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-   -   Peakster's House Efficiency (https://ecorenovator.org/forum/showthread.php?t=499)

Peakster 11-23-16 10:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pinballlooking (Post 52518)
Wow, your water is expensive. It is more than Natural gas and electricity.

The water bill has proven to be a very hard bill to keep low.

I used 10.029m^3 of water which is 2,649.4 gallons. The 'consumption' & 'sewer' charge only comes to $31.47.

It's the base water charge of $25.08 + base sewer charge of $19.47 + storm drainage charge of $16.50 + $8.25 recycling charge that are the killer :(. $69.30 in 'base' charges before I even open a single faucet! Brutal.

Peakster 12-24-16 03:10 PM

November 2016 housing costs:

Natural Gas - $101.05 (304.871 M3)
Electricity - $73.26 (320 kWh)
Water - $88.77 (2,346 gallons)

Other expenses:

Telephone - $87.22
Wifi - $35.72
Netflix - 9.99
Monthly Cleaning Fee - $125.00
Insurance - $87.75
Water Heater Rental - $9.63
Property Tax - $316.56
Mortgage P+I - $696.19

Total November '16 Housing Costs: $1,631.14

Rent collection from housemates: $1,950.00

Month Profit: $318.86

The new housemate really helped with finances this month. He only lasted 1 month though (he found a cheaper place) so we're back down to $1,200 next month. Basement is coming along - finished the electrical, mechanical, and central vacuum tubing.

celblazer 12-24-16 06:31 PM

Got to ask why so much for Telephone - $87.22? I know here you can go something like Ooma and still run a house phone for $4-12 a month.

kenora 12-24-16 08:00 PM

Get rid of the house phone...I'm sure you have a cell already and wifi for internet..whats the house phone for?

Peakster 12-24-16 08:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by celblazer (Post 52839)
Got to ask why so much for Telephone - $87.22

Quote:

Originally Posted by kenora (Post 52840)
Get rid of the house phone...I'm sure you have a cell already and wifi for internet..whats the house phone for?

It is my cell phone. I used to have my bill around $40/month. Then I started to feel that I was living in the stone age without data (people were texting me photos & I'd reply 'sorry, I can't load them').

I finally caved in and got a 'free' Samsung phone with the cheapest plan ($65/month) but then long distance ballooned it to $100/month. I now have the $75 plan + taxes: Wireless | shareMORE plans | SaskTel

I really don't use that much data - usually <1GB/month. In hindsight I should've just got magicJack... I'll re-evalute my phone situation when my contract expires... in 1.5 years.

Peakster 01-23-17 11:48 PM

3 Attachment(s)
December 2016 housing costs:

Natural Gas - $151.02 (504.521 M3)
Electricity - $134.67 (713 kWh)
Water - $108.42 (3,117 gallons)

Other expenses:

Cell Phone - $86.00
Wifi - $60.25 (promotion expired)
Netflix - 9.99
Monthly Cleaning Service - $125.00
Insurance - $87.75
Water Heater Rental - $9.63
Property Tax - $316.56
Mortgage P+I - $696.19

Total December '16 Housing Costs: $1,785.48

Rent collection from housemates: $1,200.00

Month Deficit: $585.48

A bit of an expensive month. Fortunately I have a regular 9-5 job to make up for the deficit! The good news is that I hired a contractor to complete the rest of the basement from this point forward. Walls are all insulated & currently bulkheads are being worked on. Drywall is slated to be done by the end of February. Some big expenses to finish to the basement, but the extra rental income will come in handy...

Attachment 7570Attachment 7571Attachment 7572

Peakster 02-27-17 06:31 PM

4 Attachment(s)
January 2017 housing costs:

Natural Gas - $125.37 (401.998 M3)
Electricity - $76.19 (322 kWh)
Water - $87.16 (2,387 gallons)

Other expenses:

Cell Phone - $86.56
Wifi - $71.45 (20mbps)
Netflix - 9.99
Monthly Cleaning Service - $125.00
Insurance - $87.75
Water Heater Rental - $9.63
Property Tax - $316.56
Mortgage P+I - $696.19

Total January '17 Housing Costs: $1,691.82

Rent collection from housemates: $1,200.00

Month Deficit: $491.82

Basement is at the mudding/taping stage. Going to be one expensive cheque to write next month! Can't wait to rent out 3 extra rooms in my place though! :thumbup:

Attachment 7635Attachment 7636Attachment 7637Attachment 7638

kenora 03-02-17 07:37 AM

At what point do you get into the "rooming house" or apartment" rules?

