Saturday 9 January 2016

Cost of Living 2016 ~ #Money

Happy 2016?


Major increases will be affecting me this year:

1. My local public transit system has increase their fares starting January, 1 2016. $0.25 for cash fares and $0.10 for tokens.  For the time being, they froze the current price of my Metropass.  It is expensive enough since it costs me $129.75/month since I am locked into their metropass program.

2. My Rogers will increase their internet, cable, and phone rates.  My internet will increase by $3 per month.  I hate when they increase it.  If Rogers is increasing their fees, you can expect Bell will too.

3. Once again, Canada Post will increase their fees.  Effective January 11, 2016, stamps for letter mail will remain $1 for mailing in Canada and $1.80 for mailing in U.S.

4. Our dollar keeps on diving into a low rate that we have not seen for a long time.  We will expect the price for food will continue to rise.  It is expected to increase by 4-4.5%.

5. My hot water tank (Direct Energy) rental has increased by another $0.50.  When I first moved into my house over 8 years ago, it was around $10 - now it is close to $16.

6. Back in December 2014 it was discussed that Ontario Hydro bills could go up 42% within 5 years.  So if you were paying $125 it could go upwards to $178 a month plus HST, this is going to hurt alot of people.

Typical Family’s Monthly Hydro Bill 2013 - $125 2014 - $137 2015 - $145 2016 - $167 2017 - $170 2018 - $178 2019 - $177 2020 - $181 2025 - $194 2030 - $205 (Source: Ontario Long-Term Energy Plan. 2013)

7. Enbridge rates are going up and it has already taken effect beginning of the year.  The increase will be approximately $63 annually.

Other increases will be either affecting me or others.
Rent - maximum of 2% increase is allowable in Ontario in 2016 - see guideline here
Condo Fees
Car Insurance
Increase in EI & CPP premiums - less take home pay
Camps, after school programs, Day Cares
And the list could go on and on.

Decreases,
This year I went hunting for a different home insurance.  I was able to find another insurance provider and I was able to cut my premium in half.

Price of gas is still lower than it was a few years ago.  However, the price is oil is one of the reasons why our dollar is low too.

I am also expected that my mom will live with me for awhile so you can guess my utilities will also increase.

This summer both my daughters will go to camp.  I pay roughly $200 a week.  Now it will be more than $400! a week.  I have to place them for 4 weeks so that will be $1,600!  Ouch!  I have to pay all of this in March so I can reserve the spot for July and Aug.

Which increases will affect you the most?

Anything I have mentioned above is through research via online newspapers.  Please do your own research to get accruate numbers.

17 comments:

  1. so is Enbridge like gas to heat the house? and hydro is power bill (lights etc?) if so your power bill is mad high compared to SK. One of the things with your water tank rental is that you don't have to pay to replace it etc (I replaced one here in our house and it was about $400 by the time I pad for the gas heater and the pro to come in here to do it (must have a gas fitters license in order to do this, you can do an electric water heater easily and those are super cheap to buy too!!)

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  2. I'm not at all sure of what costs will rise in AB. Seems everything is getting more expensive but mainly due to the oil situation. I'm hoping our heating bill will be lower this year after having paid nearly $10,000 to have the heating, freezing water pipes and ice on electrical outlets fixed. BTW this is a house we had built 3 yrs ago - literally hundreds of problems with it too.

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  3. Yes all of the utilities, food etc are going up that is for sure. Unfortunately most people are not getting a pay increase so many will be worse off. There are however many ways to cut back -maybe you should do an article on that. For example if people make and bring their lunch to work instead of buying it -there are huge savings to be had. If you buy your lunch and spend $6 per day (5 days a week) then $30 per week is being spent on lunches for 1 person. Many people buy coffee several times a day from Timmies/Starbucks or whoever. Having coffee from home in a travel cup for work costs pennies a day. About 3 years ago we realized that although we used our internet a ton, we hardly watched regular TV so we cancelled our cable TV (got netflixs) and saved about $600 a year. We don't miss it at all. Of course there are lots of other discretionary items that are not essentials that can be pared back like reducing the number of dinners out or picking less expensive places, going to the movies less frequently (bring your own snacks in your purse). Of course it depends what your priorities are. Obviously you want to send your kids to summer camp but it is a discretionary piece of spending so it could be cut out but perhaps not if it is important to you or them. price matching, couponing, only buying things if they are on sale etc etc. It does get depressing each year trying to find ways to cut back to handle the increased bills.

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  4. I am trying to stay positive this year but reading and realizing how true it is, is kinda depressing!! A wake up call to budget well!!

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  5. Those are some really depressing numbers! The cost of living is going up for me too (Rent increases, utilities, etc) and my wages aren't. It's very unsettling and very much a reason to budget and cut out unnecessary expenses and spending!

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  6. Public transit makes me sick with the increase, along with property tax.

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  7. So hard for people ATM to try and get a head. With paychecks going down and cost of living going up :(

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  8. For those who can juggle their budget in this time of increasing costs, there is a chance to make it through another year, but what about those on fixed incomes that have not had income increases for years. They have run out of budget room to continue to eat and buy necessary medication.

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  9. My biggest concern is the cost of fresh vegetables.

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  10. I find public transportation costs are not in sync with the quality of service

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  11. Public transit seems to constantly go up. Ridiculous. Pretty soon, you might as well cab it.

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  12. All these increases are just crazy, I am trying so hard to eat the best I can, but when it costs 70.00 just for the basic fruit and veggies, it's getting hard to do this everyweek

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  13. I would like to some things decrease rather than everything going up. Sickens me

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  14. It is just not a good year here for items to be decreasing. The cost of groceries is skyrocketing. I plan to make my flowerbeds into garden plots this year, maybe just a hanging floral basket, the rest will all be veggies.

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  15. Our monthly bills are constantly increasing on all the utilities, food, plus entertainment (cable, internet, cell phone). We're retired and living on a fixed income so it's becoming increasingly more difficult to keep up.

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  16. Wow $129.75 a month for a bus pass. I thought $81 a month was too much for a monthly pass here.

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  17. every day I thank God I have a decent job. I'm not rich, but I can pay the bills. My heart goes out to lower incomes. How are people supposed to make ends meet?
    (Debbie W)

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