Cost of living outside the United States

I'm looking for anybody that does not live in the United States. I am considering relocation for various reasons. I do not have a specific country in mind, but I am curious as to what the cost of living and basic necessities are in various countries. If you are not from the United States, feel free to help me out and answer some of the questions listed below and throw in ANY information you think is relevant to someone considering moving to your country..

First, where are you from? Be as specific as you're comfortable on a public forum but try to describe the area and your living arrangements as much as possible.
How much can I expect to pay in rent for a reasonable place for two?
How easy is it to find a job?
Can you live on your own, pay bills, and support yourself minimum wage?
How is the public transportation? Will I need or do most people have cars?
Is a bicycle an effective method of getting around?
Do you know anything about the citizenship process and is citizenship necessary to seek employment or housing?
What is the attitude towards foreigners? Would someone who primarily speaks English have trouble communicating or getting around?
How is the weather throughout the year? Highs in summers? lows in winter? averages? does it rain a lot?

If I can think of anything else, I'll amend this post... But I thank you all ahead of time for and appreciate your responses.

 

I just moved from Oregon to Toronto and the cost of living here is fucking RIDICULOUS. I'll fill you in with some points about Canada later. Best of luck with your plans man.

Add me on Skype if you want to talk some time

 

I heard living near York university is cheaper... But what do I know lol.

 

Lol I don't think so, Toronto is a big city, i'd expect it to be expensive.

 

It is not easy to move to another country as I am experiencing this right at this moment, to work in another country you need a work permit and that takes time and can be problematic to get. And getting insurance for a car is also a problem because you do not have a permanent address, and even with your international license you wont be able to drive for long. And the cost is about $1500-2k a month here in Canada. But good luck, never hurts to try.

 

Toronto is one of the more expensive places to live. Especially if you want a spot downtown. Probably because a lot of the universities are right downtown so getting an apartment is probably at least going to be as expensive as a residence dorm spot (which is already high).

 

Im from New Zealand.
How much can I expect to pay in rent for a reasonable place for two? Depends what your wanting. A flat or unit 2bdrms around $150-$200 a family house is $200-300 These prices are based in our main citys. If you were to go somewhere else you can find a really nice family home for under $200
How easy is it to find a job? Easy if you move to Christchurch - there currently rebuilding and there short of workers. Also theres a grant here in NZ that if you go and work in Christchurch you get $3000 cash to your name. Otherwise its pretty decent trying for jobs.
Can you live on your own, pay bills, and support yourself minimum wage? Our minimum wage is $14.25 hr depending on what type of feild of employment you go in to the rate is higher. Construction min wage is about $16-18
How is the public transportation? Will I need or do most people have cars? Public transport is mostly used
Is a bicycle an effective method of getting around? If your in to that. New Zealand is small lol
Do you know anything about the citizenship process and is citizenship necessary to seek employment or housing? Dont know much about citizenship but there is help for finding cheap housing for people who migrate here. You would probs need a work permit though which can take a while
What is the attitude towards foreigners? Would someone who primarily speaks English have trouble communicating or getting around? Pretty good youd have no trouble friendly people
How is the weather throughout the year? Highs in summers? lows in winter? averages? does it rain a lot? Our summer is ok 22-25 would be our highest. It rains a bit in winter doesnt snow in the north island other than on mountains, but it snows in the south..

Thats some info about living in New Zealand. NZ has ok living costs. I have a partner and 2 kids, our rents $220 a week for a 3bedroom house, $120 week for food $80 a month power and $60 month for broadband & phone. You dont pay water bills etc unless your in a certain region so it pays to check that out too. To me its cheap but than again ive never lived in another country so i wouldnt know if that was cheap or not. Well hope that helped good luck

 

I live in Texas in the United States, and it's not too expensive because I've seen other states like California and New York which cost a lot, but the costs are increasing! I've been very interested lately in living overseas when an opportunity comes up, just to see the difference. I hope you can find a place that is beautiful to you and isn't too expensive for your budget. Keep us updated

 

If you can afford to get an immigration lawyer when you move it will speed everything up and make it so much easier for you, trust me there's so much paper work you gotta go through and make sure you have all the certificates to work in each field and such

 

You can come to Russia if you want to but people here are kinda skeptical and the prices compared to the US are way lower. For example renting a good house would cost like $500/month and the food and the "taxes" would cost like $100-200. Definitely a good place to live in

 

1; Russia doesn't really like Americans.
2; Russia is a developing country.
3; Salaries and standars are very bad.
4; Most Russians can't speak English therefore it would be very hard for her/him to work there.
5; Getting the work permit is a no go because he might have to meet language requirements.

 

It was a joke. I've been trying to get him to go to York university but he won't.

 

You could get a shithole in the states for $500 a month and not have to deal with any rude assed russians or a war torn country in constant turmoil. Let alone awful weather ect. Lol fuck russia.

Inb4 classic super mad krutoi response

OP are you just DEADSET against relocating in the states? Also have you considered mexico? If you stay away from the borders it is actually really nice and pretty inexpensive to live in.

 

I rent a two bed flat for £250 a month and work full time, which gives me plenty of left over dosh at the end of the month.

FYI min wage in the UK is £6.31 an hour.

 

I greatly appreciate the responses and look forward to hearing from others.

 

FYI, trying to start fights by trash talking someone makes you look like a complete loser.

Anyway, on topic
I'm from New Zealand, but A lot of people here move to Australia because of its cheaper living costs, and higher wages. Have you considered moving there?

 

Move to Mexico and live like a king, literately.

 

Brazil is like 3x more expensive than the USA . Lots and lots of taxes and no come-back (dangerous, streets are shit, no subways, old bus etc) .

 

It's pretty cheap around jane and finch near york but there's a reason for that, on average at least one person gets shot a month around that intersection. It's a lot cheaper to live near york than most locations close to Toronto but most people are willing to commute rather than risk getting robbed. I'm also not too sure if they've fixed the plumbing problem around there.

 

The living costs in Australia are far higher than New Zealand, AFAIK Australia holds 3 of the cities in the world with the highest living costs.