Re: How much do you spend?
 

Marketing is more than advertising. The big coffee brands have positioned their coffees as affordable status items, and persuaded consumers that the drink is in fact a treat, and that they deserve a treat. Advertising their coffees and drive-throughs as part of the fabric of contented Canadian life cements the idea. It's a subtle game.

Re: How much do you spend?
 

Is it also possible that making coffee at work is frowned upon outside official breaks?

Sure...that's why I was careful to mention the competitions and sponsorship.

Maybe it's changed in the UK in the 10 years I've been away. But the UK had all the coffee shops (admittedly not the drive-thrus) for yonks before I left and I never saw people walking along the street, cup in hand, or arriving at work with coffee to anything like the same extent as I saw here instantly.

The biggest puzzle is that many Canadians love to complain about high and increasing costs of everything yet happily spend a small fortune on take-away coffee when in less time than they spend in a queue for it they could make their own and at a fraction of the cost. Even K-Cup style coffee would be much cheaper.

I'm not sure that marketing convinces them it's a treat - especially if it becomes the norm that it has.

Our nearby hospital has a Tim Horton's in the lobby. Incredible the number of people who go there for it with no actual business with the hospital. They walk in, join the queue and then carry out what they bought. It's a residential area.

The coffee will have cooled off by the time they reach the nearest shops and banks.

Either they're drinking cooled off coffee at work or they're taking it home.:confused:

Re: How much do you spend?
 

They zap it at work.

Re: How much do you spend?
 

Considerably cheaper if you buy the re-usable filters from Crappy and loose coffee from the supermarket.

Re: How much do you spend?
 

I seem to recall this before. :)

My mother in law bought a Keurig machine and it came with a re-usable filter. I found it needed twice the amount of my usual ground coffee to get the same strength cup and it was a real bugger to clean the filter.

I don't consider I like my coffee especially strong but others do. On the rare occasion I use the Keurig, I leave the pod out and my mother in law uses it for a strength that suits her. Sometimes she uses it twice more :eek:

Three cups for the price of one. :lol:

Re: How much do you spend?
 

Yes, I think this has come up before. The Crappy Tire filters do work very well, though. Using the mid-size (7oz) option gives you the best result.

Re: How much do you spend?
 

So it's been a year from that thread and I have a much better idea of our costs over a year. I thought it might be useful to update the costs....

Food- as much as I try to reduce with flyers and ad matching, the lowest amount I will spend for a family of 4 (the 5th member doesn't eat yet) is $800 ranging up to $1300 on very expensive months.

LCBO roughly $200 a month.

Gas costs me $65 a week for a Toyota Sienna. My husband's car is about $55. I fill mine every week which I never did back home. My husband has to fill his far less often (just 20km a day) so about $350 but this is just normal journeys- anything above will immediately mean monthly gas budget rises.

Propane to heat the house $190 a month since I'm now spreading the cost rather than the shocking $500 bills in the winter.

Hydro $200 a month- I am frugal and try to do all washing machine/tumble dryer/dishwasher cycles at night.

Internet unlimited up to 6mbps $65.

Cell phones $170 we did upgrade- hopefully coming to an end soon but will only reduce by $40 anyway for both.

We don't have water rates as we have a well.

Mortgage

Municipal tax $300 a month - we have much cheaper rates in town as we not are on water/sewerage etc- we could easily add another $100 a month on for a similar size house.

We don't have satellite but Netflix at $7.50 a month and the DNS costs $20 every three month.

Insurance cars and home $228 a month but note that I gather we are exceptionally lucky to have the option of group insurance through my husband's employer.

Life Assurance $226.

Clothes- I have just spent about $400 in the sales kitting the three kids out for autumn/summer next year.... shoes- 2 pairs per season per child $500 - school here requires indoor and outdoor shoes. Plus of course winter boots every year for kids and snow suits..

Snow clearance - obviously subjective but we paid about $150 a month... One of our neighbours does it for us and was cheaper than the contractor who did our friends private road.

We pay about $100 per car twice a year ($400) for changing from summer to winter, winter to summer and storage.

We do have two car leases too. A Toyota Sienna and a Ford Escape- both 4x4. I'm not used to having car loans- my hubbie used to drive a fiesta back home!! For now that's one of the costs of moving countries. Losing money on vehicles back home and having to buy a different sort of vehicle here- won't apply to everyone..

Hope that helps for any newbies thinking that Canada is cheaper.. Definitely on par and in some respect way more expensive!

Re: How much do you spend?
 

updated, as of August 2015 our total all-in monthly expenses are $1559. see below. The reason for zero cost internet is because Bell gave us a sweet zero cost deal for 12 mths because we are such loyal Bell customers of 48 years, the fact that we are seniors & that I repeatedly bitched so much. See what happens in December.

Natural Gas includes furnace protection plan & water heater rental

Petrol is high because we trip twice per day to my 96 yr old Father-in-Law who lives a ways away from us

Grocery includes what we buy in bits & bobs for my FIL

monthly expenses average flat across 12 months


property tax 410
Car & home Insurance 128
petrol 250
grocery 220
Nat Gas 141
Electricity 120
water 60
cable TV 0
phones 30
internet 0
medical/dental 50
fixed cost total $1409
misc 150
Grand Total $1559.00

Re: How much do you spend?
 

The price of a pint of beer is up 15 to 30 cents as well depending on beer and establishment.

I have offset this by eating at home and then going to the bar.

I do think that milk has got cheaper here and no idea why? This is just based on Sobeys near me of course.

Rogers put my bill up justifying it by telling me I now had Shomi and access to all Hockey games. I told them I hated Iced Hockey as it was stupid but they still wouldn't let me swap it for something else.

I have found a good show or two on Shomi. "Peaky Blinders" is entertaining.

My Rogers bill now $190 per month. That includes HBO and Internet. $15 more than the previous contract I had.

Just about to look at cellphone although thankfully I don't need a new plan as I squeezed them last time. Thankfully phone billing hasn't started doing what TV billing does with offer expiries and then shaking you down.

Re: How much do you spend?
 

$220 for grocery for a MONTH!? How? What do you eat? Does this include cleaning items, toothpaste and suchlike?

Re: How much do you spend?
 

No rent or mortgage.

Somebody is doing all right!

Re: How much do you spend?
 

discussed previously up thread. Really really frugal, no booze, or soft drinks, we have cut down considerably on milk, buy from the expired products store, off the scrap produce cart, a pot of soup goes a long way as does on special liver, goat, pork shoulder, fish ends & boneless chicken at the super special of $1.99/lb. We are not steak eaters

Cleaning stuff & TP included

when you've been in Canada as long as we have & get to our age - hopefully, yes to no mortgage or rent. I guess we are one of the lucky few

.

Re: How much do you spend?
 

It was. $326 last time you posted. $80 a week I could do, it wouldn't be healthy or varied though.

Re: How much do you spend?
 

That's is what happens when u buy a house and don't rent. Eventually you buy it !!
This is why renting long term sucks IMO

Re: How much do you spend?
 

Wow. I guess that must be an older house coupled with cold winters (and tank propane presumably being more expensive)?

Our BC Hydro rarely gets above $100/month and that's winter or summer peak (4 portable AC units in our house - :eek: planning on getting a heat pump or central AC installed soon), with a spring or autumn month at about $50 and natural gas is almost nothing in the summer ($20 charge to supply $1 of gas... :sneaky:) and max $100/month in the winter.

That's for a 3000sq ft 7 year old house.