We've got Roommies!

Earlier this month I shared with you all that we were inviting our very good friends to come and live with us while they work through some financial troubles.   This helps them with very low rent, and helps us - with a bit of extra cash for the next six months.

They moved in this past weekend - it was busy and a lot of work; but we made it.  It will take a week or so for them to settle and unpack, but I think it's going to work out wonderfully.

$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.

$7,900 in Teeth

Jordan was born with two congenitally missing teeth - every since he was small; his benefits have only provided for a flipper/mouth piece that give the appearance of teeth.  That appliance after 20+ years is now starting to wear on his existing healthy teeth causing more problems.

So...given that for the past year we have been exploring alternatives to the mouth piece.  There are two - either bridge or surgical implants.  For a variety of reasons; primarily longevity, quality and ease of maintenance Jordan has chosen implants.

After many quotes, and many arguments with our benefit providers and dental surgeon...we have a plan.  The total cost of the two implants is $7,900 - are combined benefits will reimburse us $3,000 each calendar year....that led us to the tough decision to plan for two surgeries rather then one.

Jordan's already undergone the first surgery to implant a screw into his jaw bone and now we wait 2-3 months for it to heal. Once healed (end of December), the implant/screw will be fitted with a tooth.  Then, and only then - when the first tooth is considered 'complete' can the dentist submit the expenses to our benefit providers.  So, Jordan and I have had to pay cash (read use the credit card) for the first part of the procedure (and will continue to pay cash each time something happens related to the procedure).  In January we should get our first reimbursement; and then we'll promptly schedule the second surgery.  

Our debt load is getting a bit scary, but we have a plan and will eventually be reimbursed.  Jordan and I would both rather pay the interest now for him to have a happy and healthy mouth before we have kids or anything else when there are more demands for the money.

This Christmas

This Christmas was hard.

It was the first without my dad.  It was also the first without my brother (he's moved to Winnipeg).  It was Jordan's first without his mom and his brother (they were on a trip together).

I tried to stay upbeat and positive, mostly I faked it until I could make it.  I think for the most part people believed that I was in good spirits, and that put me in a better mood then I would have been otherwise.

I had a lot of lists.. I always do, but this year it felt a bit more mechanical.  That helped get through I think...task lists...accomplishing things.

To distract myself, I made a lot of Christmas gifts this year.  We also spent a lot - but instead of telling you how much we spent (I don't 100% know just yet... haven't added up all the receipts), I would like to share with you some photo's of my creations...

Homemade Chocolates

Hand Painted Christmas Bear

Home Made Spice Blends

Stocking Stuffer for Jordan

Scarf for Jordan's Cousin

Scarf for my Mom

Scarf for My Cousin 

Roommates

We knew this was coming, but I was hoping it was going to be a month later.  Our roommate has given us notice and is planning to be out for November 1st.  We should be taking possession of the new place in November and are tentivly planning on giving notice to our landlord for November 31st - so it would have been good to have roommates rent $$ to hit that credit card hard...but cest la vie (if that's how you spell it).

Nothing will change for the rest of this month but I've had to re-jig November's spending plan a bit...here's what we're looking at now:

You can see in this spending plan where we have re-allocated part of the credit card payment to purchase shares this month that I wrote about yesterday.

Centerpieces & Isle Flowers

This past long weekend I went to my parents place in BC to spend some time with my mom putting together the centerpieces and ceremony isle planter pots.  Other than getting a nasty sunburn, it went really well and was low cost too!

We had gathered the centerpiece pots and painted them a while back and had some excellent soil that we had been given a while ago which was fantastic.  My mom graciously bought some miracle grow as well as the flowers (approx $175) and we had bought some large planter pots from Walmart (approx $30) as well.

All told the total cost was just over $200 for our centerpieces (25) and isle flowers (12).

Here's some photo's of pulling everything together:

Roommates - Le Sigh

It's been a while since I've had a roommate rant post, so after yesterdays events - I thought it was time.

We have had quite a few trials with one of our roommates lately it seems, at least twice a month, mid-week - we get phone calls from neighbors complaining about loud music during the day.  Further to that, we often get woken up in the middle of the night with music or friends coming home from the bars (mid-week).  Yesterday was the breaking point when I got called at work with a complaint!