In Winnipeg I believe you would need a fire suppression system at 5 renters... just a thought

Peakster 03-04-17 09:02 PM

You raise a valid Point kenora. As far as I know, I don't believe fire sprinkler system is required (although we have a fire extinguisher in the kitchen). I honestly thought about putting sprinklers in the basement - it wouldn't have cost all that much money & the new designs blend with the ceiling well. Ultimately it was skipped though.

A few years ago, Regina had a situation where a homeowner was threatened to be fined $10K because the bylaw at the time stated that owners of the property cannot reside in the same residence as the home being rented. There was a big meeting about it: Regina to review rooming house bylaw - Saskatchewan - CBC News . As far as I know, the issue has been set aside as I never heard anything more.

In 2013 Regina had a 1.9% vacancy rate - so there was concern about existing renters being kicked out of owner occupied homes & worsening the rental situation in the city. in 2016 we were at 5.5%.

LarryBertsc 03-09-17 04:49 AM

I didn't look too closely at how it was broken up, but I think there was connection charges this one time too. Next time I'll take a look at the units.

Peakster 03-23-17 08:22 PM

Let the cheque writing begin!
 
February 2017 housing costs:

Natural Gas - $115.91 (364.226 M3)
Electricity - $74.29 (310 kWh)
Water - $92.59 (2,593 gallons)

Other expenses:

Cell Phone - $86.68
Wifi - $71.45 (25mbps)
Netflix - 9.99
Monthly Cleaning Service - $250.00 (2 visits this month)
Insurance - $87.75
Water Heater Rental - $9.63
Property Tax - $316.56
Mortgage P+I - $696.19

1st Major Renovation Cheque - $6,823.40 (bulkhead & closet framing, insulation/vapour barrier, 3rd bathroom plumbing & ventilation, & interior door installation)

Total February '17 Housing Costs: $8,759.44

Rent collection from housemates: $1,200.00

Month Deficit: $7,559.44

Drywall is complete & basement is now at the painting stage (painter is coming next week). After that I just need to hook up the electrical & install light fixtures, lay flooring, add bathroom fixtures & tile, install trim & we're done! Finally coming to the fun part of more rental income very soon!

Peakster 04-21-17 11:07 PM

Cha-ching!
 
March 2017 housing costs:

Natural Gas - $111.84 (348.038 M3)
Electricity - $98.16 (461 kWh)
Water - $93.81 (2,496 gallons)

Other expenses:

Cell Phone - $86.57
Wifi - $72.10 (25mbps)
Netflix - $9.99
BBQ propane tank - $26.24
Monthly Cleaning Service - $125.00
Insurance - $87.75
Water Heater Rental - $9.63
Property Tax - $316.56 (going to be a 6.49% hike soon!)
Mortgage P+I - $696.19

2nd Major Renovation Cheque (drywall purchase, delivery, install, & mudding/taping) - $15,324.75

Total March '17 Housing Costs: $17,058.59

Rent collection from housemates: $1,200.00

Month Deficit: $15,858.59

Hopefully I never have a month this expensive again! Lol. Currently in the middle of hooking up all the electrical devices in the basement (been without electricity down there for weeks now). Also getting a quote next week for polished concrete flooring. I can almost smell the extra rental income around the corner at this point :p

Peakster 05-24-17 01:57 AM

1 Attachment(s)
April 2017 housing costs:

Natural Gas - $74.70 (199.65 M3)
Electricity - $88.68 (401 kWh)
Water - $99.49 (2,966 gallons)

Other expenses:

Cell Phone - $85.65
Wifi - $72.10 (25mbps)
Netflix - $9.99
Monthly Cleaning Service - $125.00
Insurance - $87.75
Water Heater Rental - $9.63
Property Tax - $316.56
Mortgage P+I - $696.19

Total April '17 Housing Costs: $1,665.74

Rent collection from housemates: $1,200.00

Month Deficit: $465.74

I'm done about 70% of the flooring at this point. Final push to get those 2 rooms ready to rent! Hopefully soon!
Attachment 7777

Daox 05-24-17 12:07 PM

Wow does that look a lot different haha. Very nice!

