So, I decided to find this information on my own, and certainly I found it. So should I share it here???

The data include average annual household expenses for all provinces & territories in Canada: Yukon (YT), British Columbia (BC), Alberta (AB), Saskatchewan (SK), Manitoba (MB), Northwest Territories (NWT), Nunavut (NU), Ontario (ON), Québec (QC), Nova Scotia (NS), Prince Edward Island (PEI), New Brunswick (NB), Newfoundland and Labrador (NL).

The average annual food expesne for family in Canada ranges $6000 to $7000 (monthly $500 to $600). The statistics does not indicate how many people in each household, but my guess would be for a family of 4. So, you can calculate the expense for families of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, so on. My monthly grocery bill for me alone (I’m single still) is around $200; however, I include personal care and some health care as part of my grocery expesnes. So I guess I’m doing alright.

National Average Annual Household Expenses Year 2007

	MB	SK	AB	BC	YT	NWT	Canada
Total expenditures	63,303	63,944	85,912	72,621	76,997	89,075	69,946
Total current consumption	44,701	46,089	59,288	53,394	53,929	63,369	49,766
Food	6,518	6,073	7,491	7,745	7,078	9,096	7,305
Shelter	10,852	10,711	14,955	15,056	14,058	18,249	13,643
Household operation	3,063	3,161	3,768	3,357	3,831	4,110	3,287
Household furnishings & equipment	1,715	1,873	2,608	2,036	2,707	2,466	1,964
Clothing	2,482	2,434	3,548	2,818	2,915	3,844	2,948
Transportation	9,651	10,412	12,678	9,896	10,775	11,439	9,395
Health care	1,786	1,738	2,259	2,177	1,603	1,306	1,932
Personal care	1,102	1,082	1,288	1,135	1,193	1,351	1,167
Recreation	3,607	4,387	5,387	4,577	4,860	6,132	3,976
Reading materials & printed matter	267	218	291	233	415	312	260
Education	869	804	1,176	1,215	739	503	1,017
Tobacco & alcoholic beverages	1,441	1,615	2,124	1,624	2,236	2,792	1,536
Games of chance (net amount)	311	286	340	223	308	653	251
Miscellaneous	1,037	1,293	1,374	1,303	1,212	1,116	1,081
Personal income taxes	12,411	12,215	19,766	13,297	16,437	17,751	14,447
Personal insurance payments and pension contributions	4,003	3,923	4,331	3,850	4,961	6,228	3,946
Gifts of money and contributions	2,188	1,716	2,527	2,080	1,670	1,727	1,788

Reference: Statistics Canada

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Home Buyers’ Plan (HBP) allows first-time homebuyers to withdraw RRSP to purchase or build a home without having to pay tax on the withdrawal.

RRSP Withdrawal Limit for HBP

• Individual: $25,000
• Couple: $50,000

The HBP withdrawal limit has increased to $25,000 from $20,000. This applies to withdrawal made after January 27, 2009. It will allow a couple to withdraw up to $50,000 from their RRSP funds toward the purchase of their first home.

This is the first increase in the withdrawal limit since the HBP was introduced in 1992.

Amounts withdrawn are repayable in installments over a period not exceeding 15 years, starting the second year following the year the withdrawal was made.

Eligibility

First-time homebuyers are eligible, provided that the home to be purchased or built is the principal place of residence. An individual is generally considered a first-time homebuyer if the individual did NOT owned another home in the year the HBP withdrawal is made, or in any of the four preceding calendar years. In other words, if you bought a home 5 years ago, you will still be a first-time homebuyer provided the new home will be your principal residence.

Special HBP Tactics

If you withdraw your RRSP toward your first home under the HBP this year, you can utilize HBP again after another 4 years! That’s a income tax saving on the withdrawal amount $25,000 (ie, a tax saving of $3750 at the lowest income tax bracket 15%)!!! What you have to do is…declare your new home as the principal residence and your previous home as rental property. Sweet. Oh yeah, repeat this tactic every 5th year.



Reference: Canada Revenue Agency

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Here are some creative ways and fast secrets to increase your sale and profit from your yard sale among the spirits of your neighborhood competition. Let’s begin our “thrill of the hunt.”

