is the grass always greener?

sashafierce

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Lou.m

I have not lived or worked abroad OP.


But would it be possible for you to do research on living costs across the country an diff areas and try and work on getting a job to suit them.


It is not just finding a job in an area but checking how expensive an area is.

Chattastrophe!

Depending on your career, any chance of doing additional qualifications that might get you a job with better pay? Also are you getting good value with your rent, or would moving to a cheaper place be an option?

sashafierce

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Tokyo

Not trying to give you a smart answer here OP, but I'm wondering what you expected when you moved overseas? Your initial post makes it seem like you thought you'd be leaving behind a life of poverty and going to where the streets are paved with gold, where the reality is that if you move from one first world country to another first world country, quite often unless you are either very lucky, or you have a solid job waiting for you upon arrival, then you are going to be facing many of the same problems at your destination as you did at home, compounded by the fact that you are now in a new place, getting used to a new system and trying to form new friendships at the same time.

Six months isn't actually that long to be in a new country, and I imagine that in a lot of ways you are still finding your feet. And it's worth bearing in mind that the people who come over just to travel are (a) generally only planning on being there for a few months and (b) have been saving towards that goal before they left home. You seem to be there for the longer haul and need to treat it as such. You have the job, which is good, so now give your life a chance to settle down, and only then work towards saving for traveling around the country.

sashafierce

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cactusgal

Hi, I can understand where you're coming from, I lived in New Zealand for a little over a year, doing a similar job but working much harder and earning much less + dealing with insane cost of living, even compared to Dublin. Everyone is different, but for me, it really made me appreciate life in Ireland so much more and when I came back, I was so glad I did.

Legs.Eleven

I think I've read a few posts from you about your move and it seems like you're not enjoying the experience overall?

Taltos

When I was in the US years ago on a visa I had to work two jobs to try to get ahead. Even then going out with work ate into that. One trick I missed that time was the coupons - I know it is a cliche but if you shop intelligently and plunder the coupons and depending on the state return your cans you might be surprised...

sashafierce

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December2012

Are the other people you're seeing on Facebook spending their money differently and therefore spending in a more "fun" way?

Most people I know who went away lived with loads of people and weren't too picky about where it was so rent wasn't expensive.

Sometimes they would be getting paid cash in hand so again, earning more cash and therefore spending more?

sashafierce

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joeguevara

Could you get a part time job at the weekend that you might enjoy I.e bar work/waiting tables. Something enjoyable where there are good tips. Good social life as well

Jezek

Sounds like you'd be better off if you deleted your Facebook profile.
Also, you should be patient and work now to be rewarded later. This is part of being mature.

If your friends are anything like my friends, then not only did they save up thousands before going abroad, but once they were abroad they focused on spending all their money on the things they wanted to do rather than everyday living.

From what I can tell, my friends had plenty of money to spend on drink and go on days out, but that's because they were splitting their rent 10 ways, spending their weekdays at a job and surviving on pot noodle. They had a great time, but they were there to party, nothing else, so they didn't really worry about rent and supermarket shopping. They never really had a 'full time decent job', so they were being paid cash in hand, no tax, plus tips (which can be a goldmine if you're Irish and charming etc.).

You're clearly not really going for the same lifestyle as those people, so there's not much point in comparing yourself to them.

Cooperspale

The grass can seem greener, yes. Facebook, instagram etc tend to used to show off one's achievements whether that's a tan in a far flung destination, skulling pints at the pub or wearing a new outfit. And it's accessible all the time so when you're miserable in some bad living situation/ or in a bad job there's nothing more soul destroying than coveting your pals status.
Most people go through at least one bad living/rental situation in their lives. It'll make for great reminiscing years later.
You're only 6mths in, bad start with the gaff n lousy job reward. It happens.

To be honest the only way to earn the big bucks is luck and/or hard graft. Though I have heard Canada is big into networking.

Think about why you left Ireland, was it just for a change of scenery? To Improve your resume? To earn the hard cash or to travel around and explore. Focus on that and if Toronto isn't bringing up the goods, move.

R.D. aka MR.D

When i was 21, i moved to South America.

I learned many valuable lessons there. One is that when people tell you that living abroad is all fun and parties. It's mostly not true especially if you have a job.