Peakster 05-24-17 10:44 PM

Thank you :) I can't wait until the basement development is all done!

Peakster 06-22-17 10:11 PM

May 2017 housing costs:

Natural Gas - $49.73 (99.825 M3)
Electricity - $84.72 (376 kWh)
Water - $136.89 (5,118 gallons)

Other expenses:

Cell Phone - $87.14
Wifi - $72.10 (25mbps)
Netflix - $9.99
BBQ Propane - $26.24
Monthly Cleaning Service - $125.00
Insurance - $87.75
Water Heater Rental - $9.63
Property Tax - $316.56
Mortgage P+I - $696.19

Total May '17 Housing Costs: $1,701.94

Rent collection from housemates: $1,200.00

Month Deficit: $501.94

Flooring is 100% laid & the doors should arrive in early July. Once installed it's just the baseboards that need to be done (aside from minor bathroom completion and cabinets). Also got a new housemate in June.

Peakster 07-29-17 07:21 PM

3 Housmates Again
 
1 Attachment(s)
June 2017 housing costs:

Natural Gas - $40.29 (62.053 M3)
Electricity - $143.98 (751 kWh)
Water - $134.09 (5,771 gallons)

Other expenses:

Cell Phone - $86.71
Wifi & Cable - $147.21 (25mbps)
Netflix - $9.99
BBQ Propane - $0
Monthly Cleaning Service - $125.00
Insurance - $87.75
Water Heater Rental - $9.63
Property Tax - $316.56
Mortgage P+I - $696.19

Total June '17 Housing Costs: $1,797.40

Rent collection from 3 housemates: $1,895.00

Month Profit: $97.60

The third housemate is moved into the master bedroom now (paying $695/month) so that has helped with finances a bit. It's football season & 2 housemates demanded a cable package - I guess CFL games aren't shown online anywhere. Electric bill surged - one of the housemates is an I.T. guy & has 2 servers in the basement that generate a lot of heat & noise. Lol, the wonders of sharing a house! :p The 2 basement bedrooms are SO close to being rented out!

Attachment 7840

NiHaoMike 07-29-17 11:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peakster (Post 55093)
Electric bill surged - one of the housemates is an I.T. guy & has 2 servers in the basement that generate a lot of heat & noise. Lol, the wonders of sharing a house! :p The 2 basement bedrooms are SO close to being rented out!

Maybe he's into Bitcoin or altcoin mining? BTW, offering electricity included in rent is waving an "all you can eat" sign to coiners.

Peakster 07-30-17 12:03 AM

This is true. Including utilities as part of the rent does open the door to abuse (granted there's a clause about not wasting utilities). However, chasing after housemates for each bill is a royal pain the ***.

Even the addition of cable was supposed to be shared between just the 2 housemates that wanted it - but somehow they swindled me into getting it in my name because the WiFi already was. Think any of them paid their share yet? :p Looks like it's just going to have to be a cost of doing business.

The nice thing is that I could always cancel the household WiFi completely at anytime (or reduce the speed) which would render the servers useless. The rental contract only states that I'm only responsible for providing heat, electricity, & water.

Edit: I actually talked to the housemate with the servers about Bitcoin & thought we could make some money. Turns out that we'd have to buy an 'anteater' bitcoin miner (as CPUs and graphics cards aren't fast enough) and even if we did it would only harvest about $900/year. It would take 2.5 years to pay off the machine & it would severely bog down the household router. Shucks...

NiHaoMike 07-30-17 08:12 PM

Bitcoin doesn't use very much bandwidth at all. Some altcoins are bandwidth intensive, but I haven't seen one that would significantly slow down anything that could be called decent Internet nowadays.