We've had a few conversations with this roommate already about his general lack of respect for our space, our things and our home - and he's brought us far to close to potential eviction with all his nonsense.  So, we've asked him to find another place to live.  He has until January 30 to have all of his things removed.

Not that he has that many things - this is the roommate that was renting a fully furnished bedroom.

I'm concerned because we know that there is a whole in the closet wall and he's moved huge TV's up and down the stairs so many times there's quite a few hits and dings.  I would like to give him back his damage deposit - but it's all going to have to be puttied and cleaned otherwise, it'll be a no-go.

Thankfully, he pays he rent in advance so he's already paid January's rent.  He'll owe us fro December's and January's utilities - but there's never been any problems with paying, so I hope there's no problems in that area now.

So, Jordan and I have a choice to make.

1. Pay the increased rent - $850 and 2/3's utilities (instead of $350 and 1/2 utilities)
2. Find another (short-term) roommate

The kicker is that we want to save as much as possible between now and the wedding, when we want to be out on our own.  An extra six months of roommate hell = $3,000....which is why we've kept this guy around so long.  But our sanity and the potential for eviction just isn't worth it (neither are the fights between Jordan and I).  Not that they are plentiful, but the situation add's irritation to a lot of otherwise normal conversations and we wind up getting itchy with each other.

I'm partial to continuing to save like mad for the wedding, and dropping the house savings down a bit and just enjoy less roommates. We might not be in a house as fast as we'd like, but really it's not the end of the world of we rent for a while longer.

Grrr... Roommates!

Hi All,

I haven't disappeared - just have been in meetings (will be) for two full days, plus work dinners and what not.  Also, I'm freakin' exhausted.  Actually, too tired to think about money, so I'll tell you about my crummy night.

My roommate, for the fourth or fifth time woke the house up in the middle of the night.  His weekends are Wednesday/Thursday - but he's just got to stop waking me up!  I told his guests, one of which was a former roommate, to get the F* out of my house if they couldn't keep the nose to a dull roar.  They all left, and then talked about me outside my bedroom window.... granted, our roommate tried to tell his guests that me and J are 'nice people' and Jordan was sick - they started getting noisy again.

He finally got them away from the house and I went back downstairs to turn off the lights, where I ran into the roommate coming back in for something.  We wound up having a  "conversation" at 12:30am about respect.

The conversation actually went pretty well, with good back and forth however; I ended it by telling him that he needed to make a choice.  If he wants to live like a a responsible adult, with adults than we are happy for him to live with us.  If he wants to live like an irresponsible person, then he needs to find like minded individuals to live with - because that isn't acceptable behavior in our house.

He said that he wants to live with us, and I said great!  Honestly, I'm happy for whatever choice you make, just let us know what you want either by your actions or by giving us notice, either way, just please - let me sleep.


He then went in for a hug... which I gave him...which was sort of weird...but hopefully a good sign.

Non-Sufficent Funds

So...we're camping - but we do have Internet and e-mail access.

I was checking my online banking and realised that our newest roommates rent/utility cheque bounced!  This is as I'm re-configuring if we can pay of my student loans this month, so needless to say I was pretty shocked that we were missing $585!

We (relatively) calming sent new roommates (who's17) mom an e-mail.  We explained succinctly what had happened and asked for payment as quickly as possible.

We got a phone call from roommates mom at about 6pm this evening apologizing for the mix up.  She sent us an e-mail money transfer which came through at around 10:30pm.  So - fixed the same day, as far as ass ups go, we're pretty happy with the quick resolution.

We did mention to the mom (and she agreed) that e-mail money transfers would be the preferred way to handle bills going forward - so this shouldn't happen again.

* le sigh.


p.s.
can we just buy a fricken house already?

Roommate Update

Our new roommate has been slowly moving in over the last couple of days and appears to have settled in.  We have talked overly much - but he seems like a really genuine and busy person.  I hope he statys that way for his ten month stay with us.  We'll have to chat to his parents about how they want to organize utility and rent payment, but i suspect they will opt for e-mail money transfers.

