Precisely

Family of 2 for most of the week, family of 4 at the weekends.
I can spend anywhere from $300 to $600 every 2 weeks on groceries, gas eating out and extras like clothes and shoes for the kids (they are 7 & 9 and grow like weeds!). Also depends if we are doing a Costco shop to stock up on bulk items - that's an easy $200 right there.
I drive a 2011 Toyota Yaris sedan. The loan repayments are 167 bi-weekly. Gas is usually $40 every 2 weeks depending on how many times I drive into Calgary. I am lucky to have a 5km round trip commute (which is actually 10km most days as I go home for lunch).
Fixed expenses are around $4700 a month. We pay rent on 2 places which accounts for the majority of this. Other expenses are $222 for TV, internet and home phone, $80ish for my cell phone, 120ish for water, 250ish for utilities. Also included in there are savings, insurances and debt payments.
Easiest way I find to stick to a budget is to use cash. I can see the money physically disappearing that way and it discourages me from impulse purchases. I also try to throw any surplus from the middle of the month pay period into my e-savings account for the end of the month when the big payments are going out. Separating this money from my chequing account again helps to keep on budget and not be tempted to spend that little bit extra as they "extra" money is sitting in the account.
It all depends on how disciplined you are, but I do find money grows legs and walks much easier than it did in the UK.

One thing we have found is we spend a lot more on - and around - the house than we did in London. In London we had a 3 storey mews-style town house and we had pretty much done everything to it we could. Here we have a rather large project with a very large garden - both of which just eat money. We buy plants, garden tools, paint sprayers, mulch, bathrooms, hard wood floors, new roofs etc etc. The list is endless!

OP, from the responses it would seem that for 2 adults + 2 school aged children the monthly budget doing it in a moderate lifestyle (exclude rent or mortgage) is not less than $2000?

Add to that a mortgage + insurance or renting, its in the middle to upper $3k, maybe $4k or more?

Car payments, travel costs, Vacations extra on top of that ....

Yup.

As a single guy living downtown I spend $3k per month.

To this I am still to add beer, clothing, holidays and investment/savings.

I pretty much view the $3k as essentials (with the exception of the gym membership and cable TV so essentials is really $2.8k).

I'm fortunate I owe nothing on my car. That used to be an additional $330 per month.

I hope you're not counting as investment all those big tips you leave at Hooters.

One day my friend.

One day.

..::HOOTERS::..

We are fairly budget restricted so my numbers will be on the low end.

Car Ins- 127 a month

Hydro is a flat rate of $26 a month, actual usage varies from 25 to 35 a month depending on time of year, but $26 is the average and as we are on the flat payment program, we just pay a flat $26 a month, if we underpay, our payments are adjusted up in Feb, if we overpay the payments are lowered.

Food runs us roughly 75 a week for 2 people, but sometimes as low as $40.

Student loans and CRA run about 75 a month.

Internet is 50 something, we currently don't have cable.

Gas runs 40/ every other week on average. (it is not weekly it's every other week on average for gas.

Rent is 605

Tenant insurance is 19/month

Phone 35 per month.

We don't eat out, drink, see movies in theaters or really anything entertainment wise that costs money, so discretionary spending is minimal and not regular.

My partners student loans runs about 100 a month.

Psoriasis cream runs 100 every other month.

I am sure I am forgetting something, but this is a basic run down.

how come the hydro is so low?

Do you have water or a natural gas bill and what about phones?

We rent so no water or sewer bills, those go to the owner who presumably has worked it into the rent, but we don't pay those directly.

No natural gas, all electric. We have an apartment so that will make a difference vs a house.

We are on the conservation rate, and last month used 252 kWh @ $0.07520 /kW.h which was $ 21.21

Plus Basic charge of $5.16

Rate rider 5% 1.32

GST $1.38

Total actual charges $29.07

Conservation rate is the first 1,350 kWh after which it climbs to 11.27 cents per kWh, but we never get anywhere close to that, most electricity we have ever used in a month was 325 kWh, but in general we average well under 300 kWh per month.

For October looking at my excel spread sheet, we will have spent $1,549 in total for the month, on an income of 1,590 so we actually had a small surplus this month.

This is for 2 people.

Rent: $2100/mo including water/sewage
Renter Insurance: $60/mo
Car insurance: $480/mo over 2 vehicles. (Currently awaiting $1500 back from ICBC hopefully...)
Gas/diesel: $200/mo (but that's because 3rd vehicle is company truck with gas card....)
BCHydro: $90/mo average since Feb
Fortis Gas: $15/mo in Summer, $50/mo in winter (so summer that's $1 for the gas and $14 for the service!)
Telus Optik TV/phone/internet $160/mo
Cell: $50/mo (+ mine which is on the employer)
Groceries: Probably only $200-300/mo for 2 people, plus 1 meal out per week $60
Beer/wine: $20/week

Child Maintenance back to UK: $600/mo plus the Bank of Dad which pays spending money and cell phone contracts....

I am one of the lucky ones who's similar job in Canada is currently valued higher than it was in the UK - salary 'exchange rate' is just over $2 = £1 (without working in the oil patch!) and there isn't the bottomless unpaid overtime like there was back home either! 40 hours = 40 hours usually. Not 50-60.

Ok I can see that we are fairly average. I was hoping to find some magical overspend somewhere other than the cars!


Depends on what type of "investment" he is after

Renting really isn't cheap is it.... I forgot to say we have a well and septic so don't have either of those bills.

I would say that the direct cost of renting here is currently on a par with buying with a 35-40% deposit, if you take into account that the landlord is paying his property tax and water/sewage out of your rent.

(ignores fact that mortgage payment includes a capital amount and that your landlord is making any gain in the house value, of course).

$2100 rent = $550k house.

Depends where you live and what your renting.

Renting is certainly cheaper for us, plus no bank would ever give us the time of day to buy something....