The main downside of the energy efficient coins (using hard drive space or cheap smartphones) is that the hardware costs tend to be more significant. Mining more or less self regulates to be barely profitable, so if energy is not a significant cost, hardware is. The real winners are those who have jumped in before the difficulty level spiked, something that I did with a number of altcoins.

Peakster 07-30-17 08:56 PM

I remember when I first heard about Bitcoin around 2015-ish. At the time I thought "meh, talk about a crazy bubble over an imaginary commodity" :p. At the time Bitcoin was worth about $450. Today it's $3,378.52 CAD! :eek:

Peakster 08-22-17 02:06 PM

July 2017 housing costs:

Natural Gas - $36.91 (48.563 M3)
Electricity - $87.58 (394 kWh)
Water - $158.02 (driest July in Regina in the last 130 years - 7,007 gallons)

Other expenses:

Cell Phone - $87.42
Wifi & Cable - $33.21 (25mbps)
Netflix - $9.99
BBQ Propane - $0
Monthly Cleaning Service - $125.00 (just top floor)
Insurance - $87.75
Water Heater Rental - $9.63
Property Tax - $316.56
Mortgage P+I - $696.19

Total July '17 Housing Costs: $1,648.26

Rent collection from 4 housemates: $2,547.00

Month Profit: $898.74

4th housemate is moved into one of the 2 basement bedrooms now (paying $652/month). Hello healthy (& hopefully permanent) profit! There's still a 5th bedroom that needs to be finished down in the basement and rented out too. Taking a well deserved vacation in August!

Peakster 09-22-17 01:36 AM

August 2017 housing costs:

Natural Gas - $34.87 (40.47 M3)
Electricity - $93.88 (434 kWh)
Water - $118.92 (4,540 gallons)

Other expenses:

Cell Phone - $85.69
Wifi & Cable - $92.67 (25mbps)
Netflix - $9.99
BBQ Propane - $0
Monthly Cleaning Service - $125.00 (just top floor)
Insurance - $87.75
Water Heater Rental - $9.63
Property Tax - $316.56
Mortgage P+I - $696.19

Total August '17 Housing Costs: $1,671.15

Rent collection from 4 housemates: $2,547.00

Month Profit: $875.85

Another great month. Things are going very well. My 3 week vacation in August went great & proved to me that I can leave the house & still make money while away :).

Peakster 10-24-17 04:53 AM

September 2017 housing costs:

Natural Gas - $44.33 (78.241 M3)
Electricity - $282.08 (1,625 kWh) Yikes!
Water - $123.18 (4,182 gallons)

Other expenses:

Cell Phone - $88.13
Wifi & Cable - $119.91 (25mbps)
Netflix - $9.99
BBQ Propane - $0
Monthly Cleaning Service - $125.00 (just top floor)
Insurance - $87.75
Water Heater Rental - $9.63
Property Tax - $316.56
Mortgage P+I - $696.19

Total September '17 Housing Costs: $1,902.75

Rent collection from 4 housemates: $2,547.00

Month Profit: $644.25

Ouch, that was a crazy electric bill. The power company was estimating my power the last few months & this was an actual reading this time (we currently use about 24 kWh/day with 5 adults living here). Probably extra power from air conditioning use over the summer, the housemate's servers, & more people using the clothes dryer. We also recently got a 2nd fridge (energy star) in the basement along with a small deep freeze. Exterior lights are LED & on a timer; they used to turn off at 1:30am but I extended them to 4:00am after encountering thefts in vehicles on the driveway.

ecomodded 10-24-17 01:32 PM

Imagine this rent that last downstairs bedroom then rent out your room and use the profits for living expenses in Mexico ..

I should really do that ! haha

Peakster 10-24-17 03:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ecomodded (Post 56089)
Imagine this rent that last downstairs bedroom then rent out your room and use the profits for living expenses in Mexico

The rental income definitely allows it to be easier to travel, that's for sure!