They shouldn't cost the receipient (us) anything, and it's convienient for them!  We would of course also take cheques if they preferred. 

I recently re-arranged the billing cycle for Shaw, so they could do one transfer with rent and utilities on the same one (so they aren't paying the fee twice a month).  That's what our current roommate does and it works well.  Once the end of the month rolls around, I'll send them an e-mail to discuss how they want to arrange everything.

New Roommate!

I'm sure most folks who read Jessie's Money, know that Jordan and I have gone through about a year of ups and downs when it comes to roommates.  That said, it's that time again.....we've found a new fourth roommate.

This one is a bit unique.

We met Roommate X's parents last night.  They are moving to another city, and their son (Roommate X), wants to finish his grade 12 year in this city.  We gave the tour of the place and chatted for a few minutes about rent/utilties and lightly on our lifestyle (not a party house) and they told us about their son.  He is currently going to the same highschool that Jordan went to and they both took (are taking) similar courses in school - plus Jordan used to play football - the same position that Roommate X currently plays.  It's sort of earily weird.

The parents will be paying rent/utilities.  He goes to school and works 20-30 hours/week - plus he plays football.  His parents said he's not around a whole lot.  They seemed like absolutly steller people!  I think this is going to work out well.

That said, our current roommate didn't seem so thrilled (our last roommate was his best friend and he had moved in w/ him).  He has been talking about joining the Army - so we wern't sure on his longevity.  Plus his money management sucks!  (think pay day loans)

Rent is the same as it always is $500/month plus 1/4 utilties and $500 DD.

Our rent is $1,350 - so with our other roommate that leavges $350 for Jordan and I to pay plus 2/4 of the utilities and maintaining the household (we buy garbage bags, cleaning products and maintain the outside of the house for the most part).  It's everybody's job to maintain the cleanliness of the inside of the house.

This is going to give Jordan and I the opportunity to get our emergency fund back up to a healthly $1,000 in no time.  Seeing as how Roommate X will be with us until the end of the school year (so...i think 10 months - until next June).  We're looking at about $5,000 to perhaps get a few other 'funds' funded (have to talk to Jordan about that first).

Wish us luck.

utilities and settling up

Utilities

Bills, do they every take a month off?

Shaw is $101.73

Enmax is $133.73

Total is $235.46 - total for each of the four of us is $58.87.  Why so super cheap?  Do you remember a while back I told you that enmax over charged us for electricity usage?  Well, we caught up to ourselves this month and that portion of the bill was only about $2.

Settling Up

Now that the bills are in, it's time to settle up with our roommate who recently left.  

Damange Deposit $500

Damage                     0

Bills                   (58.87)

New Key          (10.00)   he lost his....

Parking              (25.00)  his car is broken down in our parking spot.  we're charging him $25/week                   until he moves it

Total Refund $406.13

Where The (Joint) Monies At

So, our roommate gave us notice a couple of days ago, along with May's rent.  We knew that he would be temporary (although I was hoping he would stay until July).  So far, it sounds like his friend that moved in at the same time, will stay.

As our joint account is based on bills for three people, we don't have to panic about finding a new fourth - but we're considering it.  For the last six months or so, we swore we didn't want more than three people in that house - but the two months we had of overlap was pretty great.  They guys got a long great, and helped out around the house. My mom suggested perhaps we look for a new fourth, but be very picky - because, why  not?

In our consideration for another roommate, I thought it prudent to check the numbers in our joint (bills) account - to see if we are in a position where we need another roommate, or it would be a luxury.

I  haven't gone over Jordan and my Joint account lately - so as a refresher here's how we figured out our joint contribution:

• Rent ($1,350) less a roommates share ($500) and split two ways is $425/each
• Max Utilities with three people is $150/each

Total bills for Jordan and I combined is $1,150.  That split by four (because we're both paid bi-weekly on opposite weeks) is $287.50.

Here is an image from my excel spreadsheet that shows where the monies at in the joint account:

In summary - I think we'll be fine.

It would be nice to have a larger joint cushion, but I think it's building at a pretty stellar rate.  Considering last month we bought a BBQ ($400) and we owed GST (~$200).

