The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.
Moving Out: Budgetting
Wezoin
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Alright, long story short I'm wanting to move out this year (May 1st to be exact.) I've been working out a budget and I want to see what you guys think. My mom thinks I'm an idiot and that theres no way it would ever work, but we'll see. I would be living with 5 other guys (6 people total in the house, including myself.)
I have it in an excel sheet, but obviously can't post that here so I'll do my best to make it clear:
Revenue:
This Revenue list also ignores about $400 I will be receiving in a week, as well as my tax return which will be sorted out in a month or two which usually amounts to about $1300.
Expenses:
Few other things to mention: I do not buy clothes - ever - and I have omitted cable because I don't watch tv and the people I would be living with have lived together this year and do not have cable either.
This leaves an additional $1,718.50 for anything I've forgotten/any emergencies that might come up. I should also mention I live in Canada, so health insurance is not an expense I need to worry about, and that I usually make about $700/week during the last few weeks of summer because I get moved up to full time, as well I will be trying to find additional work for the rest of the summer. We also, as students, get free bus passes so transportation is not an expense.
Does this budget seem viable?
I have it in an excel sheet, but obviously can't post that here so I'll do my best to make it clear:
Revenue:
- Work: $9600 - Conservative estimate, assuming 20 hours a week with 2 weeks off and no increase over summer
- OSAP (Student Loans): $6436 - Based on estimate calculator
- Bursary: $3000 - Based on what I've received every year for the past 3 years
- Total: $18,946.00
This Revenue list also ignores about $400 I will be receiving in a week, as well as my tax return which will be sorted out in a month or two which usually amounts to about $1300.
Expenses:
- Rent: $4920 ($410/month, utilities included)
- Food: $3000 - I didn't have much idea here but I figured this is about an absolute limit I'd be likely to spend on food.
- Cell-Phone: $169.50 - this is exact calculation based on what I pay now.
- Beer: $600 - I don't drink a ton so I think $50 a month should get me by
- Tuition: $6028 - based on this year's tuition
- Books: $850
- Trip to England: $1000 (about $600 for flights, staying with family so that leaves me $400 for food for 2 weeks. Should also mention my grandparents have a habbit of stuffing me full of food so for the most part I won't be spending much on food, and that I have no real interest in most of the paid touristy things or in souvenirs)
- Internet/Homephone: $660 - This is a total sum based on a quote from Bell, it has not been divided by the number of people in the house, but obviously would be a shared expense. I would likely be paying slightly more than 1/6th of this as it is unlikely that all 6 people want a home phone line and I would probably have to bite more of that cost.
- Total: $17,227.50
Few other things to mention: I do not buy clothes - ever - and I have omitted cable because I don't watch tv and the people I would be living with have lived together this year and do not have cable either.
This leaves an additional $1,718.50 for anything I've forgotten/any emergencies that might come up. I should also mention I live in Canada, so health insurance is not an expense I need to worry about, and that I usually make about $700/week during the last few weeks of summer because I get moved up to full time, as well I will be trying to find additional work for the rest of the summer. We also, as students, get free bus passes so transportation is not an expense.
Does this budget seem viable?
Wezoin on
0
Posts
I would suggest budgeting yourself some money every month that is just play money. lets you go out for dinner an extra time without feeling guilty, buy a game should you want one, that kind of thing.
You may find $250/month constricting on food, particularly if you eat a lot of pre-prepared stuff (frozen dinners, that kind of thing).
To be honest the very fact you've made a budget shows you're more prepared than the vast majority of people are when they move out, and worst comes to worst, what are your options for working in uni? Many universities have job-shop style deals where they'll give you a couple of shifts doing something on campus if/when things get rough financially.
I'm sure you'll be fine, go have fun
Does the bus pass only work on campus, or does it work everywhere? If not, you need to calculate what costs are associated with leaving campus to see a movie etc.
You also need to estimate your entertainment expenses. You won't have a TV, so will you just be hanging out online? Playing Xbox Live? Buying books (for recreation), seeing movies? If you subscribe to any services (such as WoW), have you budgeted the monthly expense for that?
Also, why do you want a home phone in this age of cell phones? One of the prepaid cell phone providers would likely save you money unless you are planning on making a lot of phone calls / text messages.
Will you be contributing to renters / home insurance with the other guys? If one of them gets drunk and burns your house down, or a car swerves and hits your place, you're going to up the creek without a paddle.
Are you being provided with a bed frame and mattress? If not, that is additional upfront expense you need to consider. What cost will be incurred to move any furniture and items from where you live to where this is? Do you plan on buying any furniture? What about cooking items?
It may be viable for you, but it's not going to be comfortable I think.
I currently work for the university bookstore/copy centres year round, which is where the "work" money in the budget comes from.
In terms of emergencies, I have a $6000 credit limit, as well as that estimate $1700. While I realise this is not ideal, if it was absolutely necessary I could make use of it, move back in with my parents after the lease, and pay it off.