Peakster 11-26-17 11:50 PM

October 2017 housing costs:

Natural Gas - $70.85 (183.462 M3)
Electricity - $85.52 (381 kWh)
Water - $101.19 (3,279 gallons)

Other expenses:

Cell Phone - $91.93
Wifi & Cable - $0 (25mbps)
Netflix - $10.99
BBQ Propane - $0
Monthly Cleaning Service - $125.00 (just top floor)
Insurance - $87.75
Water Heater Rental - $9.63
Property Tax - $316.56
Mortgage P+I - $696.19

Total October '17 Housing Costs: $1,595.61

Rent collection from 4 housemates: $2,547.00

Month Profit: $951.36

Decent month. Things are going to get even better going forward now that the 5th bedroom rented out a few days ago for $660/month. The Cable/Wi-Fi bill is now being billed to 1 housemate directly as he got hired by the provider & he gets 75% off with his employment package (I will be reducing his rent by $75/month in exchange).

On the drama side of things, we've been having issues with nighttime noise from people watching Netflix & gaming online loudly (cussing at players over the internet). After warning the housemates several times I finally dropped the hammer; I put the Wi-Fi router in the locked basement electrical room & plugged it into an indoor timer. Now there is no household internet at all between 11pm & 6am. Controversial & drastic - yet effective so far! The house is dead quiet at night now :p

Peakster 12-13-17 03:05 PM

At full capacity with 6 people (including myself) living at my place.
 
November 2017 housing costs:

Natural Gas - $119.06 (366.924 M3)
Electricity - $87.58 (394 kWh)
Water - $124.20 (4,969 gallons)

Other expenses:

Cell Phone - $87.74
Netflix - $10.99
Monthly Cleaning Service - $125.00 (top floor only)
Insurance - $87.75
Water Heater Rental - $9.63
Property Tax - $335.50
Mortgage P+I - $696.19

Total November '17 Housing Costs: $1,683.64

Rent collection from 5 housemates: $3,130.00

Month Profit: $1,446.36

We are now a full house! 5 housemates + me. The Cable/Wifi bill is now deleted on my end as 1 of the housemates took over the bill in full. He got a $75/month discount in rent because of it.

Things have been a little dramatic. The 11pm - 6am Wifi cut off has affected those that online game & watch Netflix loudly late at night. One housemate is moving out at the end of 2017, but found someone that will replace her room right away in January. Another housemate is going back to school so he will moving out soon too - just not 100% sure when.

In spite of all of this, a total of $3,130 in rent has been collected this month. Record profit!

Peakster 01-27-18 06:52 AM

December 2017 housing costs:

Natural Gas - $139.69 (447.863 M3)
Electricity - $336.59 (1,970 kWh - wow, that's a lot!)
Water - $162.50 (7,194 gallons)

Other expenses:

Cell Phone - $87.30
Netflix - $10.99
Monthly Cleaning Service - $125.00 (top floor only)
Insurance - $88.25
Water Heater Rental - $9.63
Property Tax - $335.50
Mortgage P+I - $696.19

Total December '17 Housing Costs: $1,991.64

Rent collection from 3 housemates: $1,950.00

Month Deficit: $41.64

I lost 2 renters this past month; one due to eviction as he was 16+ days late with his rent & another from simply moving to a neighbouring province altogether.

That being said, I wasn't in a big rush to get my house from 60% to 100% rental capacity due to me taking a 3 week vacation to Europe (which was a unique experience) & I didn't want to risk having a bad housemate in my absence. Now that I'm home I'll be putting the 2 empty rooms up for rent immediately. Interesting that my place nearly 'breaks even' at 60% full though.

Utilities were on a pricey side, but then again that's probably just the end-trails of having 6+ people live here just mere weeks before. More people using appliances means more water & electricity use.

Peakster 02-15-18 03:30 PM

January 2018 housing costs:

Natural Gas - $125.26 (391.206 M3)
Electricity - $84.25 (373 kWh - city estimated wrong, we used about 1,000kWh more)
Water - $115.89 (3,225 gallons)

Other expenses:

Cell Phone - $85.38
Netflix - $10.99
Monthly Cleaning Service - $125.00 (top floor only)
Insurance - $88.25
Water Heater Rental - $9.71
Property Tax - $361.81 (increased due to the basement now developed)
Mortgage P+I - $715.00 (increased payment for 2018)

Total January '18 Housing Costs: $1,721.54

Rent collection from 3 housemates: $1,950.00

Month Profit: $228.46

Still haven't filled the 2 empty rooms yet (I'm wanting quite a bit of money for them), but it's pretty interesting that the place is turning a slight profit with 3/5 bedrooms filled. Property taxes will be $4,300+ this year. I also increased my mortgage payment slightly; next payment will have 1/2 go to interest and 1/2 go to principal.