Saturday Morning: Money Here & Money There

Not too long ago I told you that Jordan and I were making the TV switch from Bell to Shaw due to an amazing offer!  Well, the Shaw guy just left and we're all hooked up!  We will now have two bills each month instead of three - Shaw and Enmax.  We'll have a final bill and cancellation charge from Bell, but after the deals we get with Shaw - it'll still be worth the switch.

I also mentioned a while back (this is six months ago) that we got a deal on our Shaw, well today - that deal was up.  I had spoken to Shaw twice before to make sure we wouldn't be billed for the promotion they gave us - and they messed it up.  The bill is $10 higher then it's supposed to be.  Ack! Way to go Shaw....  I'm on hold with their customer service now, so hopefully it won't take too long to fix it... by the time i finished writing this post, I had spoken to Shaw and they had fixed the billing mistake!

Here's what the bills look like:

Enamx $280.92
Shaw       50.50
Bell          77.47
Total    $408.89

We split this by 3 for Jordan, myself and our roommate who just moved out (because these bills are for last months services) and we have a grand total of $136.30 each.

Roommate had given us a damage deposit of $250 - so we owe him $113.40.

We'll write him a cheque, give him a call and leave it in the mailbox for him to pick up this weekend.

i hope you are all enjoying this lovely weekend

Budget Booster Potential

As you all know, Jordan and I recently had to find a new roommate.  Well, Roommate Number 4 gave us a call last night - he did not, surprisingly, say he couldn't move in.  He has a friend who is a student, and recently broke up with his girlfriend - he's down and out, trying to find somewhere to stay.  Girlfriend had all the furniture, and the place they were renting, and now he's got nothing.

Roommate Number 4 knows that we have a fully furnished spare room.

He would like for us to rent out spare room, to spare friend for a month - two tops, until he can get back on his feet. Jordan and I were really torn, because we really enjoy having that extra space for people (friends and family) to be able to use when going through the city or what not.  It's also nice to have our printer set up in their and an extra desk.

We talked it over and Jordan and I decided that we would temporarily rent out our spare room to spare friend. However; the arrangement would be the same as Roommate Number 4.  Same damage deposit, same rent, and a split of the utilities.  Yes - we could re-arrange how much everyone pays but its very temporary, and we're technically not supposed to have more then one roommate living with us (the deal we made with landlord to reduce the rent) - because there is a big risk, we need to maximize our potential benefit.

All of this is dependent on meeting spare friend.  They are coming by the house tonight about 6pm to meet us.

We should install a rotating door...

Seriously - there would probably less wear and tare on the place.

Those of you who follow me on twitter, you know that we have found another roommate.  This one, let's call him....Aaron - had a look at our place the afternoon after the last person backed out and showed up the next day with TWO CERTIFIED CHEQUES.  I'm super impressed with this guys style, and I beleive he's set a new standard for future roommmates ('cause you gotta know by know he won't stick around for long lol).

Aaron was actually quite up front about what he was looking for and his longeviety potential.  He told us that he's currently a student and is planning on finishing this semester and one summer semester in Calgary (so we're good until end of June) - he said he's not sure where he'll be as of July 1, 2010 - that all depends on if he gets into the school he wants in BC.

So even though he's temporary, we're already ahead of the game because we know we'll be looking for someone again in the summer.

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.

ahhh... still on Vacation

I'm loving this whole vacation thing that goes along with having a 'big girl' job.  Love it!

I took off four days this week - so I left work at noon on Christmas eve, and don't go back to work until January 4th, 2010.  Pretty Sweet.  We're back in the city now as Jordan had to go back to work yesterday, so i'm just enjoying relaxing at home - having the place to myself.

Speaking of having the place to myself - it's about to end.  We wound up finding a new roommate at the ninth hour (those who follow me on twitter probably already knew that).  We are still trying to settle the damange deposit and final utilities with Jeff, who's being difficult, but hopefully that will be resolved in short order.  New roommmate B-rad, picked up a key yesterday and is planning on moving everything in today at about 2pm.

B-rad wrote us a cheque for his first months rent and half his damage deposit, and next month he'll write one for rent and the rest of his damange deposit.  A fair arrangement I think.