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So you’ve decided that you would like to move to another home.  There’s just one thing you must do.  You must convince your husband that it’s time to move to a new home.  Here are a few helpful hints to guide you through the process: Make sure you find out why he might be apprehensive so that you can address those concerns from the beginning. Find out how much equity you have gained in your home so that you know how much can be used to finance your next home. Compile a list of the great things in the new house that your husband will appreciate Compile a list of reasons why the move is best for the family Compile a list of reasons why you would really like to move Position it as giving you more time to spend with your family and that the new home will allow you to do more things for him and the kids Convince him to take a tour of the house you’ve picked out as it might be easier to convince him once he sees the fabulous new place. Remind your husband that a happy wife = happy life Now that you’ve reviewed the list, commit it to memory and prepare his favourite meal when he gets home, then let the discussion begin.

Have you ever stopped to do the math on how much interest you pay over the life of your mortgage?  I was in a real estate investment analysis class recently when the instructor asked us to calculate the overall interest paid over the life of a mortgage using various amortizations.  Consider the following example:  Scenarios #1 #2 #3 Mortgage $400,000 $400,000 $400,000 Interest Rate 3.19% 3.19% 3.19% Amortization 30 years 25 years 20 years Monthly Mortgage Payment $1,723 $1,932 $2,252 Principal Paid $400,000 $400,000 $400,000 Interest Paid (over the life of the mortgage $220,314 $179,658 $140,572 We can see that in the above example that paying down your mortgage in 25 years offers you a savings of $40,656 over the life of your mortgage.  Paying your mortgage off in 20 years provides a savings of $79,742 over the life of your mortgage.  The savings are significant and should make most of us think about how fast we should pay down our mortgages.

One of the biggest bills you face is your tax bill.  Yet most of us ignore this reality when we are doing our budgeting.  One of the ways that you can give yourself an additional write off is to have a home with an income suite.  Most people don’t want to have someone else living with them.  The reality is having a basement apartment in your home allows you to write off approximately one third of your home expenses.  For example you can write off a portion of your utility bills and all of the renovations that you have done to make the apartment rentable.  Receiving an additional $800- $1,000 per month can certainly help you with your bills each month.  This money can be used to pay down your mortgage faster or helpful as a back up income should you or your spouse lose your job or take parental leave.  You really need to ask yourself how much living space do you really need?   What do you keep in your basement? Is it storage of things you don’t use? Old clothes that can be thrown out or given away? Items you haven’t seen or used in at least 6 months.  My rule of thumb is if I haven’t used it in 6 months, its time to trash it.  Couldn’t you use an additional $8,400 – $12,000/year?