I discovered one of my housemates using an electric space heater in their room. Starting mid-February I'm upping the natural gas heat from 21ºC (70ºF) to 22ºC (71.6ºF) during evenings, nights, & weekends to see if that offsets some of the electricity costs.

Peakster 03-16-18 05:57 PM

Record rental income!
 
February 2018 housing costs:

Natural Gas - $149.31 (485.635 M3)
Electricity - $289.41 (1,661 kWh)
Water - $158.91 (7,540 gallons)

Other expenses:

Cell Phone - $85.57
Netflix - $10.99
Monthly Cleaning Service - $125.00 (top floor only)
Insurance - $88.25
Water Heater Rental - $9.71
Property Tax - $361.81
Mortgage P+I - $696.98 (decreased payment... see notes below)

Total February '18 Housing Costs: $1,975.94

Rent collection from 5 housemates: $3,264.53

Month Profit: $1,288.59

I now have all 5 bedrooms rented out so we're back to 6 adults living in the house. I changed by mind about the mortgage & switched it to the minimum payment (27 years left to the amortization). Why would I make extra payments to a debt at 2.69% return? So I opened a mutual fund account in February (right when the 10% correction occurred) & now I'm putting $300/week into an S&P500 index fund. It's only been a month & my money has already grown by 4.5%!

Also, cleaning staff figured out why that 1 bedroom was so cold. The housemate had his furnace vent closed! So this entire time the room has been heated with 100% electric heat! I removed the furnace vent flap entirely; hopefully that helps bring down the sky-high electric bills. House's furnace thermostat is remaining at 22C (71.6ºF) during evenings, nights, & weekends.

No foreseeable rent increases for a while. Just enjoying the income while it's here. $3,264.53 /month = $4.47 every hour!

ecomodded 03-16-18 09:34 PM

Nice Peaksters and I bet there is never a dull moment !

Peakster 03-17-18 03:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ecomodded (Post 58815)
Nice Peaksters and I bet there is never a dull moment !

You'd think after 9 years of doing this I'd have no surprises. You'd be wrong. Here's my latest household issue:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jabJcGxp2Kk&t

LOL

ecomodded 03-17-18 01:18 PM

Its not easy keeping every personality happy many dominate people for instance can complain excessively. dont figure.
You have gained much experience over the last nine 9 years I expect you could get a job managing a Apartment building and do well at it :)
Be a good side job

Peakster 04-17-18 02:35 PM

March 2018 housing costs:

Natural Gas - $125.94 (393.904 M3)
Electricity - $279.34 (1,547 kWh)
Water - $158.91 (7,382 gallons)

Other expenses:

Cell Phone - $87.00
Netflix - $10.99
Monthly Cleaning Service - $125.00 (top floor only)
Insurance - $88.25
Water Heater Rental - $9.71
Property Tax - $361.81
Mortgage P+I - $696.98

Total March '18 Housing Costs: $1,943.93

Rent collection from 5 housemates: $3,264.53

Month Profit: $1,320.60

Good profit but a pretty 'blah' month in terms of drama. Housemates keep to themselves & the parking situation has been dealt with. Looking forward to some nicer weather though. Mid April now & there's still 2 feet of snow on my lawn.

