Rooofread tools · Could I Live There?
A different city. The same you.
Model your own costs in two places, then see the money difference and the time trade.
Your next step, on your own terms
Before You Move Here
Try the commute, check your everyday errands and capture how a neighbourhood feels in real life.
Take it with you →Free Excel workbook. Includes a Start here guide. Enter your own numbers in the downloaded file.
What the location comparison calculates
A cheaper home can come with a longer commute or a different household budget. Could I Live There? compares the costs you enter for two places, including what the move would mean for take-home pay and time spent getting to work.
What it includes
Rent or an all-in ownership estimate, utilities, transportation, household expenses, take-home income and savings goals. The comparison also uses one-way commute time, days travelling to work and working weeks per year. You can look at renting and buying in each place using your own estimates.
How to read your result
The monthly spending difference tells you which place costs less under your inputs. Breathing room also reflects income, so lower spending does not necessarily mean more money left over. Read the commute hours alongside the dollar difference. Savings per additional commute hour is a trade to consider, not a value assigned to your time.
How the calculation works
The tool replaces shared costs with your city-specific entries and adds each location’s housing and living expenses. It subtracts those expenses and planned savings from that location’s take-home income. Annual commute time is one-way minutes multiplied by two, commuting days and working weeks, divided by 60. There is no automatic city price index or payroll-tax estimate; an ownership estimate should include mortgage, tax, fees, insurance and maintenance.
Read the full methodology, coverage and dated sources →
Illustrative scenario · Canadian dollars
Worked example: is $500 less rent worth a longer commute?
Morgan is comparing two hypothetical rental locations while keeping the same job and $6,000 monthly take-home pay. These are entered budgets, not estimates for particular Canadian cities.
Sample inputs: location A costs $2,400 in rent, $150 in utilities and $150 in transit each month. Location B costs $1,900 in rent, $150 in utilities and $350 in transit. Both include $1,700 in other essential costs, $500 in flexible spending and $500 in planned savings; all remaining categories are zero. The one-way commute rises from 20 to 50 minutes, three days a week for 48 weeks a year.
- Monthly spending, A / B
- $4,900 / $4,600
- Money left after savings, A / B
- $600 / $900
- Annual commute, A / B
- 96 / 240 hours
- Trade-off
- $3,600 saved for 144 extra commute hours a year
Only $300 of the $500 rent reduction survives the higher transit bill. That is $25 saved per additional commute hour. It is a comparison Morgan can weigh against time with friends, family or rest; it is not a claim that an hour of life is worth $25.
Limits: salary, fares and working patterns stay fixed. Moving costs, service disruptions and differences in the homes are excluded. The calculator does not pull live city prices or calculate payroll taxes.
Sources and date: Rooofread hypothetical scenario, calculated September 26, 2026. Background: FCAC, Buying a home and FCAC, Mortgage terms and amortization, consulted September 26, 2026. See our calculation methodology and rule sources. These sources explain the concepts; the sample prices, rates and expenses in this example are assumptions, not market quotes.
Questions this tool can help answer
- Would cheaper housing offset a lower take-home salary?
- How many extra hours would I spend commuting?
- What changes if I rent or buy in either location?