$500/Month for Six Months

My last few posts have been all about extra expenses; so I thought it was time to share with you something that will result in a bit of extra income for a little while. Our very best friends, a married couple with a cat and six month old twins for whom we are the God Parents/Guardians for if anything were to ever happen are in a financial pinch right now. Our city was one that was devastated with the flooding this past spring/summer; and the rental market is pretty tight. Their current place is pricey and in disrepair with a landlord who doesn’t seem to be prioritising getting it fixed up. All that to say; that we have invited our friends and their family to move in with us for the next six months.

We asked for $500/month in rent; and they negotiated up to $600. They’ll be getting half of our basement; two bedrooms and a bathroom to themselves and we’ll share other common areas in the house.

We’ve both had roommates before that were friends/family and there were pros and cons; this time however; is the first time that we’re doing it not because we need to; but because we genuinely want to help our friends. We’ve gone into this with eyes wide open; talking about everything from morning and dinner routine to making sure we have a TV/internet/house phone package that works for everyone.

Jordan works with Mr. so the three of us will all carpool to work and Mrs. will continue to be an amazing stay at home mom to her bundles of joy. This should also help them shave $ of their gas bill. We’ll be sharing the cost of groceries and because Jordan and I often chuck leftovers; I’m betting that our grocery bill might actually go down some.

After running some numbers; I expect that we’ll have an additional $100ish in extra monthly costs including the extra TV/Long Distance Plan for the phone and additional gas/electricity/water….gas bill is the most variable b/c we usually turn the house down to 17C when we’re not there; but now it will be up high 24/7.

So; the big move in day is December 1st but maybe a week or two earlier depending on how things go with packing and cleaning their old place.

For the first six months of 2014; Jordan and I will have an extra $500/month going towards all of our new (and old) expenses.