In terms of comfort level there are some issues at home that have really pushed me to needing to move out. For anyone thats read the thread a few years ago about the issues with my brother, lets just say they have intensified.
Moving costs - my aunt who lives around the corner has an SUV that could take most of my stuff, might have to drop $40 or so for a Uhaul if not. It's only about a 10 - 15minute drive from where my parents live, so minimal costs there.
I will look at Teksavvy and see what they have to offer.
Savings: I don't really save any money right now, I have an RRSP started, and the deductions that go to that have already been calculated from the "work" amount. And obviously anything left over in the estimated "surplus" would become savings.
If home is close enough to school, you would be better off staying at home and saving a fuck ton of money. If there is a benefit to leaving home, outside of not living at home, then you can probably pull it off but it will be close.
What if an emergency happens? You're going to be strapped for cash.
Yeah, that's probably going to last about a month.
What about when you want to purchase a game? Hell, even rent one? Or you go out to eat for a friend's birthday? Or just for the hell out of it.
Trust me, I always put aside about 100-200 bucks a month for general entertainment purposes, cause stuff does come up, and unless you're going to be a recluse in your room, you will spend money.
Renters insurance is incredibly cheap for the coverage you get. It would be absolutely insane to plan on not having it. There's no way to plan on not being burglarized.
Keep in mind my budget accomodates for two people. I assume this is JUST the budget for this year and that you'll still be moved out next year but you'll deal with it, yes?
Also that thing with your mom is natural, she just doesn't want to see you go.
Food: $3000 = $375 per month. Not bad actually. My wife and I spend about $450 a month and we include sundries in that. Don't expect to eat rich on this but you won't be eating poorly either. How much of a health nut are you? Run your first month normally and see how the foods you like stack against your budget and see if you need to adjust there.
Sundries @ $50 a month sounds fine, keep in mind some months will be higher or lower than others (months where you need to buy razor blades if you have a name brand for example). But I don't forsee it ever going above $50 unless you use shampoo, toilet paper and cleaning supplies like a madman (or one of your roomies does).
Beer @ $50 a month...may be too much or not enough...really hard to tell. Just kind of go with it, see how much you drink once you move out. You might not end up using that much at all. A 12 pack is only $25ish after all.
The others look fine, your biggest concerns will be
A) Companies looking to screw you over for money. This happened to me a lot when I moved out. Never give them an inch and always be aware of what people are offering you. If someone says you owe them money the best response is not "Just pay it anyways" unless you truthfully owe them money.
Your budget looks well thought out, just remember it's not in stone. Feel your way on your first month and see how things go.
OH!
Also, you are moving out and are a student. Make sure you have receipts for all your claims (AND GET RENT RECEIPTS FOR YOUR PAYMENT). I know this for a fact. Our government loves to audit students, especially on rent.
edit: Other things to keep in mind that add up.
- Birthday & Christmas gifts you intend to buy for others
- Going to the bars.
- Cab fair depending on how good your city's transit system is. Some places won't have buses if you're out late.
- Money for dating.
- Money for you.
How much do you have right now?
This. This, this!
It protects against most kinds of inclemement weather (except floods), burglary, fire, and a host of other things - all for practically nothing a year.
Nothing against your roommates but more guys means more keys and you all being students puts your place at higher risk of attack if there are any periods of the day where all of you are not in. Also, you might have good faith in your friends and roommates but you don't know their friends.
If you are including sundries in your $3000 food, you will be eating in 99% of the time, though still fairly well if you budget yoruself properly.
What worries me the most about your situation is the lack of situational/emergency funds and your assessment that your credit line will cover those. How will you pay off the credit line? Health expenses can get expensive, even with good coverage. What about birthdays? Christmas? Various epic holidays and or important dates with a lady you just met and want to impress? What about air filters and new clothes when your roommates spill acid all over your work outfit? What about those odd semesters where textbooks are a bit more than you planned, or the time when your computer blows up in that freak lightning storm or when your roommate accidentally crashes into it while playing Nerf Football in your living room?
From my eyes, you are about $2000-$3000 short of living properly in this setting. I'd still do it, but get another job or more hours. You'll still have plenty of time for awesome party fun time while working 40 hours and going to school.
As I said I will be looking for increased employment during the summer, and while living with friends might be bad there is no way its possible for it to be anywhere near as bad as the situation I'm in at home right now. I know this seems hard to believe but if you have read past threads about my home situation... you would have somewhat of a hint. I'm really not going into it again or how its intensified but lets just say much worse.
YMMV, but through my bank I got renters insurance for a little over $100/year. It's definitely worth it, even if nothing happens. Peace of mind issues.
There's already plenty of threads where people have been broken into and regretting not having renter's insurance.
Trust me, just the peace of mind is worth it. God forbid something happened, at least you know you would be covered.