7 Tips for Effective Yard Sale

1. Always keep light items together; it will sell better.
2. Let go of what you originally spent; be willing to part away your long past belongings. Designate areas for $10, $5, and $2—a great way for selling clothes. From that point, you can simply walk away and don’t need to worry about the prices for those items.
3. Forget about putting yard sale signs on the streets. Chances are people will rip the sign down. Try it online instead!!! Post your yard sale advertising on the internet free. Save you time printing the signs, walking down the streets, and duct-taping them. You will reach more people online!
4. Use buzzwords (fashion words or vogue words)! Eg, out of print, limted edition, fashion designer brand, stylish, etc.
5. Slash prices on the price tag early on, so it seems like a steal. Eg, $100 slashed down to $45, giving customers an impression of 55% discount!!!
6. Make the items sentimental, so they seems worth a lot. For example, tell a story associated with your antique doll which was passed down from your great great grandmother who traveled on Titanic ship, or your old guitar which helped you win in numerous guitar competitions and was passed down originally from your grandfather who served in WWII.
7. Seal a deal with freebies! Give a small item away for free for buying something in your garage sale. This makes customers feel they really get a very good bargain

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Here are a few strategies that I implement every day to reduce my monthly grocery expenses, which include not only the groceries but also expenses for dinning-outs, personal/household hygiene stuff, and occasionally over-the-counter medication.

1. Keep track of receipts. First and foremost, keep all the receipts and don’t throw them away. This will allow you to calculate how much you spend on grocery each month on average and provide you a baseline for future monthly comparison. What I always do is to record the expenses using my computer in an excel worksheet where I can manipulate data and compute average easily. Aside from keeping the receipts, be sure to check your receipts for accuracy before walking out of the store.
2. Check weekly flyers for bargains as well as for knowledge! I usually check the flyers from 2 to 3 stores prior to grocery shopping. When I find a good price, I’ll consider making a trip to the store and stocking up the stuff. If none of the stores offers promotion sales on things I need to buy, I’ll defer my purchase unless I need the item urgently. Besides looking for sales, routine flyer checking will give you a general idea the usual price of a particular item and any seasonal price fluctuation, especially for fruits and vegetables. This will impart some knowledge on the best time to buy certain groceries. One last note…I don’t receive every grocery store’s flyer in mail, so I’ll check its online flyer in this case. Here is a list of online flyers I can check from time to time:
   • Superstore, Loblaws
   • Save On Foods
   • Safeway
   • London Drugs, Rexall, Shoppers Drug Mart
3. Know your food costs. Cooked meals are not always more expensive than uncooked meals. For example: $6.95 can buy you a 1kg rotisserie whole chicken, which is hot and ready to serve and gives you two breasts, two legs, two thighs, and two wings. If you buy frozen whole chicken or perhaps two boneless uncooked chicken breasts, it can be more expensive; plus, you have to spend time and energy to cook it! Also mentioned in previous point, fruits and veggies tend to have seasonal price fluctuation, so avoid buying during off-season period.




4. Buy in bulks. Bulk purchases tend to have lower prices than buying smaller packages or smaller quantities. This is usually the case, but not always! Pull out your calculator when in doubt.
5. Think generic products and OTC medications. Cereal, canned and frozen foods are cheaper when sold through the store brand name; in most cases, the quality doesn’t differ much. As for medication, OTC (over-the-counter) drugs are cheapers than prescription drugs. To save even further, consider generic names (eg, ibuprofen, acetaminophen) rather than brand names (eg, motrin/advil, tylenol). For vitamin supplements, synthetic vitamins are as good as natural vitamins, except for vitamin E where the natural form is better.
6. Jot down prices on shopping list, including the unit measurements lb, kg, ml, etc. Before you head out for shopping, write down the unit prices for each item on your shopping list. Firstly, this will let you know you’re buying the correct item, especially in the meat section. On the flyer, meats are usually advertised in unit lb (bigger font) and in unit kg (in smaller font). Because of the font size difference, people tend to remember the price in unit lb. However, once you’re in the store, meats are priced only in unit kg. If your brain cannot convert prices from lb to kg, it will be a good idea to write both unit prices on your shopping list. Secondly, with prices written on the shopping list, it allows you to cross-check the price at the check-out counters, to make sure no errors on the receipt.
7. Be food smart. Shop the types of your foods wisely. In general, you want to buy foods that will give a long-term satiety effect; ie, foods high in content of protein and/or complex carbohydrates, such as lean meats, fruits, and veggies. This improves not only your health and waistline but also your cost of living. Foods high in refined sugars, such as snacks and cookies, are good for boosting your energy short-term but you’ll end up being hungry sooner and eating more.

These are some personal suggestions based on my shopping experience. I hope they’re helpful in some ways. However if you’re still struggling with your shopping bills, you may want to see this video: A Simple Debt Management Strategy.

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I feel obligated to provide monetary support to them, because it’s my responsibility. My parents spent all their money on family, me, and my three elder siblings in the past. I feel it’s time for me to contribute to the family when I finally settle down with a new career.

However I feel $5000 per month does eat away my monthly income very quickly. I find it difficult to save money. At this rate, I don’t even think I’ll be able to retire at age 55, like my parents. Having worked for two years after university degrees, I’m still living like a student. This sometimes makes me wonder when I’ll buy my first home or when I’ll be able to establish my own family. I’ve never had a girlfriend in my life…could it be I’m too cheap, not willing to spend?!?! ò.ó

If you give money to your parents, how much do you give???

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