I told everyone before i left that i'd never be back. Money was so tight that all that i would have to eat for an entire week was a box of cornflakes. I was too proud to admit that it wasn't working out.


By the time that i finally came back to Ireland with my tail between my legs, i was massively in debt and had to spend over 2 years working to pay it off.

The best thing that i did when i returned home was delete my facebook account. It's almost 6 years later and i've come to realise that the only life that matters is my own. I can't compare myself with others or try to live up to some idea of what 'fun' is.

After getting out of debt, i moved to Korea and had a whale of a time. Met the absolute love of my life and last summer we had a once in a life time road trip through the American south west and west coast.
We're in China now and we have absolutely no social life and it bothers me because i like socializing but I know once this year is over we can go on to another adventure. China was the wrong choice for us but we'll stick it out and then head elsewhere.

Living abroad is both exciting and terribly boring at the same time. Your happiness has to come from you and a great way to start is by finding out what you really enjoy and not just thinking that enjoying yourself is doing what everyone else is doing.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that; living abroad is fun but also difficult. I don't struggle financially any more but it is difficult emotionally and even physically (in China). Stick in there and make it work for you and there is always another adventure waiting around the corner.

Sponge25

The grass isn't always greener of course. It depends on all kinds of things.

What life is like here, if you've been yearning for years to live in the place you want to go to. You might get there and find ya don't like it as much as you thought you did. If you're moving for the culture instead of moving for better wages you're alot less likely to be dissapointed as Ireland has some of the best wages in the world.

midnight_train

Lots of great advice on this thread, but +100 to R.D.'s post above. Really excellent advice and very true observations! I've lived abroad in several places and can definitely relate to what she says in her post.

Mississauga

Hi OP
I've "been there, done that" with the Canadian visa so hopefully I can give you some practical advice. I went for one year in 2011 and had an absolute ball. I still keep in contact with friends I made over there to this day.

Your number 1 problem seems to be money. I'm not surprised - Toronto is probably the most expensive city I've ever lived in. As you know, simple things like cheese and meat are shockingly expensive. I was eating cereal and noodles for my first week over there. Wages are quite low compared to Ireland which makes things even worse. Many young people travelling over there don't realise this. In the end, I couldn't find a decent job in Toronto besides coffee shop/bar work, so I left and moved to Kingston which is a smaller city a few hours away. It turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life. Rent was much cheaper and I was able to walk to work meaning I saved on transport costs.

During my time in Toronto, I watched so many Irish lads fall into the trap of partying and drinking every night, burning through their money like it was a holiday. They spent their days handing in CVs around Toronto without even considering traveling to a different city. Most of them ended up returning home early. Canada is the 2nd biggest country in the world yet Irish people seem to thing there are only two cities in the place - Vancouver and Toronto.

TL;DR - leave Toronto and move to a smaller city.

sashafierce

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marzic

Mississauga wrote: »

TL;DR - leave Toronto and move to a smaller city.

I lived in west london in the mid 90's for three years - high rent and high council tax, more socializing and although I had a decent job it was hard enough to be comfortably off.

Moved to Luton for a better job with more money, big hours(76 - 84 per week) and in a year had saved a packet - low rent, low council tax, not much socializing... not sustainable long term but a great way to get ahead and it paved my way back to ireland.

It depends what you want - if its to save for travel then its advisable to move somewhere you can get a similar paid job but where all the other costs are lower.

Good luck

Mississauga

It's ironic that when living in the big city there is lots to do, but you're to poor to enjoy any of it. If you're living in New York, realistically you won't be going to a Broadway show every night. 95% of your life will be similar to someone living in a small town: work, eat, sleep, repeat. It's madness for someone on a temporary visa to waste their once in a lifetime opportunity stuck in a shoebox apartment being poor and miserable. I can't recommend the smaller cities enough. They'll give you a taste of the real Canada. Good luck with whatever you decide.

Merkin

I think Mississuaga has given excellent advice. If you're end goal is to go travelling on what you've saved then your primary goal is to save as much as possible over the next twelve months, virtually impossible in an expensive city. I echo moving out to one of the smaller cities, putting the head down and accumulating as much cash as possible so you can then really live it up when you go travelling.

sashafierce

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