Tag Archives: budget

I’m Thinking of Buying a House How Much Does It Cost Per Month On Top of the Mortgage?

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I read an interesting discussion recently about the costs of owning a home. A person was surprised that his friend had to pick up a second job to pay the bills after buying a house and wanted to know if the cost his friend quoted per month was normal. It led me to go back through our bills to find out how much we pay a month to run our house on top of the costs to pay off the mortgage.

How Much Do You Budget to Pay for Hydro, Natural Gas, Water, Property Taxes and Insurance per Month for a Detached House?

We live in a large city in Ontario but we don’t live in Toronto. Our house is detached, fairly old, but not particularly large.

The costs for things like electricity vary quite a bit from month to month, so I’ve taken our annual costs and divided them by 12, rather than report an actual month by month number. Most companies won’t annualize your costs, though, so be prepared to have some months where your bills are much higher than others.

In 2017, our home cost us

  • $124 Electricity / Hydro
  • $48 Water (including Storm Water and Waste Water charges)
  • $94 Natural Gas (including to burn for the water heater and for the pilot light in a seldom used fireplace insert)
  • $405 Property Taxes
  • $82 Home Insurance

How Much Should I Budget Per Month to Run Our House?

So our total costs for heat, hydro, water, property taxes and insurance add up to:
$ 753 per month.

Add in a typical cost for cable TV, internet, home phone and cell phones and you’re easily at almost $1000 per month. I didn’t include those because it would be easier to reduce or eliminate those costs than the ones I’ve included.

You can compare our costs to those reported by others for 2017 for homes around the GTA on this RedFlagDeals forum post.

What Else Do I Need to Budget For?

Other costs that might have been included in your rent are for:

  • Cable TV
  • Internet and Home Phone

Other common costs for home owners include:

  • Annual and perennial plants and shrubs
  • Landscaping consumables like wood chips, mulch, yard waste bags or bins, new soil, fertilizers, bird seed, insecticides for lawn grubs, ants or wasps
  • Gasoline or Transit, if you need to start commuting to work
  • Household Tools and Consumables, including snow shovels (which break and get stolen), yard work tools, building and repair tools, vacuum cleaners, ladders, lightbulbs, mops and brushes, buckets
  • Minor Decorating On-going Costs, including for re-painting, draperies or blinds, area rugs, furniture, art work
  • Big Ticket Maintenance, including a new roof, new windows or doors, a new furnace and air conditioner, new appliances
  • Big Ticket Renovations, including re-tiling and re-fitting bathrooms, the kitchen, new flooring (carpets, hard wood or tiles)

You need to estimate each of these costs, divide it by how many years you have to save up to pay it, and then include that amount of saving and spending in your monthly budget.

For example, you won’t necessarily have the $7000 for a new roof every 15 years if you haven’t saved the $40 a month for 15 years to pay for it.

What Other Home Expenses Do Some People Pay for?

  • Lawn and yard maintenance, including annual aerating, fertilizing
  • Snow removal
  • Gutter cleaning
  • Driveway sealing
  • Window washing

Can I Carry a Home For the Same as My Rent Payment?

Unless you are renting one seriously over-priced place, you probably can NOT expect to own a home for the same monthly cost as you pay for rent. I enjoy owning a home but I do not think it saved me any money!

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Do you know someone who bought a home without understanding the full costs of ownership? Please share your views with a comment.

How Much Should I Budget for Food If Nursing Homes Budget Is $8.33 per day?

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The Ontario provincial funding rate for food for residents in long term care facilities, most of whom are seniors, has always been lower than seems reasonable. In 2014 the amount was $7.80 per person per day for the “raw food.” That number was so low that a public outcry managed to get a small increase to $8.33 per person per day. It’s been stuck there ever since, though, despite the rate of inflation for food and the drop in the value of the Canadian dollar versus the American dollar which affects the prices of imported fruits and vegetables. Reading an article in The Star made me wonder what I should budget for our food costs if the government believes that a person can eat healthily for $8.33 a day.

Why Does the Government Provide More Money for Prisoner’s Food Per Day than for Pensioners?

One fact has always been extremely upsetting in the provincial funding for food: the funds provided for residents in Long Term Care homes are lower, per person, than those for prisoners.

At first, it may seem vaguely reasonable. Aren’t more prisoners younger men who have a higher caloric need than most pensioners who are often older women?

But then you realize that more of the older residents have special dietary needs. You shouldn’t eat grapefruit, for instance, if you taking certain medications. If you are diabetic, you may need to carefully balance the amount of carbohydrates you eat at each meal. Overall, due to reduced ability to absorb nutrients, you need to maximize the amount of fruits and vegetables you eat to increase the likelihood of receiving proper nutrition.
And, of course, it seems “morally” wrong to feed wrong-doers better food than older or disabled persons.

In March 2017, the Ontario government is paying $8.33 per person per day for raw food costs for each resident in a long term care facility. It is paying $9.73 per day for prisoners.

That just seems unjust.

What Could I Afford at $8.33 Per Day for Raw Food Costs?

I realized that this question has an attached question: where am I living? If I live in the Greater Toronto Area in Ontario, I have access to a large variety of food stores. Within walking distance of my suburban home (yes, some suburbs are walkable!) I can count six grocery stores, a butcher, a bakery and an organic greengrocer. Only two of those grocery stores belong to a major Canadian chain. The others are independents who tend to compete well on pricing.

When I think of one of our vacations to the Maritimes, though, I remember being unhappy with the fruit and vegetable selections at both the big chain grocery stores in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia. The prices were between reasonable and high, but the quality was terrible. And many items I can easily get here were not even for sale.

Where you live will likely play a big factor in your grocery budget. If you have to pay $7 to get a bus to and from the store, that is another big cost that affects those that can least afford it.

Budgeting for a Typical Day’s Food And Its Costs

Ok, let’s try any way.

Breakfast
1 /2 cup of oatmeal
1 / 4 cup of milk
1 serving of coffee

Snack
2 clementines

Lunch
2 cups nappa cabbage
1 /4 c craisins
1 english muffin
1 /4 c pork tenderloin, leftovers
1 tea bag

Snack
1 gala apple

Supper
1 /4 of a store-made roast chicken
1 cup broccoli
1 /4 cup cherry tomatoes
1 cup jasmine rice
2 home made chocolate chip cookies

Snack
1 /2 cup Rice Krispies
1 /2 cup milk
1 mini Kit Kat

My total cost? About $9.

Could I do this in another location though? I doubt it. The fruits and vegetables I buy almost always are purchased at the independent grocery stores. They have noticeably lower prices. I’m sure that many people who don’t live in a “food oasis” like this must pay much more for the same food.

What Will I Budget for Food Costs for Retirement?

I don’t know exactly what I should budget for food costs for retirement, but I know it will be more than $8.33 per day.

It’s especially important to remember that the $8.33 per day includes

  • Any food lost due to spoilage. (Ever open a carton of eggs and find one is cracked? Opened a head of lettuce and found brown leaves in the middle?)
  • Any food for special holidays such as a turkey, fancy dessert, cheeses.
  • All snacks even the occasional candy bar or soda pop.

Related Reading

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Do you think the government should boost funding for food for long term care homes? Please share your views with a comment.