Rural living in Ontario

Adjusting to life in the country and living in Ontario.
Rural living certainly has advantages and disadvantages.

UPSIDE:

Beautiful and serene countrysides

Less stress in my life, opportunity to really become healthy...already lost 7 1/2 pounds in one week (now that the holidays are over) just by changing type and quantity of food consumption.

No traffic to listen to or contend with. We rarely drive near Toronto.

The people make you feel welcomed. Very friendly and eager to help with information or directions or introducing you to other folks. Most shocking is that even the stores and services are friendly, customer focused and go the extra mile.

The weather is better although this year it isn't the norm they are use to but its really not as cold here, even with the snow we've had, compared to out west.

Church only 5 minutes from our house. Almost all our neighbors go there so not only am I meeting the people at church but also getting to know our neighbors.

Groceries are cheaper here, obviously depending upon where you shop. There is at least one house on every road that has something for sale they make, produce or grow. Farm fresh eggs just up the road from us; Firewood readily available most everywhere (we use our wood stove a lot); Fresh fruits and vegetables (in season), locally grown. We are planning to have our own garden this year. We are looking to buy at least a quarter side of beef somewhere. If only I could find fresh milk too that would be awesome.

DOWNSIDE:

Car insurance --- almost three times higher than what we were paying.

Sales tax -- yes, we have to pay higher sales tax on everything!!! That sucks. In July 2010 the the Retail Sales Tax (RST) was replaced by the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST). The provincial portion of the HST is 8% and the federal portion is 5% for a combined HST rate of 13% tax.

Internet --- not easily available in this rural area. I still have my turbo stick that works for internet with some limitations. Many people out here can't get internet service because of the signal or the cost of buying a hub $300 plus monthly rental. I'll stick with the turbo stick for awhile but this has forced me to confront my computer addiction and instead of sitting at my computer all day I am more active and have a real social life.

Country critters --- still can't get use to setting traps every night to catch these well-fed country mice. This has become a regular morning routine, going around checking the traps in the morning and resetting them if we've caught one and we have always caught at least one every single day for 2 weeks. Its not fun anymore!!!

Propane --- We just had the tank refilled today, it was over $500 and a bit of a shock. We've used a lot to heat the house the first month....moving into the house with the doors open; making sure our guests were comfortably warm during the holidays plus all the cooking and baking (our stove is propane also).

Electricity -- Haven't got the bill yet but I'm expecting it to be high the first time. Until recently we had company and there were times we had every light in the house on but we are doing much better about turning off lights we aren't really using.

Water -- we have a well so its free BUT we made the mistake of using too much at one time and ran the well dry and had to pay $100 to have water hauled in. Of course, I don't know how much the people used before they moved out. They could have done up all their dirty laundry before they left and then we came in with two weeks of dirty laundry from traveling on the road. I'm learning how to reduce our water consumption (something everyone needs to do). I don't take our resources for granted anymore. I've made simple changes like not letting the water run while I brush my teeth. Conserving water isn't hard it is just a learning experience.

Food -- Planning and traveling for groceries and supplies to make sure we're stocked up.
Although I stocked up for Christmas guests, we also had to re-stock the deep freeze and pantry with the essentials used up before we moved or given away.

*** I'm still glad I moved here and confident it will be positively worth the sacrifices made and the changes we are learning to make in our lives as we adapt to Rural living in Ontario...but still, 'there is no place like home and home is where the heart is'.****