Need advice with my budget, thanks!

[agatha1939]

I second the roommate idea, just for a couple of years until your income gets ahead of the mortgage. If you could rent a room to someone for $400/mo your cc bill could get paid off very quickly.

It does sound the best idea for me to have a roomate, I'll look into that... thanks!

[agatha1939]

Second job again, I repeat. Single and young? Do it now while you still can and by the time you are done paying off the CC, your regular income will catch up.

I called a temp agency today, maybe they can help me to find something at night, after my regular work... I don't mind working a 2nd job at all, but I would like to find something in an office, data entry, etc. Dealing with the public (restaurants, stores, etc) is so difficult sometimes...

[DebbieL]

I don't know, but this is the average I have been spending since January. I love cooking and I eat pretty healthy, no read meat at all (almost only fish), no processed food, no junk food either. I basically only buy veggies, fruits and eggs (weekly), plus pasta, flour and rice when I need (I go to Costco every other month). I also don't buy regular milk because it goes bad very fast, I have powder milk that will last me for maybe 6 months.

I eat a very healthy diet (and my husband's a chef and we cook all the time). We don't eat much meat at all. I cannot come close to the figures that you have for groceries. I would love to have such low food costs!

[agatha1939]

I eat a very healthy diet (and my husband's a chef and we cook all the time). We don't eat much meat at all. I cannot come close to the figures that you have for groceries. I would love to have such low food costs!

To tell you the truth I was budgeting $50/week for groceries but so far, that has been "too much". I do have lots of cleaning supplies from my last visit from Costco, so maybe when I have to buy more, my expenses will be bigger!

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Nah, I hear in Canada that they still have pensions at many companies, unlike the darn us. And yep you get about $1200/month without worrying about medical. Here the average is $1k/month from SS but you have to cover what medicare doesn't. So it doesn't go far.

Most of DH's friends who are in their 20s/30s in Canada have pensions. We don't. Lucky guys. Granted oil is a booming industry right now so I guess that's part of it.

So they get very generous pensions on top of not worrying about medical. In the US you get pensions only with government jobs and still have to worry about medical unless you are military.

Probably why DH is pushing for us to move to vancouver. It would be soo cheap! Food is cheaper, eating out is cheaper, taxes are about the same, and housing is cheaper except if we lived in Seattle. College is cheaper substantially too by a lot.

[DebbieL]

You heard wrong then. I don't know of very many people who get a pension through work at all (actually the only ones I know who have one are government employees). Really VERY few companies offer them. Most of us are on our own for retirement savings outside of our forced CPP contributions (which as I said the income from that doesn't amount to much) and the small old age pension. Actually SS payments can be way larger than our CPP payments. We are stuck at about the $800/month maximum (and that's only if you earned enough for enough years to have contributed the maximum into the plan).

[maat55]

OP has some liquid cash ($400/month) to throw at problem, and I hardly call 24 months of paying off debt to be "long and difficult".

Jim, we're not talking about you or I, If OP doesn't get a roommate or second job, it will be a long difficult process.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Get a second job and by the time she's done paying it off the CC debt I bet she'd be doing a lot better! Or a roommate, but I like the second job idea better.

And nope my MIL has a pension university worker, 2 of DH's friends are in banking, 1 lawyer pension, and 10 are in oil companies. They are all around 28-35 with pensions. We've asked them and discussed differences. Some came to the US like DH for graduate school and went back, others stayed. He was interested in knowing the benefits and differences of working in the US versus canada.

Also we know about 15 people in Pharmaceuticals in Quebec and they have pensions. Maybe it's the type of jobs they have. Oil is definitely doing well, recall you mentioned Fort Mcmurry, very expensive right now. Now know three people who are canadians working overseas for a short bit in oil doing very well. Nice lucrative jobs and fat pensions. Guess you have to be in the right field. Should have been in oil :P

[jIM_Ohio]

Jim, we're not talking about you or I, If OP doesn't get a roommate or second job, it will be a long difficult process.

OP could apply the $423/month to the debt and it is wiped out in two years. That is best solution and a second job is not needed.

[maat55]

OP could apply the $423/month to the debt and it is wiped out in two years. That is best solution and a second job is not needed.

She could prove me wrong, I hope.

[agatha1939]

She could prove me wrong, I hope.

And I will hehehe...

PS: I'm reading TMM by Dave Ramsey, I am very focused on not having any debt in my life!

[maat55]

And I will hehehe...

PS: I'm reading TMM by Dave Ramsey, I am very focused on not having any debt in my life!

You go girl.

[Scanner]

You're "house-poor."

Been there. Done that. Have the t-shirt.

One thing that will work to your advantage is inflation. If your mortgage is fixed, and you keep that house, your $1300/month mortgage payment will seem cheap in 7 years as your salary climbs.

I sometimes wish we had our old house, which had a mortgage of $523/month (not including escrows).

It's only when you get seduced by being upwardly mobile does it seem like you are moving no where.

Just now, after 4 years, our $1028/mortgage is starting to seem "cheap." Becasue of that, I want my DW to realize I'd like to park our butts here, like. . .until they nail shut my coffin.

All that being said, don't ignore the other advice and just wait to "inflate yourself" out of house-poorness. Be pro-active.

Good luck.

[ActYourWage]

And I will hehehe...

PS: I'm reading TMM by Dave Ramsey, I am very focused on not having any debt in my life!

Nice choice!

[cptacek]

I wouldn't just jump into getting any roommate just for the extra money, but it is nice to come home and have someone there sometimes. When I moved away from all my friends to get closer to my family and DH (just boyfriend at the time) I didn't know anyone. My cousin eventually moved in with me, and just having someone to watch tv with and eat with helped my mental state. The help with the mortgage and bills was just a bonus!