That's just way too damn much money.
$50 a month is too much? Really? This is college.
$50 a month is about 3-4 bottles of reasonably good wine, or 1 decent sized bottle of hard liquor, or about 30 reasonably nice micro brews. A reasonable amount if you have the cash, way too much if you are counting your pennies.
EDIT: should also keep in mind this is Ontario - home of the minimum legal price on all alcohol products and a province-ran monopoly on alcohol sales. Beer is expensive here.
Wow. I've spent more than twice that on a nice bottle of scotch before.
Also, as of this moment my creditcards and debit card are, quite literally, under lock and key (thanks to the GTAIV lockbox) so I can force myself to save money. I have the key to it and could get at them easily if I really wanted to, but not having them with me when I go out is a huge help, so by cutting back my costs of living before the move I should have a decent reserve fund built up for after the move if things don't go to plan.
I'm not trying to save money per se, I'm trying to save money so that I have a safety net for moving out. As for the reason I'm moving out I've mentioned several times that there are personal family issues that make it extremely uncomfortable for me to live here.
If you really want to know,
Exhibit A: http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=26593&highlight=brother
Exhibit B: An earlier thread along similar lines that I can't seem to find now
Also, my relationship with my brother has deteriorated even further and I don't feel comfortable living with him anymore. Next year will be an important year for me, as my final year of my undergrad, and I could really do without the stress of having him around. I also think it may improve our relationship as we will both have a bit more space to let things cool down.
Also, since I will only be about 10 - 15 minutes from home if I were to get into financial trouble I could drop all of those expenses down to just rent and tuition and "live" at home while fulfilling only the bare minimum of my contractual duties for my lease. I realize that would literally make the rent payments a waste of money, but it'd be better than extreme debt.
Also, $50 a month for beer in Canada for a college aged male who goes out is not very much, you'll definitely be drinking sub-Molson levels so I'd say definitely think about buying in on your buddies homebrew.
This. We spend probably $100 a month on alcohol, $50 on beer doesn't seem unreasonable.
Of course, when I was still in college, I didn't I spent that much on booze. I think our first year on our own in college we lived off of $800 a month for all expenses (no booze), in Oregon. Fortunately, things got better.
However, I think you really need to do this on a month-by-month basis. Your budget includes the whole damn year, which is necessary to make sure you aren't going to overspend, but your expenses aren't paid at the end of the year in a lump sum.
You need to break this down into monthly income and expenses, and make sure you have enough coming in every month to cover your expenses without dipping too much into your loan/savings money. If you end up blowing through all of that at the beginning because you aren't making enough at your job, you're going to be broke when it gets closer to the end because you've budgeted on spending cash that you haven't made yet.
If you've never lived on your own before you will have no idea how to manage your finances.
It doesn't matter how much planning you've done. It doesn't matter how many Excel spreadsheets you have. It doesn't matter if 95% of your expenses are reliable monthly bills. You'll spend anywhere from 15-50% more (possibly even higher than that) than you planned on.
Food is the big one. A food budget of $250/month seems like a lot, but you'll often find yourself spending more than $10 in a single day and that's a huge chunk used up. House with 6 guys? The kitchen's going to be a goddamn mess all the time and cooking is going to involve vastly more cleanup time (of other people's messes) than actual cook time. If you end up eating out for any significant portion of the month (more than 1 in 10 meals) you can get your food budget into the $600 range without even thinking about it.
I may be wrong here and they may be the cleanest roommies on the planet, but we've got 4 people, 1 large kitchen, and all of us clean up fairly well and it's still difficult to find a clean knife and cutting board to whip up some salad.
You've got about $150 per month in flexible income. I wager you'll eat most of it.
What if one of your roommies finks out and leaves? You're in the hole for an extra $90 a month. What if you plan poorly for the first 3 months and you need to shave off $200/month for the remainder? What if you lose 4 hours a week at work because of payroll cuts (and this is the time of year for them)? Small things can add up and wreck you when you're cutting it that close.
I've been a full-time worker and a college student for the better part of the last six years. Being a working student is tough, because you're essentially juggling a full time job with a part time one (in my case, the actual job was full-time and the school part-time). Money will always be a problem. You'll be overworked and overstressed. You'll have way less free time than your peers (meaning your social life will suffer) and you'll feel like you have no free time at all. Without a car you're going to spend a large amount of time travelling, particularly on things like trips to the store or doctor or other unscheduled trips. It may not cost you anything, but spending an hour waiting for/riding the bus each day will wear on you.
Pare down your budget until you have about $300 a month in extra funds. If you haven't used it up at the end of the month, stash it in savings. If you can't manage this then you need to seek out extra income or find a way to lower your expenses.
More important than being prepared financially is being prepared mentally; I did a 40 hour workweek and a 15 credit load for one semester and it just about killed me, and that was living in my own apartment with a car. Money wasn't a problem, but sanity was in short supply.