help with budget in Ottawa

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tina1971

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I am filling out a financial form for the divorce. It is amicable but he still does as little as possible. I am looking to buy a house so the financials will help. I have some question and trying now to screw myself. I take home now about $1300 every two weeks, and will be getting around $800 a month in child support( one week with one with out)age 11 & 9, and my lawyers says about $450 a month in ss for about 6 years. I will have about $200k in cash when I am bought out. I have never paid the bills and he is not sharing the costs plus I will buy a smaller house. I am looking at a mortgage of $150k ( buy furniture etc and everything for the house). My payments are around $500 bi weekly on a 15 year mortgage ( I am in my mid 40's). property tax I budget for $3k a year. cable, internet, phone I am putting at $150. I am guess food at $300 a month, but I have no idea about utilities or going out budget. I have sports at about 3k a year but don't know the breakdown for section 7 but guessing 60/40 him. No car payments , but insurance at 600 a year and don't know what to estimate for repairs and maintenance on a car( older car) then house insurance to buy ($70 a month) pprivate insurance (200 MONTH), rsp's ( no pension) $150 every two weeks, Resp (80 every two weeks). Are my figures way off, what am I forgetting. I am not sure what to budget for famly trip, bday gifts xmas gift ( kids still believe) etc. Not sure what I would spend to go out but is $150 a month to much, for kids to movies or bowling and if i go out sometimes

thanks
 
tina1971 said:
I am filling out a financial form for the divorce. It is amicable but he still does as little as possible. I am looking to buy a house so the financials will help. I have some question and trying now to screw myself. I take home now about $1300 every two weeks, and will be getting around $800 a month in child support( one week with one with out)age 11 & 9, and my lawyers says about $450 a month in ss for about 6 years. I will have about $200k in cash when I am bought out. I have never paid the bills and he is not sharing the costs plus I will buy a smaller house. I am looking at a mortgage of $150k ( buy furniture etc and everything for the house). My payments are around $500 bi weekly on a 15 year mortgage ( I am in my mid 40's). property tax I budget for $3k a year. cable, internet, phone I am putting at $150. I am guess food at $300 a month, but I have no idea about utilities or going out budget. I have sports at about 3k a year but don't know the breakdown for section 7 but guessing 60/40 him. No car payments , but insurance at 600 a year and don't know what to estimate for repairs and maintenance on a car( older car) then house insurance to buy ($70 a month) pprivate insurance (200 MONTH), rsp's ( no pension) $150 every two weeks, Resp (80 every two weeks). Are my figures way off, what am I forgetting. I am not sure what to budget for famly trip, bday gifts xmas gift ( kids still believe) etc. Not sure what I would spend to go out but is $150 a month to much, for kids to movies or bowling and if i go out sometimes

thanks
Click to expand...

Hi Tina,

So $2600 a month is your take home after deductions, please correct me if I am wrong. Your also may be receiving $800/month in child support and possible $450/month in spousal support for a total of $3850/month.

I'm basing these amounts on a modest 3 bedroom town home like the one I live in. 2 story, 3 bedroom. These amounts are all monthly.

Gas $118
Hydro $150 (billed every 2nd month at $300) Hydro seems to fluctuate so this is a high estimate.
Water $65 (billed every second month at $130) high estimate.
Property Tax $250
Mortgage $1000
Car Insurance $50 - $100
Home Insurance $30-$50
Retirement (RRSP) - $300
Private insurance - $200
Cable, internet, phone - $150
Groceries - ($300 is a low estimate, I have two boys and spend between $500 - $600 a month) let's say $550.
Sports - (based on your 40% at $3000 a year) $100
RESP - $160
Activities with kids - If you have them week on/week off, you'd probably take them out maybe 1 or 2 times each week, I would peg it at $200.

