Parking - Saving Money

Not too long ago I told all of you that my parking rates were set to go up in February. I had hinted when I posted my 2010 budget that my parking situation would change but now the time is actually here!

I called the folks who manage the lot where I park and it seems that I am fully paid for the month of February - I thought I had to pay for this month still, whoohoo!. At the end of the month I will courier them my parking pass and then they will courier me a $25 cheque which is the refund of my deposit on the parking pass. I'm currently planning on putting that $25 towards my student loan debt.

My new parking rate, starting March 1, 2010 is $35/month.  The wait list for surface parking where I work is currently a few years long (I've been on it about a year now), but a girl I work with is going on maternity leave and doesn't want to give up her spot.  I'm effectively renting the spot from her until either she comes back from leave, or my name makes it to the top of the list.  Thankfully, work is actually going to just start withdrawing the funds from my pay so I don't have to write the girl a pile of cheques - that makes it wayyy easier for both of us.

The $35 will be deducted from the last pay of each month, I'll be updating my bi-weekly spreadsheets to reflect the changes :)  This change saves me $22.50/month or $270 for the year! Go debt repayment go!

January Utilities - Bills are In

I'm staying with my family this weekend while visiting my grandmother in the hospital and got to talking about the utility bills with my mom.  In the spirt of that conversation I thought that I would post this months bills.  When I say this months bills, I actually mean last months usage.  I get the last of the three bills on the fifth of the month following the month we're being billed for (follow that?)

The Enmax bill, which includes gas (heat), electricity, water, waste water, recycling (* relitlvely new), etc. went up by $7 since last month.  According to Enmax (yea, i asked) our water usage is about half of where most peoples are (proportionate to the number of people that are living in the house) - stayed about the same, electicity stayed about the same - it's just the gas part that went up a bit - this is heating costs.  I hate to imagine how much it would have gone up if we hadn't covered our windows.

The Shaw bill went down by about $6 because I talked less... I used my cell phone quite a bit last month, and actually went over in minutes (don't worry, not by too much).

Bell is the same as it always is (unless Jordan orders a pay-per-view or some such thing).

So, we each owe $147.77

It's not so bad, but it's not so great.  When Jordan and I set up our bi-weekly contributions to our joint account, we estimated that the highest utilites would ever be is $150 (with three people splitting them).  As long as the bills don't go up again, we'll be right on the mark - and they should start to decline as the weather warms up.

I fear that some of you will say the bills are too high, however; I have actually negotiated lower rates on all of the bills above.  Unforutnatly we're bound by a two year contract with Bell - so can't look at other HD television providers until the middle of this summer - but that time will arrive before we know it.

Bi-Weekly Budget

Here is this pay period's bi-weekly budget:

You'll notice quite a few changes as a result of the last few weeks that were in turmoil.  I wrote yesterday about my praise for emergency funds and that I decided that instead of taking ~$650 from my emergency fund account, I would just adjust my budgets for this week and next payday to cover the unexpected expenses.

• I've transfered $50 from my ING annual expenses fund to help cover the cost of my car registration which I have to pay this month.
• I've put a temporary stop on all ING savings/funds (except for the house fund) for this pay and next until I pay off my visa
• My variable categories are the same (transport, food, entertainment, and other).  The entertainment is likely to just go to gas as I'll be trying to visit family this up-coming weekend
• I've put my student loan lump sum payment on hold

The rest of my visa bill will be paid off next pay day.

Hurray for Emergency Funds

As you all know, last weekend I was in crisis mode. I had a family emergency that pulled me away from Calgary and had me driving all over BC and spending a few nights in a hotel.  My grandmother (thanks to all who asked) is doing well; however, there are still risks and next steps that the family will have to take on in the coming months.

From the moment I left work on Friday morning, to when I got back home late Monday night - I was not worried about money.  I wasn't worried about gas money to drive, or money to pay for the hotel ($110/night), or money to buy supper - heck I bought supper for the family twice. I was comforted that I had over $1,000 in the bank for just this sort of thing.  I was so much more relaxed and able to focus on what was needed because I knew this wouldn't be a problem.

Here's a break down of what I spent:

Most of the category's are fairly self explanatory however something hasn't posted to my account yet, so there's $10.00 not accounted for.  This is likely parking or some such thing.  I also purchased an update to my GPS that I got for Christmas prior to all this and it is also sitting on my Visa.

You'll see on tomorrow's bi-weekly budget that I have allotted $450 to pay the majority of this off and I have set aside an additional $220 on my next pay day (Feb 19) to pay off the rest, because although knowing I had my emergency fund gave me peace of mind, it looks like I won't actually have to use it.

