~Cost of Living~

Does it cost more to live in Grande Praire?  Is it worth it? How much is milk?  Gas? Rent?  I know some of these questions can drive you mad when you are trying to make the decision to uproot your family from wherever and move here.  Here is my personal opinion on this matter (well this whole blog is my personal opinion isn't it now?) anyhow I digress!  Yes it is more expensive to live here.  No doubt about it.  Gas hovers around $1.09 to $1.34 a Litre depending on the season and whether the refineries are down and roads are bad...yup that happens.  The bigger problem than the cost of gas is the fact that you need to drive almost 10 hours round trip to the nearest large city (Edmonton) and most likely you will upgrade your vehicle to an SUV which will cost more to drive.  Why will you upgrade your vehicle to an SUV?  Sure you love your little car;  it's economical, low payments (or paid off) and fits your family.  Let me illustrate:

Yeah, it snows a lot here.  Not to say that people don't drive cars here, they do.  I don't.  I drive a huge, gas guzzling SUV.  You see not only does that keep me feeling safer on the road and able to get out of more tricky spots, it also allows us to get to Edmonton with our two kids without having to strap one to the roof to fit all our stuff.  Everyone knows when you travel with kids half the house comes too!  So plan for it, you're going to want to get a bigger vehicle.

Food.  Is it more expensive in Grande Prairie?  Well considering it needs to be brought in and we are a far ways away from major centers...yup, it costs more.  It's not as expensive as Ft Nelson, BC ( I lived there one winter) however it is more expensive than Edmonton.  Its hard to say how much more because I've lived here for so long it's just normal. A jug of milk will run you $4.89 at Costco.  I cook 95% of our family meals from scratch (ie. not processed foods, fresh meat and veggies) and our grocery bill is around $650 a month for a family of 4 for 3 meals a day and snacks.

We have many grocery stores here you can shop at:  Superstore (Loblaws), Safeway, IGA, Save On Foods (Overwaitea), Costco, Walmart Grocery Shelf  and No Frills (Loblaws).  There are also a couple of great butcher shops in town, I get most of my meat from Blackman's Butcher Shop, I find they have the best selection and great quality.    M&M meat shops have 2 locations here as well and there are specialy bakeries available too.  The Farmer's Market has great produce available from local producers seasonally as well.

Rent/Housing:  Our market is hot here!  I HIGHLY suggest you look into where you are going to live before you head this way.  We have a VERY low availability of rental units here and sometimes there is virtually nothing available.  There are many homes converted into two suites that are rented out here as well as rooms for rent in personal homes.  A basement suite can run you anywhere from $900 to $1200 a month and a full house will run you $1600-$3500 depending on size, furnished or unfurnished and if you sign a lease.  I will do a more in depth post on rental opportunities as well as hopefully feature some property management companies that you can get more information from.  Please feel free to email me if you are a property management company and are interested in being featured.  Kijiji is a great resource on rentals and real estate for this area.

If you are looking to buy here don't be scared of the market.  It's hot but has stayed hot for many years with only a slight dip with the last recession.  Average house prices as of June 2013 are $302,384 and are rising up as lots become more scarce.  You are best to work with an experience realtor that knows the city and has done business here for many years.  They can help you navigate areas of town that would be a good fit for your family and be able to steer you out of areas with known problems.  I would happily refer anyone to Joan Prankie with Royal Lepage, we have bought 3 homes through her now and sold 2.  She has over 13 years of experience in real estate here and brings practical, no nonsense information to her clients. 

So to answer the question, yes it costs more to live here.  But you do make more money here, on average $126,877 per household.  And you shouldn't have ANY problem finding a job here, which I will discuss soon!

Disclosure:  I provide opinions on businesses or services and they are my own. I have not been paid by Blackman's or Joan Prankie for my opinion, they just have great products and service, that's it!