Peakster 06-23-18 05:37 PM

April 2018 housing costs:

Natural Gas - $90.20
Electricity - $99.19 (gross underestimate from utility company)
Water - $174.28

Other expenses:

Cell Phone - $86.83
Netflix - $10.99
Monthly Cleaning Service - $125.00 (top floor only)
Insurance - $88.25 (going up next month)
Water Heater Rental - $9.71
Property Tax - $361.81
Mortgage P+I - $696.98

Total April '18 Housing Costs: $1,743.24

Rent collection from 5 housemates: $3,264.53

Month Profit: $1,521.29

Still going fairly well. I wasn't home to do the power bill reading to submit to the company so they grossly underestimated my power consumption. I'll be going on a 40 day road trip east of Regina to check out the rest of Canada. Got to reward myself of all this hard work! lol

Peakster 06-23-18 05:51 PM

May 2018 housing costs:

Natural Gas - $55.82
Electricity - $106.87 (again, missed the meter reading & they underestimated. We've used about 2,200kWh more than what the company thinks so far)
Water - $150.57

Other expenses:

Cell Phone - $166.00 (whoops, went over my data limit while travelling)
Netflix - $10.99
Monthly Cleaning Service - $125.00 (top floor only)
Insurance - $102.02 (that was a pretty big jump)
Water Heater Rental - $9.71
Property Tax - $361.81 (this is going up a lot next month!)
Mortgage P+I - $696.98

Total April '18 Housing Costs: $1,785.77

Rent collection from 5 housemates: $3,264.53

Month Profit: $1,478.76

One of my housemates withheld rent due to noise grievances (It's a house of 6 people. It's not going to be silent). I gave him an eviction notice after still not receiving rent by the last deadline (it's 16 days in Saskatchewan). He immediated paid up rent for both May & June explaining he still hasn't found another place to move to yet. I'll take his money, no problem - I just expect him to be vacated once he finds his own place :p.

Peakster 07-21-18 08:48 PM

June 2018 housing costs:

Natural Gas - $48.95
Electricity - $433.13 (utility company finally did an actual reading this time - this is a 'catch up' bill.)
Water - $201.42

Other expenses:

Cell Phone - $97.23 (last month it being this high - switched to a $30/month plan with no data)
Netflix - $10.99
Monthly Cleaning Service - $125.00 (top floor only)
Insurance - $102.02
Water Heater Rental - $9.71
BBQ Propane - $29.39
Property Tax - $371.02 (Ouch!)
Mortgage P+I - $696.98

Total June '18 Housing Costs: $2,125.84

Rent collection from 5 housemates: $3,264.53

Month Profit: $1,138.69

Definitely the most expensive month in my household's history! Still making a decent profit though. I suspect that a large portion of our electricity bill comes from dryer use. Housemates seem to crank their laundry dry loads to the maximum time (90 minutes). Contemplating taking apart the dial & disabling the 'timed dry' option (there's an auto-dry feature where the dryer will automatically shut off when it senses the moisture is gone from the clothes; a much more eco-friendly option that housemates don't use). Property taxes are really getting up there too. Deleted my data plan on my phone so that should drop next month.

Peakster 10-31-18 05:14 PM

July 2018 housing costs:

Natural Gas - $47.58
Electricity - $178.87
Water - $179.46

Other expenses:

Cell Phone - $0.00 (changed my plan to a cheaper one & I had a credit this month)
Netflix - $10.99
Monthly Cleaning Service - $125.00 (top floor only)
Insurance - $102.02
Water Heater Rental - $9.71
Property Tax - $371.02
Mortgage P+I - $696.98

Total July '18 Housing Costs: $1,721.63

Rent collection from 5 housemates: $3,264.53

Month Profit: $1,542.90

Decent profit making month! Definitely this house is bursting at the seams still.

Peakster 10-31-18 05:28 PM

August 2018 housing costs:

Natural Gas - $53.76
Electricity - $279.00
Water - $193.15

Other expenses:

Cell Phone - $24.69
Netflix - $10.99
Monthly Cleaning Service - $125.00 (top floor only)
Insurance - $102.02
Water Heater Rental - $9.71
Property Tax - $371.02
Mortgage P+I - $696.98

Total August '18 Housing Costs: $1,866.32

Rent collection from 5 housemates: $3,264.53

Month Profit: $1,398.21

This is the last month with 5 housemates. Turns out that three people are leaving on September 1st (fortunately it means that the computer servers will be gone, so our electric bill should be lower going forward). I'm taking the master bedroom back & will fill the 2 empty rooms in September - thus going to 4 renters instead of 5. Also the internet bill will be back in my name (another housemate was paying it as he had a discount & I subsidized his rent).


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