Sorry, I didn't follow the rules the first time:
Life Situation: Single, 43, no kids, one 8 year old cat
Gross Salary/Wages: $63,000
Individual amounts of each Pre-tax deductions CPP: $244/mo
Pension through my employer: $200/mo
Income tax: $650/mo
Union Dues: $47/mo
Long Term Disability: $140/mo
Net pay bi-weekly: $1580
Other Ordinary Income: $1029/month tax free for life (law enforcement benefit)
Current expenses:
Rent: 900/mo (VERY low in a HCOL like Vancouver Island)
Car payment: $656/mo -(OUCH, seeing it in it’s non-bi-weekly sum HURTS)
Vehicle insurance: $118/mo
Fuel: $140/mo
Internet: $118/mo
Groceries: $500/mo (I am a single person with a cat, and produce is extremely expensive up here)
Power/heat: $130 bi-monthly, so approx. $60 monthly, however I’m waiting to get the latest bill which will tell me how hard my air conditioner had to work during the +40C heat wave us British Columbians suffered through at the end of June/early July.
Renter’s insurance: $33/mo
Line of credit: $0 balance
Credit card number one, with old bank: $0 balance
Credit card number two with new bank: was $18,000, is now $1800 and should be paid off by the end of next month ($500 was new glasses which I’ll be reimbursed for).
No other debt other than my vehicle.
Amazon PRIME membership: Ahh, this beast. I order a LOT and so prime is worth it to me. I also watch a lot of the TV shows. That said, I won’t die if I have to cancel it, and frankly, I really should stop all the wild shopping I’ve been doing lately. $80/yr
Costco membership: $70/yr (thinking of not renewing in 5 days when it expires, I never shop there, I just use it for the 10 cent per litre savings we get as compared to every other gas station in town)
Disney+ Sub: Cancelled last night
Netflix: $10.99/mo
Microsoft Office membership: $8/mo
Student level Adobe membership: $27/mo
SiriusXM sub: $25/mo, but since my phone has no penalties for data overages, I may just swap to an online only sub, and listen via Bluetooth, which will bring it down to $11/mo
Cat food/nail trim: $50/mo – caring for this cat is non-negotiable.
Cell plan: $80/mo for 20gb, no overages. The phone explanation is a bit weird: I got a $1048 discount on my phone (Samsung Galaxy s20), which I would have to pay $526 of, if I cancelled my plan right now (the plan expires in August of 2022). The rest of the device balance was financed, and I owe $200 on it. I also agreed that at the end of the term, I’d give my phone back, or I’d have to pay $120. I still have my Google Pixel 2XL left over from my previous contract with a different provider, and it still works fine, so going to a pre-paid plan, which on this current provider would be $25/mo for unlimited nationwide talk/text, NO data, is a possibility. So, if I cancelled everything right now, I’d have to pay $726, plus whatever they want to charge me for cancelling early that isn’t related to the device.
Now - is my math right, or is it cheaper for me to just stay on this plan until next August? If I leave everything the way it is, it’ll cost me $960 to ride the contract out. If I pay the $726, then the monthly $25/mo before tax plan, I’d pay $300, which equals $1026?
The vehicle explanation: I thought I was smart when first trying this FIRE thing out, and swapped my $32,000 vehicle for a $17,000, then moved the $10k I owed on the $32k vehicle and added it to this loan, so it’s now $27,000. I realize how wrong that was now. Sadly, BC doesn’t have a right to return rule/policy, so I’m stuck with it for now.
Questions:
1. Is it better for me to continue to rent, while attempting to pay off my vehicle, buy an electric bike and some safety gear, sell the vehicle, buy something way cheaper for cash, and invest the rest
OR
2. Move to much larger (1M+ versus the town I’m in now, which is 66,000) Calgary, where I can afford to buy a condo on my current wage (provided I can find an equally paying job)
1. Is it better to try to sell the vehicle, and hope no one googles it to see how much it’s worth, to save having to pay that extra $10k?
2. What does everyone think about not trying to retire, and just saving enough to give myself a few years to build up a business of some kind?