Moving to Victoria in September

[pterodactly]

Hello!
I am 20 years old and I am moving to victoria in September! In all honesty I am freaking out a bit because I have lived In edmonton all my life! I have about a million questions that I was hoping some fellow couponers could answer for me, as I am not finding many online.

1) Is It really as expensive as everyone says it is?! I mean overall grocery costs are they as nuts as I am told they are?

2) How is Victoria for couponing? Same as everywhere else I assume?

3) What are some decent and affordable areas I should look into moving. I will be renting and hoping to be somewhat close to camosun college.

Thankyou all so much!!

[Midnightly]

i'm from victoria (feel free to message me) couponing isn't bad.. it isn't amazing but if you put the time into it like everything else..i've found couponing in victoria has picked up alot in the last few months (hasn't it everywhere?) it is getting a bit harder to find the coupons (tear pads get snagged pretty quickly, products on shelf can go pretty quickly for an amazing deal)

rent is on the high side but i'm sure you've already looked into it a bit a great resource is www.usedvictoria.com many people do post rentals there, plus it's a great source for second hand goods (like furniture) the buses arn't amazing but fairly decent here (depending on the person you talk to some rant about the buses but on main routes they are pretty active and it's fairly easy to get around via bus)

we have a few london drugs which you can stack at (but like all LD it's getting harder to stack at them they are getting more fickle) there's save on foods you can now stack at and a super walmart with a whole grocery department which helps with the $$$ of groceries.. things are more expensive on the island.. i'm not too sure the prices your used to but i do know that the island is more expensive food wise (maybe not alot for canned goods at say walmart but for things like fresh produce and meats and cheese yes it can be more expensive) for example i pay at walmart 4.77 for a 4L jug of homo milk.. cheese i TRY to buy it at $1 per 100g but that is getting really hard to do (been a few months since that deal)

also gas is usually one of the highest in Canada here right now we are sitting at 1.36ish per litre what will most likely go up during the summer months.. you just have to remember.. it's part of the cost of living on an island.. most things have to be trucked/shipped/ferried on

i've been in victoria for about 8 years now and i do love it.. there are alot of perks (mild weather, we almost never get snow, it's fairly easy to get around most places.. we're just seriously lacking an ikea lol) but ofcourse there are things like cost that are a downfall

places to live.. camosun is located right near hillside mall.. the hillside area would be ideal but other areas to venture into isn't bad either i'd just stay away from areas not in greater victoria due to the commute (although the west-shore is cheaper the commute can be a killer)

[CharityG]

You will be JUST FINE, we moved from Calgary 2 years ago and I lived there my whole life too. Lets just say, you don't need to bring your winter coat. So you will LOVE the winters here. I found the people in Victoria a little ruder then Calgary. I have no idea why just something I noticed. That feeling has since gone away. I was worried too, about cost of living but you adjust fast. Wages are lower then Alberta, both my husband and mines wages decreased by $10/hr. That hurt for a few months, just because I kept comparing the two places and I really had to stop doing that FAST. All in all bottom line is I will never ever return to Alberta. I love it here way too much. It is ALOT slower pace thats for sure, noticed that right away. People sren't as much into high fashion as the big cities, strange the things I noticed but everything is wonderful. It makes me smile everytime I'm driving on the highway and I look over and the ocean it right there. Oh and yes I agree 1000% I MISS IKEA so very badly. SO STOCK UP BEFORE YOU COME. I really don't miss much else, the traffic here definitly sucks but not much you can do about that. Hope this helps. Any questions just feel free to ask and you most certainly will recieve your answers. Be excited about your move. A new phase in life is one of the best things you can have. Don't know you but I'm happy for you. Take care.

[jazzmom]

I've been here for 12 years now, married for 10 1/2 and now have 3 children to budget for. I found that I got used to the higher cost here very quickly. ( I am from a small town on the island ). I love the super Walmart for groceries. Overall cost for canned/boxed food is cheaper than the typical grocery store. Couponing at Safeway has been great. With some of their deals combined with coupons and Airmiles deals, you can save quite a bit. Tillicum Mall LD is fabulous for stacking. I've never had a rude cashier there. Have gotten some great deals stacking there. Paid almost nothing for lots of products.
I presume you mean Hillside Camosun, and not Interurban Camosun? It is cheaper to live in Langford, but use it as a last resort, as the commute is long and costly if you are paying for gas. CharityG knows It could take you an hour or more to get to either Campus that way.
Rent is not cheap here, but has come down a little from even 2 years ago.
Yes, Vic is a little higher cost to live, but it is so beautiful, gets less rain than other places, is right on the ocean. I find people more busy, than rude. Everyone is in a hurry to be somewhere, but when you share a smile or 2. I find people warm up very quickly.
I hope your move goes smooth, and that you fall in love with Vic as much as I do. It is a wonderful place to visit, stay temporarily, or raise a family.

[dahliagrower]

I followed my fiance here in 1990 .... love it now - initially found it a bit quieter and more staid than Vancouver.

Are the prices more or less ? Hard to say - yes housing is probably more than Edmonton .... but less than Vancouver or Toronto - but lots of other things are probably less (like heating!)...

What's not to like? the weather is certainly a whole lot better - great place for families and kids - and couples - lots of trails and events and so on.

