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By retail prices I think this ranking for Western/Northern Europe makes sense:
I am sure that Germany is the cheapest country. I am also sure that Norway is the most expensive country, then comes Switzerland, and then Denmark. Belgium seems to be a little bit more expensive than the Netherlands. I am not sure about Austria, whether they are more or less expensive than the Netherlands. The Netherlands are more expensive than Germany, but the difference is not that big. France seems to be similiar to Belgium but I am not sure. France is very large and diverce. I know that the French from the Alsace and Lorraine often shop in Germany. Sweden is much more expensive than the Netherlands but much cheaper than Denmark. UK? I know that the grocery price tags often looks the same like in Germany, but they are in Pounds, so it seems that their groceries is about 20% more expensive than in Germany. According to this woman UK seems to be much more expensive than Germany. The crucially part starts at 6:00
Ireland is probably more expensive than the UK. Luxemburg is more expensive than Belgium. Sorry, but I cant say anything about Finland.
So my list:
1. Germany
2. Netherlands, Austria
3. Belgium
4. France
5. UK
6. Sweden
7. Luxemburg
8. Ireland
9. Denmark
10. Switzerland
11. Norway
I think that Germany is also the cheapest country in Western/Northern Europe at renting an appartement. You can look at immobilienscout.de.
If you compare these rents with the rents at gottarent.com for Canada then at least most parts of East Germany, the Ruhrgebiet and most other midsized cities seems to be cheaper than Manitoba and Saskatchewan. I think plain appartements for very little money can be easily found in many parts of Germany. To rent a house can be very expensive in mayor cities. In more rural areas you can find a lot of houses for less than 800 Euro.
Northern and Western Europe is France, UK, Belgium, Spain, Ireland and Portgual. I don't consider Germany as North West Europe or indeed Switzerland so they are out the door.
And Sweden? Since when were they in the west? Sorry but I actually live west of the meridian and I consider anywhere past England/France as East. I mean how could Germany be in western Europe when you have to go about 500 miles in to get to it??
Your admitting you know little about Canada comes later in this thread. You started out like this
" I am sure that prices and spendings in Canada are not that different from what they are in the US. Off course transportation is cheeper in Germany and probably in most other european countries than in Canada.
I bet, that you need at least 50% more money in Canada than in Germany for a similiar living."
Saying you are SURE is not the same as admitting you know little.
Yes I was sure and if you look on statistics about monthly spendings for an average household in the U.S. and Canada the differences are very small. A good example is the consumption of electricity.
Yes I know little about Canada and even if I learn much more about this country, I always have to say that I know not that much about Canada. Most Germans know little about their own country. But do you want to forbid them to have an opinion about Germany?
On the beginning of this thread I was sure that the cost of living is 50% higher in Canada than in Germany. Today I am sure that I would have lost this bet. We don't live in a static world and in my opinion it's normal that we all get new cognitions. Therefor exist threads like this one.
The 50% originate from insights of german expats in the U.S., most of them stated out that someone will need in the U.S. twice the amount of US$ than the Euro amount in Germany. For example if you need 25,000 Euro for a decent live in Germany, you will need 50,000 USD in the U.S. for the same standard of living. But they also stated that this depends strongly on the region in the U.S.
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Also this thread is NOT about the US. It's about Canada, so as I mentioned, the only reason that I can figure out why you are here is to bash the US. If someone starts a thread on Germany compared to Sweden, should I come in and give my opinions about Slovakia??
I compare mostly prices in Germany and the U.S. because there are so much more data available about the prices in the U.S. than those from Canada. And all user in this thread claim that Canada is more expensive than the U.S.
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When you say that Europeans view Canada and the US as being the same, is true. I've had many conversations with Europeans on this. However in all cases they had never been to either country or if they had they went to one place and made their judgement from that. I can tell you that, at least with my friends from Europe, that when they actually did some extensive travelling in both countries they learned that there are differences, sometimes quite large differences and now see their original view as mis-informed.
Yes, your are absolutely right. It's completely normal, that from an european view Canada and the U.S. looks very similiar. But everyone with some brain knows also that there are big differences, but you will only notce them if you learn more about the countries. For someone from Bavaria, the Netherlands and Germany seems to be very similiar. But people here in the Rhineland know that there are huge differences. For Germans it's difficult to see the differences between the different regions in Italy. For me Bavaria is a country somewhere between Austria and Germany. People from Northern America often thinks that Bavaria is a part of Germany ;-))) But I think it's ok for a first or a second view to treat Canada and the U.S. as equal. Of course I can understand that Canadians are annoyed by that, but I think we all have to concede that people from far away see our countries at first glance very similiar.
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Many here HAVE been to Europe and to a lot of countries in Europe. I have been to Germany three times, Europe overall I've been 13 times. The reason is because I enjoy Europe, but in all honesty would never live there.
How many times have you been to Canada? The US ? Right. Your opinions, are not well founded. You paint two very diverse ,varied and extremely LARGE countries with one brush. You are believing the stereotypes….that and Streetview.
