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.

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.

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.

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.

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...

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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:

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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

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%.

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.