So far a rough total of $3,358 per month. Now these are rough numbers based on what I pay for a 3 bedroom town home. Other factors need to be considered, such as:

- how far do you live from the kids school and your work?
- how much driving do you have to do and what is your gas cost?
- are the kids in day care?

Also, keep in mind that closing costs are steep. My lawyers fees for buying a new home, and the land transfer tax and other little charges came to almost $8000.

I'm not sure of the specifics of your situation but it sounds like your buyout, and CS and SS have yet to be determined. If that is the case I would recommend (and I'm sure you already know this) to wait until you know for sure what is going on.

Once you have those numbers figured out then go to one of the agencies that offeres free credit counselling and have them take a look at your situation.

Raising two kids on one income is going to be very tough. Talk to a planner and see what kind of home you can afford. Then weigh your ooptions as to whether your buyout money is better going towards the downpayment on the home or whether or not some should stay in pocket for financial emergencies.

If your filing out a financial statement for court or for your lawyer, I can send you a copy of the template I used because it breaks down every possible cost you could typically have. I'll private message you a copy later today.
 
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Plus...
50/mo home maintenance/cleaning/garden supplies, furnace maintenance, minor repairs
40/mo Haircuts/toiletries
20/mo Car license/registration/CAA
100/mo Car maintenance (new tires every 4 years, oil changes and other scheduled maintenance, plus one major $600 fix each year for an older car)
75/mo Dentist visits twice a year

I'd put food for 3 at $600/month (that's assuming ALL food is coming from grocery store, which is VERY frugal)
 
Then also maybe, savings for new car (in lieu of regular lease or loan payments or depreciation)

$200/mo (this amount provides for a $15000 used car every 6 years, that you run into the ground)

My yearly utilities run under $3000/yr (gas heated, purchased water heater, A/C, semidetached, 2 story, older house in Toronto, 2 people) ... but from talking with others, that's pretty low. Total more like $3500 or $4000 would not be unusual.

Presents for kids ... maybe $100 for each kid for each birthday/xmas? Some people spend like crazy on presents though, so maybe even $200.

Your mortgage payments will be somewhere about $790/mo (on $150K mortgage, 4% rate, 25 year amortization).
https://www.rbcroyalbank.com/cgi-bin/mortgage/mpc/start.cgi/start
 
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first off, :::BRAVO::: tina for getting informed and for taking the steps necessary to plan!!

These numbers you've been given are really good estimates to get you started!!

One of the tools I use to monitor that I stay on budget is a simple excel spreadsheet. I set it up like a calendar, formulas to show my balance at the end of each day. I forecast money that will need to be saved or spent on recurring bills, I enter my bi-weekly pay and other amounts.... and from there I am able to plan things like a night out once in awhile...... At the beginning of the year it takes a little while to set it up, but it's invaluable!!

There are other software packages out there (i.e. quicken) that allow you to download from your bank page to the software and it will automatically do most of the leg work for you.... again it just takes a little time to play around with it and get used to it.

At your children's' ages, why not get them involved in figuring out a household budget.... it is a learning opportunity which allows them to learn how to create a budget, and how to spend money wisely. I've just started getting my almost 7 year old involved ((keeping it simple for her and age appropriate))....

Another suggestion for the utilities - when you are setting up the new accounts for your new home, ask about their Equal Billing Plan (sometimes called "going on the budget). For example, our gas company bills the same amount from September to June - regardless of the amount actually used. On the June bill, they will equalize - meaning take what you should have paid for the amount of gas used and subtract the amount you were billed on equal billing. If you over paid, you won't have a bill to pay until the credit is used..... On each bill it will show $XX amount billed for EBP, $XX amount used, difference of $XX... so you can monitor it as well - no surprises....

When I first moved out, the equal billing offered by the utilities was really, really useful. Mostly because I knew exactly what my bill was going to be each month, and I could budget for that amount.....