I believe that you have visit Europe, yes, but a lot of peple here in this forum stated constantly nonsens about Europe, that's also true in the other direction. I am sure that my opinions about the U.S. and Canada are better founded than those from many of other users here, that constantly write bs. No, I really don't believe in stereotypes. I think I have often the habit to exaggerate things. Sorry, for that. What's wrong about Streetview? I have stated that London (ON) looks very boring to me and surprisingly a lot of Canadians think exactly the same about this City. So the picture that streetview mediates seems to be very accurate. You have mention the cities of Victoria, Quebec and some other places. The pictures from those cities at streetview are amazing. I have found so many nice streets in Vancouver with blooming trees, very beautiful. What I don't found at streetview in Canada? Run down neighborhoods. There are of course less wealthy areas, but nothing looks really bad. At the Wild Water Kingodm in Brampton you can "visit" the whole amusement park via streetview. You can literally look at every pebble stone. You can see the table of prices at the entrance. The park looks to me a little bit outdated and overpriced. If you read reviews about this park than you will see, that most people who visit this park think exactly the same. In my opinion Google streetview is a really good option to get an impression about a specific area. I wish we had streetview in Germany, too. Here are only the sights of the 20 biggest cities available.
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As for bashing, perhaps bashing sound harsh, however I was responding to an earlier post where you called North American cities ( see where I get the ALL from, not some cities but North American cities ) have no soul.
You words, not mine.
Probably your are right. It was not ok to call cities in North America soulless. I have sometimes the habit to exaggerate. The appearance of cities is very important to me. I really hate ugly corners. It makes me angry if the surrounding looks so unattractive.
Great/greatest=/=absolutely flawless. I don't see anything wrong when somebody says that Germany is one of the greatest countries or greatest country.
Being proud of your country is fine, but typically when someone says they live in "The Greatest country on earth" and are not a politician who has to say those things, you can assume they are an idiot.
What do you think about in terms of general cost of living between Canada and most European nations. Admittedly I've only been to a few Euro countries but I can't imagine most goods would be cheaper. My personal experience confirms this.
btw Price Chopper went the way of the Dodo bird .. replaced by FreshCo... which is actually much better in terms of quality than Price Chopper.. It sort of in between No Frills and Loblaws.
Good to know about Price Chopper, I had no idea.
As far as COL is concerned, most people from Canada who travel to Europe are not able to get a true feeling for how much it truly costs to live there as a local. First off when converting CAD currency to Euros or Pounds you are instantly losing money right off the bat. Secondly the COL varies quite drastically between countries and cities, so it is difficult to compare.
To just generalize though, I would say the most expensive cities in Europe are much more expensive to live in than even the most expensive cities in Canada. Not even Vancouver or Toronto's housing costs match London or Paris. In the middle though, that is where it gets murky and there are definitely ways to live inexpensively in Europe the same way you can in Canada.
@edward...
In which part of Germany do you visit Aldi stores? In the North, East, South, West? and how long ago was that? There is a huge difference between the two Aldi's. Aldi Nord is rather poor but Aldi Süd is in my opinion probably the most competitive grocery chain in the world. Sales at an average Aldi Süd store in Germany is almost twice than the sales in an average Aldi Nord store.
That would explain it then, because it was Aldi Nord that I visited. My sister lives in Berlin, so I have been to an Aldi Nord as recently as 6 months ago. The quality is so poor that my sister ends up doing to majority of her meat and produce shopping at the Turkish grocery stores.
I am not sure, but it seems that Gelsenkirchen has the lowest rents in Germany. Gelsenkirchen is a city in the Ruhr area. It has about 250,000 inhabitants. Gelsenkirchen is not a beauty, it is in my opinion one of the ugliest cities in Germany. It's a working class city. The city is part of the Rhein-Ruhr metropolitan region. With about 10 mil people the biggest metropolitain area in Germany. Public transportation is excellent and Essen, the heart of the Ruhr Area is just 10 minutes off with the train.
1 room appartement with 1 room, a kitchen and a bath. 32.5m²
Rent: 166 Euro
Additional costs: 50 Euro
Heating: 30 Euro
Total: 246 Euro
Through the population decline, there are many such appartements available. According to Immobilienscout there are 267 appartements in Gelsenkirchen with a rent less than 250 Euro (Total probably less than 350 Euro)
Sometimes someone can find, even in a city like Cologne a very affordable appartement:
That would explain it then, because it was Aldi Nord that I visited. My sister lives in Berlin, so I have been to an Aldi Nord as recently as 6 months ago. The quality is so poor that my sister ends up doing to majority of her meat and produce shopping at the Turkish grocery stores.
To be honest, I'm also not a huge fan of Aldi Süd/Hofer. I'd rather not buy relatively expensive things like meat at all than buying it there.
I'm not saying that all of the things there are of poor quality, but it's noticeable worse than at Billa (Rewe) or Spar. I don't really like to be stingy when it comes to things I shove into my mouth.
Chemnitz in Sachsen or Halle (Saale) in Sachsen-Anhalt are yet less expensive than Gelsenkirchen. Viribusinitis is right.
There are appartaments available incl. Heating for less than 200 Euro. And there are a lot of such appartements.
By immobilienscout there are 727 appartements available in Chemnitz for less than 250 Euro (Total probably less than 350 Euro). Chemnitz is a city with about 240,000 inhabitants.
And in Halle (Saale) there are 230 appartements available for less than 250 Euro (Total probably less than 350 Euro).
If we are going bring up economically down-and-out places in western Europe as examples of affordability, shouldn't they be compared to similar places in Canada?
I don't really see the logic of comparing, say, Bitterfeld with Calgary, to show that housing in Germany can be more affordable than in Canada.
Canada has lots of places where housing is relatively cheap. Even dirt cheap. These places exist in every single province.
But there's usually a reason for them being cheap. Same as there is for cheap places in Germany.
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.. replaced by FreshCo... which is actually much better in terms of quality than Price Chopper.. It sort of in between No Frills and Loblaws.
