan is very cheaper then Canada. The Canadian dollar has a very strong power in Pakistan. Due to that advantage you can buy a lot without spending too much. The price of housing is very cheap in Pakistan if you own a house. I mean you don’t have to pay any lease. The only things you have to pay for are the utilities. In my opinion it would be less expensive to live in Pakistan then Canada if you have a stable job in Pakistan, but if u do not then living in either country will be expensive.
ReplyDeleteThis is not the most interesting city I have recently been to, but I do have some comments on a recent visit to Vancouver, BC. I grew up on the lower mainland so it is always nice to visit home, although, it seems to get more and more expensive each time I go back. The cost of regular gas in the city I stayed in was $1.90/L! Just for regular! In addition to that, the province now also charges the 12% HST on every purchase, where PST was only charged on certain goods. Vanvouver is such a beautiful city its esthetic has made it flourish but maybe to its own detriment. Real estate is twice as expensive compared to Calgary, it is not easy to find work or quality work to support the expensive standard of living because there is less opportunity available, and apparently it costs an arm and a leg to even drive across the city! I will continue to live in Calgary for now despite the -30 degree winters because I won't be broke to live by the ocean
ReplyDeleteSince I moved to Canada, I've been traveled in different places: Edmonton, Calgary, Halifax, Ottawa, Toronto etc. Because I love big city, I prefer Toronto to live, but I also love to live in Halifax even it's not big city. One of the reason I like there is ocean side and hills are surrounding the city. It was only 30 minutes for me to walk down to sea front. It was small, but peaceful. The tax rate in Halifax is now 13% which is quite higher than Calgary. The cost of living in Halifax is more expensive than Calgary too. (annual bill for income and property tax, electricity, heat and gasoline is about to be $22,545 in Calgary and $27,607 in Halifax.)
ReplyDeleteI went to Pakistan for vacation in 2008, and on return we stayed in Dubai (United Arab Emirates) for about four days. The things I found most interesting about Dubai are its culture, buildings, famous landmarks, and beaches. The weather in Dubai is mostly warm and sunny. The official language of U.A.E is Arabic, however most people in and out of the workplace communicate in English. Approximately 80% of the residents in Dubai are foreigners. 1 Canadian dollar is equal to 3.48 U.A.E Dirham. In 2008, hotel rooms were one of the most expensive rooms in the world: we paid 600 Dirham per room for a local hotel. Dubai has one of the highest per capita incomes. In Dubai, there are no taxes on income and there are no personal taxes either.It would be less expensive to live in that city if you have a good job.
ReplyDeleteMost of my travels have been to Mexico because of the immediate family which resides there. Puerto Vallarta and Cancun has shown interesting differences in the type of tourists each city markets to. I found Puerto Vallarta to be interesting because individuals living there demonstrate a passion for life and seem to be in tune with the environment and place value in nature. This is apparent in the way the locals attempt to use all natural ingredients and are very conscience not to use toxins that will be harmful to the environment. This was shown when the locals got upset with tourist using insect repellent because of its harmful chemicals which could affect both plants and animals around them.
ReplyDeleteIn the Western culture chemicals have become a commonality and there harmful affects often go unnoticed. This ranges from the food that we eat to the cosmetics we use.
During my stay in Puerto Vallarta I found prices that the prices of imported goods; such as, electronics, vehicles, and name brand clothing were double, in some cases triple the price in compression to their cost in Calgary. However, food, handmade products, cigarettes, tequila, and taxi fare were half the price we would pay in Calgary.
The cost of living in Puerto Vallarta is half what Calgarians pay. Sounds great but when I found out that the average Mexican makes five dollars an hour it would not be feasible to have similar costs of living as Calgarians.
Montreal. There was a totally unique francophone and anglophone mix of culture throughout the whole city. I can't quite tell you how prices compare because quite honestly everything seemed to be quite similar to Calgary except gas which was a good 10 cents higher per litre. Probably because of a provincial tax. I have a feeling that to live there would be on par with Calgary.
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