Best wishes!!
 
you kissed off your first two week paycheck with mortgage and property taxes and half the nex check with food the rest will be gone with bills...and you'll be in debt with a car every month...............dunno where this 200k is coming from but eitherr pension buyout or house sale.....you take the money all of it (doubt you'll see it) and buy a house outright.........you got 6 years spousal and kids will be goin to coolege around that time....you better have cash to contribute, and don't be ur typical mom that keeps the kid at home till it's 50 to keep the CS coming in..it hurts the kids head.....not spelled checked
 
This forum really needs to be a little more selective about who they let join and post.

Hey Brog, you need to quit being so bitter at your ex. Your advice is not only inaccurate it is also incomprehendible. Reading your posts is like reading a book with every other sentence removed. By the way a sentence is a group of words in series that end with a punctuation.
 
aren't you glad they let you join? anyways if you read the post which you didn't so I gotta assume ur somebody I already know but under a different nick....I'm letting this poor lady know she can't afford a house with her current income.....unless she buys it straight out as she quoted 150k...the others are running up her monthly expenses (meaningless by the way judge's barely pay attention to it ..why?...cause it's all lies)......she'll barely be thru the first 5 year term of her mortgage when she'll see the money tap starting to close...then she'll have to fall down and get a disability to keep the cash from dad rollin in...do we want that for her?....no we want her happy in the future!
 
cashcow4ex said:
This forum really needs to be a little more selective about who they let join and post.

Hey Brog, you need to quit being so bitter at your ex. Your advice is not only inaccurate it is also incomprehendible. Reading your posts is like reading a book with every other sentence removed. By the way a sentence is a group of words in series that end with a punctuation.
Click to expand...

What a perfect description - thank you!
 
theborg said:
you kissed off your first two week paycheck with mortgage and property taxes and half the nex check with food the rest will be gone with bills...and you'll be in debt with a car every month...............dunno where this 200k is coming from but eitherr pension buyout or house sale.....you take the money all of it (doubt you'll see it) and buy a house outright.........you got 6 years spousal and kids will be goin to coolege around that time....you better have cash to contribute, and don't be ur typical mom that keeps the kid at home till it's 50 to keep the CS coming in..it hurts the kids head.....not spelled checked
Click to expand...

Tina, ignore theborg. He's bitter....although I'm sure you figured that out by reading his post.
 
thanks all, sorry I didn't reply earlier, the computer crashed and can't type on my phone very well. I did miss somethings including 40% of camps and maybe after school daycare for a year. And some other stuff. Yes my take home is 2600 a month, offset child support is going to be around$800 a month and lawyer thinks ss is around 450 ( before tax) so that is what I am working on. I made the mortgage payment a little higher so it would be done in 15 years instead of 25 but may not be possible. And the 200k is dividing all assets, but not pension. I am not budgeting for university as the resp should be around $100k when everything is done for two kids, and should get them both an under graduate degree if they stay home. If they go away then they will have to work in the summer and save up some.

As for theborg, it is amicable and basically the assets are divided and he is buying me out, the $150 mortgage is a maximum but it is hard to find anything fairly nice for under $300k in the west end. And he is keeping the furniture so I have to refurnish the house and would probably need about 25k for beds, couches, tv, computers, sheets and everything to get a house up and running, including paint and not all houses come with washer dryers etc. I am still hoping for a mortgage at 100K over 15 years, but budget high just in case.If there are any more ideas I would appreciate it, as they are great. I didn't read it as bitter, just not a cuddling response just straight forward and a little hard for someone trying to figure out some numbers.

On the budgeting for clothes, because I receive offset child support, does that mean I buy the winter jackets, shoes, etc etc. I don't mind but just have to budget more
 
The theory with offset CS is that you both spend EQUALLY on the kids because you have about the same amount of time with them. The offset payment is to help the lower earning parent meet that spending level.

So, ideally, winter clothing expenses would be split 50-50. Or perhaps you buy all winter clothing/boots etc, end he covers some other comparable expenses.
 
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