Foo - American dream moves north

I ran into a link on Digg that surprised me. It is a statistical comparison between
the US and Canada. Canada seems to come out ahead in almost every way including
average income, but what surprised me was by how much. Of course it is just
theoretical to me. I just barely broke 20k in income for the first time last year and
would be at the bottom end of the feeding trough in either country, but I have to
admit it certainly is nice up here as far as everything else goes.

I'm certainly not trying to be antagonistic and hope no one is patriotically offended.
Our 2 countries really do have similar attitudes. Unfortunately one of those has been
enthusiasm about borrowing money to get through good times for the last 20 or 30 years.
The big advantage up here is probably just that there are a lot more natural resources
per person, since it is a bigger country and maybe a bit less comfortable as far as the
weather goes, which keeps the population down.

http://www.macleans.ca/canada/national/article.jsp?content=20080625_50113_50113

And also, are there people here that use Digg? I just matched my address book with
Digg members and not a single person matched. I have been visiting them maybe once
a week for a couple of years and became a member not long ago. I do have a little project
coming up in a week or 2 that involves the site and if anyone would like to post or pm their
user name, I would like to add you as a friend and give a shout when the project goes live.
They don't allow a space in a user name there, so I am ClosedOffice. Go ahead and add me
if you feel like it.

It is quite a good site for a variety of news, and once you sign up you can customize your
news, so I eliminated video from mine which made it a lot better for me. And then you can
pick your topics, like tennis, news, comedy, etc.

It is at digg.com

yes, thanks for pointing it out. Canada is cool however im still in the US. Although I am getting an international license so I can race in Canada :)

i made 7k (usa) last year and live(d) like a king

ha, I made 10k and was on every social service just getting by barley making it. Are you living with your parents or something?

now I am doing a little better. First "real" paycheck comes on tuesday! LBS here I come!

Canada already has realized the flight to their country, and pretty much all but slammed the door on Americans immigrating northwards. To have a shot at Canadian citizenship, you need to either have a Ph. D., or run a business grossing more than seven digits a year.

so your saying an Masters in Education wont cut it? damn....

ha, I made 10k and was on every social service just getting by barley making it. Are you living with your parents or something?

nope. saved 90%+ of my income too

no gov't assistance also.

Canada already has realized the flight to their country, and pretty much all but slammed the door on Americans immigrating northwards. To have a shot at Canadian citizenship, you need to either have a Ph. D., or run a business grossing more than seven digits a year.

Or you have a deep pocket of 7+ figures ready to invest. Most of the people here buying million dollar homes are not Canadian citizens.

nope. saved 90%+ of my income too

no gov't assistance also.

teach me

so you lived like a king with $600 per year? that's $50 a month.

last year i worked a seasonal job for a conservation org for the majority of the year. i lived in the mountains from the spring (when there was still snow, until the late fall, when the snow started piling up).

living out of a tent in the mountains: no rent, employer paid for food (75/month allowance), no utility bills. all checks were direct deposited, no need for ca$h in the mountains.

i did get a few days off, the 2 or 3 days per month i got i slept in a shed at my employer's base camp.
the money i did spend was usually for a pizza and some booze on my days off.

i also was able to eat for less than my stipend, so i banked a couple of extra dollars per month.

rest of the year i squatted or bartered for room/board and/or got free food from my (other) employer. or i didn't work and just bartered for food/room.

live the dream

last year i worked a seasonal job for a conservation org for the majority of the year. i lived in the mountains from the spring (when there was still snow, until the late fall, when the snow started piling up).

living out of a tent in the mountains: no rent, employer paid for food (75/month allowance), no utility bills. all checks were direct deposited, no need for ca$h in the mountains.

i did get a few days off, the 2 or 3 days per month i got i slept in a shed at my employer's base camp.
the money i did spend was usually for a pizza and some booze on my days off.

i also was able to eat for less than my stipend, so i banked a couple of extra dollars per month.

rest of the year i squatted or bartered for room/board and/or got free food from my (other) employer. or i didn't work and just bartered for food/room.

live the dream

that'll do it! sounds like fun...not something i would want to do permanently though.

who needs money if you have room/board taken care of?

that'll do it! sounds like fun...not something i would want to do permanently though.

i'm young fer shure (early20s), not many peeps over 30 in this line of work.

after months in the mountains when i got back all i wanted to do was lay around and play on the innernets and watch teevee. and toilets. i missed those.

so your saying an Masters in Education wont cut it? damn....

you have a m.ed?

work for a boarding school. you can get free room&board. live cheaply and you can bank the majority of your meager salary.

You're Ted Kazinsky, I knew it!


last year i worked a seasonal job for a conservation org for the majority of the year. i lived in the mountains from the spring (when there was still snow, until the late fall, when the snow started piling up).

living out of a tent in the mountains: no rent, employer paid for food (75/month allowance), no utility bills. all checks were direct deposited, no need for ca$h in the mountains.

i did get a few days off, the 2 or 3 days per month i got i slept in a shed at my employer's base camp.
the money i did spend was usually for a pizza and some booze on my days off.

i also was able to eat for less than my stipend, so i banked a couple of extra dollars per month.

rest of the year i squatted or bartered for room/board and/or got free food from my (other) employer. or i didn't work and just bartered for food/room.

live the dream

you have a m.ed?

work for a boarding school. you can get free room&board. live cheaply and you can bank the majority of your meager salary.


I actually have thought about doing this a lot. I do not have an m.ed yet. I am about half way through it. Currently I work in College Admissions. Boarding schools sound fun, I could coach again too!