Is gross income 100,000CAD yr good enough to raise a family in B.C.?

[dougthebicycle]

I just received an offer from a Canadian company and I was wondering if it's a good one. (100,000CAD yr gross)

We are a family of 5 (my wife, 7yo, 4yo, 1yo kids and myself)

The company is located in Vancouver but I can live wherever I want inside Canada.

Does this is enough to live in a good suburb near Vancouver?

If not, but it is to live somewhere else nice to raise family... where??

We do not go out to bars / parties.

We do not need daycare services.

My wife would work also eventually.

We usually go to dinner out once or twice a week but it not something "mandatory" for us.

Also we would like to make some trip abroad once a year.

Do you think that's realistic?

What other cities / neighborhoods do you recommend with that salary?

I want to have as much info as I can before accepting / declining the offer.

Thanks in advance, I really appreciate your help : )

EDIT: Hey guys thanks a lot for all your help, I think I will accept the offer and while working from my country I will continue researching all the places you recommended. I really appreciate all your help, this is a big change (for good) for myself and my family.

 

[amytnurse]

@dougthebicycle Unless you love van, your money would go further in the Prairies for sure. More house for less $, as said below no PST in AB. Could be a solid financial move for your young family

 

[dougthebicycle]

@amytnurse I’ve seen Alberta as a good option in several comments, I’ll also take a look, thanks!

 

[nedu]

@dougthebicycle A suggestion if you look at Calgary is that the Northeast part of town will be significantly cheaper, it is also a much worse neighbourhood so it is likely worth the price difference to live elsewhere.

 

[dunk_x]

@dougthebicycle $100k HHI for a family of 5 in the Greater Vancouver region will not be a great quality of life. Unless your wife works, I really don’t suggest trying to support a family of 5 on $100k in Greater Vancouver.

For reference a townhouse rental would be around $3-4k per month in Vancouver. That’s pretty much one of your paycheques. Then there’s groceries, childcare costs outside of daycare, getting a car.. it’ll be tight.

 

[jonyx]

@dunk_x You're not including the child tax benefits

 

[dougthebicycle]

@jonyx I did't know about it, I just checked it out, and it's a good Canadian benefit : ) thanks for the info

 

[dougthebicycle]

@dunk_x Thanks for the advice : )

 

[cgmaj44]

@dougthebicycle $100k will be quite tight anywhere near Vancouver or the Island. Will be tough anywhere in BC if you plan on buying a house. Calgary might be your best bet if you want to live a reasonable lifestyle and don’t mind a bit of cold weather.

 

[dougthebicycle]

@cgmaj44 I will take a look around Calgary as well thanks for the recommendation

 

[kash]

@cgmaj44 not sure why this is getting downvoted. $100k after tax is about $5700 a month net pay. Rent and utilities in Burnaby for a 3 bedroom basement is about $2500-$3000. Food for a family of 4 is roughly $2000 a month. Phone+internet+occasional entertainment+transportation will be at least $500 a month and if you want to have a car it'll be more. So yeah, $100k will be quite tight

 

[resjudicata]

@kash If he has all of canada to choose from for a better quality of life, why on earth would anyone rent a basement with a family that big and live on a tight budget, that's ridiculous. OP look at Ottawa, Calgary or east coast to rent or purchase an actual house and have a good quality of life for you and your family. For reference in Ottawa you can rent a +2000 sq ft townhouse for 2k.

 

[dougthebicycle]

@resjudicata Vancouver looks nice, but as you said, I rather live in a good house where my family is confortable.

Actually I haven't checked anything over Ottawa, I will check i out.

Thanks : )

 

[dunk_x]

@kash OP has a 1 yo and 4 yo, who will need childcare.. that is a substantial cost also, around another $3-4k a month possibly.

 

[bulldogbrian]

@dunk_x It says in the post ‘we do not need day care services.’ So OP wouldn’t be spending that much money.

 

[dunk_x]

@bulldogbrian Ah I missed that part!

 

[dougthebicycle]

@kash Yup, seems tight, I don't think we'll need childcare since I'll be working from home and my wife is not going to work for a while... so until she gets a job the smaller ones will be at home with us.

 

[tobyw]

@dougthebicycle I will warn you that most people I know with kids who also work from home have jobs that expect them to have childcare taken care of, and that they are focused/online during work hours. There are, of course, reasonable exceptions, but you can’t be tending to you kids all day during work.

From my observations, 1 and 4 year olds require a ton of attention. Great that your wife can look after them but that also means you’re stuck making $100K with no second income for however long that lasts. This is probably a smart decision since daycare around large cities can be extremely expensive and your wife would need to make good money to make it make sense.

While I’m commenting, I’ll say that $100K HHI for a family of 5 is not a lot in Canada. Not sure where you’re coming here from, but assuming the USA, expect things to cost more here, including energy (gas, heating your home, electricity), rent anywhere close to a decent sized city is very expensive right now, as is the price of homes if you’re looking to buy. Food is also more expensive.

There is hope, though! As others have mentioned, the Praries are good value but have some awful winter weather to contend with. The Maritimes are probably not a great option since you’ll like be working on PST, so the time change could be brutal, but if that’s not an issue, you should check out Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

In Ontario, most of the south is very expensive, but $100K can get you a decent living in places like Windsor and that general area. Also, Sault Ste. Marie/the north is generally more affordable. Both Windsor and the Sault are border cities, so if you’re from the US, gong back across for administrative stuff will be closer and easier.

Good luck!

 

[dougthebicycle]

@tobyw Thanks a lot, this is really helpful

 

[dougthebicycle]

@cgmaj44 At first I will rent, maybe buy in a few years