DH and I just aggressively save our money when we have it so that during times like these (where I have yet to find a job in France) we don't have to sweat it. But it's all kind of in one lumped together pile of money–not organized (or invested) in terms of how accessible we need it to be. We need to work on that!

Normally, yes. But it was an exceptional year for IT, and NO ONE worked for a full year, much less a month or two out of the year.

So everyone knows this, and doesn’t take that year into account because of how bad it was as a market in general. Freelancers are held to a different standard than employees at a company. Everyone knows we don’t work full-time, but as long as we have the general experience (past 3-4 years) to back us up, and our price is right, we’ll get hired.

We don’t need to explain anything to the client unless they ask, and start counting the months of actual work — which some do, but I haven’t come across that yet.

It is not exactly none of their business, but they also can’t really verify that you worked/didn’t work unless they call and talk to someone to get all of the exact dates, and then count each day minus holidays.

We go on an honour system that we don’t lie to the client about how long/when we worked, but a lot of people abuse that and get away with it because the client doesn’t check.

Anyway, once we get in, we have to prove ourselves on the system…. so there’s no problem because if you can’t do the work, they’ll get rid of you in a couple of months once they realize you have no idea what you’re doing. That has happened to a few liars on the market.

me is just the actual “me” as in “me, myself and I”? Thanks again for featuring me on your Black Coffee post!

Toronto = quite expensive.
Montreal = not so expensive.
Ottawa = quite cheap.
Dallas = not sure, haven’t gone there to find an apartment yet.

As for living in Canada, things are fairly cheap for some things like rent and utilities (depending on if you compare us to L.A. or NYC), and our ever-coveted universal healthcare… but we pay dearly through the nose for basic necessities like food ($8.99/kg for tomatoes, I saw once!!) and the quality isn’t that great.

When we were in Dallas, the food was QUITE cheap compared to what we pay here in Canada, the quantity was larger and the quality was much better.

Cost of living seemed a lot lower in Dallas than here. I think the apartments might be the same price as well — in the same price range.

Plus things in general — books, clothing, makeup.. it’s all more expensive no matter what. The currency exchange doesn’t matter in this case, because prices are printed long before the currency fluctuates, and one day, it could be CAD = USD at perfect par, but we pay a 15% premium on goods.

They say it’s because they have to also ship everything across the border, pay duties, taxes.. and all of that gets tacked onto the price as well as the currency exchange, but .. I don’t really buy it.

Also, there’s a lot more opportunities for discounts and free shipping if you are into that.

That being said, I would be earning in USD not CAD, which gives me an advantage on the currency, with lower costs of living, and even without healthcare if I were a freelancer, it’d be cheaper to live in the U.S., especially in Texas as there aren’t any state taxes.

So I’d earn more money charging the same rate per hour, pay less for living, pay more for healthcare (which would come out of the earning more in general versus currency exchange in Canada), and not pay any state taxes.

Did I also forget to mention that sales tax here is 13%? I think in Texas it was 5% or 7%. I’d save money there too!

There are many more opportunities in the U.S. for my area. More than Canada, and more chances to make money than in Canada. Canada is great for a stable sort of economy where you aren’t a freelancer and/or you are lucky to land a client who is going to basically keep you forever. But those opps are few and far between. The States is much better for IT in my opinion.

Great job!!!!!! (!)

All the best,

Len
Len Penzo dot Com

Tawa

It just makes it better to be more concrete because percentages make me think: Is that $10 over a big deal or not? It’s too vague.