We haven't looked back! Now married 18 or so years and a 15 year old son! Still love lots about Vancouver/north vancouver but life is a fair bit quieter here in Victoria....you can actually hear yourself think (and I mean that literally - Vancouver is soooo noisy that it's distracting). And as for shopping/prices/couponing --- you will learn how to be a savvy shopper for how it works for you - as we all do! Embrace it! And if you need any help well you've got the SC - Victoria Edition!

[cheapass]

I agree about West Shore. We moved out to Langford last fall because it's where we could afford to rent a house, and unless you don't need to commute, you should never live here. Neither me nor hubby need to go into town at any set time so we usually go when traffic isn't as bad, but there's been a few times we've been stuck in rush hour heading home from Vic with a grumpy screaming toddler in the back and any route you take is pretty much a parking lot. Nice to see, though, that while tearing up Craigflower and having a chance to make some changes, they chose to fill the middle lane with gardens and trees. Sigh.

Otherwise, it really depends what you're looking for. I think even the best parts of town have apartments that are reasonable and still not crackhouses (though "reasonable" is relative). I'm always partial to James Bay, Fairfield or Cook St Village, and I've never paid more for an apartment in any of these places than they go for anywhere else - sometimes less. Shop around, scour UsedVictoria and Craigslist, ask a lot of questions.

Oh...just saw you wanted to live near Camosun! Duh. Hillside is a decent area, as was mentioned. Probably a lot of basement suites around there as it's pretty residential. Not that basement suites tend to be much cheaper anymore. But I lived in two places near Hillside Mall and it was great. Lots of conveniences nearby, and if you like walking it's not a bad walk to downtown. I mostly skipped the bus pass and walked everywhere when I lived up there. Fernwood's a bit of a walk to Camosun, but generally pretty cheap.

I just realized I've lived everywhere in this city. I need to stop moving.

[suirenfairy180]

You can also check Off Campus Housing from the UVIC site, some are walking distance to UVIC and you can bus from there to Camosun.

[Henley]

Hi pterodactly

1. Victoria is an expensive city, but you can find some affordable rents. There are two campuses for Camosun College Lansdowne, and Interurban. If your studying at Lansdowne I would recommend the Hillside area.
2. If you can come for a visit before September late July or early August and rent a place that would be even better. Our vacancy is really low in September because of college and university students returning to school.
3. I think there are lots of ways to save if you find rent expensive, purchase second handbooks, use coupons as much as possible. I have been a student myself many years ago, and it was during my student days I learned to be frugal. So my number one advice is to stockpile coupons over the summer, and it will really help your budget.
Good luck!

[Audley]

Hi pterodactly!

I just moved here to Victoria last year, got relocated here because of my fiance's job. It's true that rent here can be sometimes an eye opener (in terms of prices) and some of the groceries are a tad bit high -- I originally came from Toronto so sometimes I find the options around here are a bit lacking. With that said it's not a bad city. I'm looking forward to finding out what sorts of festivals/activities are happening. Also I noticed after September, it becomes a little bit more quiet because there's not as much tourists anymore.

Good luck on your move!

[Midnightly]

Hi pterodactly

2. If you can come for a visit before September late July or early August and rent a place that would be even better. Our vacancy is really low in September because of college and university students returning to school.
!

i do very much agree with her on that! IF possible i'd suggest coming a month or two early (it will also give you some time to set up and establish yourself) because to rent a place in the first few weeks of September with all the returning students is really tricky (things go FAST especially anything on the more affordable end and availability drops drastically) it's often joked this is the city of the nearly wed and nearly dead due to all the college/university students and the elderly

[pterodactly]

Thank you guys so much, all of this info is taking so much pressure off. I honestly had no idea what I was getting myself into.
Luckily I found out today that I will be renting from a family member. The condo is on McKenzie ave... Where ever the heck that is? I’m hoping that's not going to be too far away from school. I will be going to interurban and my boyfriend will be going to the other one (forgot the name already lol)
I wish I could get away from work and take a quick visit so I can get everything sorted, but I don’t see it happening sadly.
So basically what you all are saying is:
-Don't move too far away from school
-Buy a bicycle because gas is OUTRAGEOUS
-Get my ikea fix in while I still can
-lose the winter jacket because it will be useless <3
-invest in a good umbrella
-stockpile my coupons over the summer

Did I miss anything? lol
Seriously thank you all so much!

[momof3heathens]

The cost of a bus pass is included in your tuition fees. If you are on Mackenzie you would most likely take the 26 to Dockyard and transfer at Burnside to a 21 Interurban.

Don't get rid of the coat quite yet. It does get cold some years so good to have a back up plan. Not like Edmonton but it gets windy and cold at the same time.

[cheapass]

A lot of people I've known from actual cold places that come here in the winter say they find it colder here than at home, because it's incredibly damp.

[amused]

Since you will be at the interurban campus that is where the chef's program is. I love visiting interurban because the food the chef students is so tasty and inc affordable. also if you sign up with Shaw Cable ask about a student discount. They use to offer it years ago but haven't needed to check into it for about four years now ( so not sure they still do that).

Hope you like Victoria ... The weather is great or being able to get out year round.

[Midnightly]

victoria has a damp cold.. it's a chill to your bones type cold vrs a blustery dry snowy cold so leave your heavy down jacket and snow pants but do bring your warm fleece lined water resistant jacket