Roommate Wanted...follow up

Earlier today I wrote about our options when it comes to looking for a roommate and asked for a bit of help. Thanks to those folks that replied to the post, and to those that comment via twitter:

1. eemusings 
   @jessiesmoney personally? flat rate, assuming its realistic and reasonable. if i was the head tenant, rather split billsabout 21 hours ago from web in reply to jessiesmoney
2. krystalatwork  
   @jessiesmoney well. if I'm the renter, I would like flat rates. But if you are charging others, I'd go for separate.about 21 hours ago from Echofon in reply to jessiesmoney
3. payingmyself 
   @jessiesmoney - definitely flat rate that includes utilities.about 21 hours ago from web in reply to jessiesmoney
4. krystalatwork  
   @jessiesmoney definitely a flat rate. Makes it easier to budget monthly expensesabout 21 hours ago from Echofon in reply to jessiesmoney

1. FrugalDreamer 
   @jessiesmoney Flat rate that includes utilities.about 21 hours ago from TweetDeck in reply to jessiesmoney
2. dcoulson 
   @jessiesmoney Separate utilities is the way to go - Protects you against unexpected usage if they are paying a percentage.about 21 hours ago from Seesmic in reply to jessiesmoney

So far, it seems that most people think that a renter would prefer a flat rate.

I thought I should also look at our joint account and make sure we can get through the next month or so if we don't find a roommate.

I'm still waiting on the shaw (internet/phone) bill for January's usage, so I've just guessed what that will be (and therefore how much utility money we'll get from brad) - but it's accurate within a couple of dollars.

Overall, we're okay for February, however; I carried the numbers through to the end of March (this assumes we can't find a roommate - just in case) and I added an 'end of day' line as well.  If rent for March goes through on the first of the month (rare, but sometimes the landlord is on her A-game) it will bounce.

To cover our butts, I'll transfer $150 from our joint house fund into the joint chequing account which will give us enough breathing room until April 1st.  If we still haven't found someone by the middle of March, we will stop contributing to the house fund and re-direct those funds to the joint chequing account.  We are fairly confident that we'll find another roommate as although people haven't stayed, we've been able to find a roommate each time before.

Roommate Wanted...

I feel like I've written this post a hundred times before....well - this is actually the third time.

After I got home the night before last, Jordan and I got talking and realized roommate, B-rad, hadn't left a rent cheque.  Jordan called him to ask if he had left it somewhere we couldn't see.  He say's something to the effect of ...'umm... about that'

Apparently he and is on-again, off-again, girlfriend of 4 years are on - and are getting engaged/married this summer.  He and she are looking to find their own place.  Just like the last one he was here a month and is moving out the next month (for a total stay of two months).

It's a very stressful time, but just like before we will endeavor to find another roommate.

Rent for our 3 bedroom townhouse is $1350 (plus utilities).  We rent the room for $500 plus a third split of utilities (about $100 in the summer and about $150 in the winter).  Jordan and I split the remainder.  There are a few reasons why we charge a roommate a bit more then we pay ourselves:

• the rent was set at $500 before we negotiated a rent decrease
• $500 seems to be fair - market wise I checked out a few other places and it seems priced right based on the neighborhood etc.
• jordan and i are ultimately responsible for the place
• we are the only names on the lease at this time
• we are in a month-to-month lease and cannot ask someone to sign an agreement
• with paying less, i don't expect roommates to buy garbage bags, dishwasher soap and things like that
• jordan and i are responsible for yard maintenance and thus must provide/repair the equipment used for yard maintenance

That said, with next roommate, we need to find a way to keep someone for a sustainable period of time.  My dad suggested a rent decrease if people pay a few months (say 6) upfront.  Another idea could be a rent decrease if they guarantee two months notice if they move or we hold back full damange deposit (have no idea if that's legal).

Do any of you folks have ideas on how to keep people around?

Another one of our problems has been that we don't get all the months utility bills until the fifth of the following month.  Our last roommate refused to give the key back until he got his damange deposit back, and I refused to give his damage deposit back until the utility bills came in.  I could understand his point, but I'm not really sure how to handle this going forward.

I thought perhaps if we rented the room for $650 all inclusive that could solve the problem (or thereabouts) - but my aunt suggested that people who don't have variable utilities may not care about them and that could drive utilities up (if they don't care it may mean leaving lights on, extra long showers, turning the furnace up...etc).

Does anyone have ideas on how to solve this gem?


Yes we could move,  yes we could just live by ourselves - but the current arrangement (with a roommate) enables us to save as much as we do towards a house down-payment ($150/week rotating b/w jordan and i).

Crisis Mode

We have gone from one crisis to another and then slapped with another.

wow, am i ever tired. my whole family is tired.

My grandmother fell on Thursday night. She broke her hip pretty badly. She was rushed to hospital, which is where I rushed to on Friday morning after I found out (a three hour drive). By the time I got there they were loading her up to take her to a different hospital (another three hour drive in a different direction). They have bolted her hip back together; unfortunately she has hip dysplasia which is compounded by severe osteoporosis and arthritis. It is unfortunate because it means that it was a very difficult surgery and her bone may not be strong enough for it to be an excellent prognosis.

I got back to Calgary late Monday night - Jordan, being the super awesome guy that he his had started laundry and had supper ready when I got home (he had come to the hospital city for a couple days, but left on Sunday to get back to work).

Posts to come include great praise for the emergency fund once I figure out all the money... my visa took some punishment this weekend. I'll also be writing about fuel mileage as there was a lot of driving about (once I get all my receipts organized).

I apologize if this post is riddled with spelling mistakes and grammar errors - I wanted to write something and this is just what I wound up with.

oh...and our roommate, yeah - the third new one since my brother moved out - just gave us notice.