Josiah Ao

High Cost of Life

Estimations

The following are assumptions of how my future will be. I will assume that my
parents will cover my living expenses since that is what my parents did with my
brother. I am going to assume that I will have had a full-time job since the beginning
of Grade 12, (since I might be bouncing around part-time jobs in Grade 11 and the
money wont be as accurate maybe? I dont know Im having lower expectations I
guess.) Ill assume the job I will have had is a minimum wage job. If its more, then
yay for me. And finally, I will assume that I will have saved up $15, 000.

Day 1
I decided to immediately figure out what I was going to eat when in
college/university, because if I have the perfect job, the perfect house, and perfect
transportation system, none of that matters if I dont eat anything! (I also wanted to
start with something relatively fun in this assignment.)
The initial grocery list usually goes way overboard because my mother will for
some reason expect me to eat double my weight the second I leave the house. So
take into account that I will likely be doubling the cost of the following list, and also
that I will likely want to eat different things a week. This list excludes things like
utilities, appliances etc.
(? = I asked my brother how much it cost)
(P.S. this list will definitely change later when my preferences change.)

4 Litre 2% Milk (2 Litre 2% Chocolate milk as well) about $7

18 Eggs $3.19
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts $20?
Pack of Bread $3?
Cheese $5.57
Apples $1.50
Oranges $5?
Cilantro (Or flat leaf parsley) $4.98
Lettuce $3.00?
Spinach (Both frozen and fresh) $4?
Peppers $5?
Garlic $4?
Potatoes $8?
Frozen Pizza $3?
Frozen French Fries $3?
Pasta $4?

Rice 40lb bag $18 (probably once a year though) 102.24

Tomato Sauce $2
Ramen Noodles (College students eat this like adults drink
coffee) $2
Salad Dressing $3.18
Ice Cream (If I feel like it {I feel like it}) $4
Toothpaste, moustache refiner, etc. $50?
Total Amount Monthly: $163.42
ALL the links!

http://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/dairyland-2-milk-jug-4-l/6000075688886
http://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/nutrilait-1-chocolate-milk-jug-2-l/6000082114891
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Farmhouse-Cage-Free-Grade-A-Large-Brown-Eggs-18count/33141086
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Tyson-Trimmed-Ready-Premium-Boneless-SkinlessChicken-Breasts-24-oz/25291730
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-100-Whole-Wheat-Bread-20-oz/10804551
http://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/great-value-light-old-cheddar-cheese-block-500g/6000139994659
http://www.walmart.com/ip/McCormick-Cilantro-Leaves/13908484
http://www.walmart.com/ip/SPINACH/10805105
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Spaghetti-1-lb-4ct/17179231
http://forums.redflagdeals.com/superstore-rooster-brand-rice-new-crop-soft-tastessmells-good-14-88-40-lb-403700/
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Tomato-Sauce-8-Oz/10415493
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Zesty-Italian-Dressing-Marinade-36oz/10452503
http://www.breyers.com/product/detail/113840/cookies-cream
Before the grocery list I might need to buy some appliances for my future
apartment, (this is based off of the experience my brother had buying an
apartment.) So here is the list!

Toaster $23.97
Rice Maker $29.88
Kettle $44.96
Pots & Pans etc. $19.88
Utensils &24.97

Hopefully I wont need a coffee maker

A Juicer Maybe $24.98
Waffle Iron $24.93
More Links

http://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/12079483-hamilton-beach-keep-warm-2-slice-toasterstainless-steel/6000187077715
http://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/cool-kitchen-rice-cooker-8cup/6000146067008
http://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/sunbeam-stainless-steel-17l-kettle/6000043715264
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Mainstays-9-Piece-Nonstick-Cookware-Set-PolishedAluminum/23080027
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Cambridge-Silversmiths-Annalise-Mirror-20-PieceFlatware-Set/10929055
http://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/700-peak-watt-8-speed-blender/6000043715325
http://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/waffle-maker-white/6000188477716
(Worst case scenario) the total amount of money to buy all these things will be
about $195.

Day 2
Today I decided to look for a home in where I would be hoping to possibly
take my education (UBC). The very first place I looked at when looking for a job was
the official website for housing in UBC http://vancouver.housing.ubc.ca/otherhousing/off-campus-housing/. One of the things that I read about was the different
advantages and disadvantages of living in different areas. The area I found the most
likely for myself was the Dunbar area. The following is the description. Groups of
roommates often find Dunbar is a good option. Rent for an entire home here tends
to be more affordable for students. There are several grocery stores and a trendy
commercial area with retail shops and restaurants. Dunbar is quiet and more spread
out than Kitsilano, which means housing is sometimes further from a major bus
route. Buses to Dunbar do not usually run late at night.
Really, the only downside is that I might have to wake up a little earlier or
something in order to get to a bus stop in time. I suppose I will likely need the little
exercise I get from walking to a bus station. One of the houses I found was a $1300
apartment. http://www.amsrentsline.com/vancouver-bc/suite-in-house/two-bedroomdunbar-ad16782 I would be able to split the price with someone since there are 2
bedrooms for rent, making the cost significantly lower (for my parents Mwahaha.)
http://www.amsrentsline.com/vancouver-bc/suite-in-house/twobedroom-dunbar-ad16782 $1400 but cut in half when with a roommate
http://vancouver.housing.ubc.ca/other-housing/off-campus-housing/

Day 3
Another big question I needed to answer was whether or not having a car was
worth the cost. I think that taking the bus is much less hassle and cheaper when
compared to buying a car I might not use that much. The benefits of a car, though,
is that I could be more direct, as well as more flexible to where I wanted to go. If I
were to get a car, though, I remember my brother saying he doesnt really use the
car that he bought in high school since he is in UVic. If I remember correctly he
said I would pay him half price if I wanted to buy it off of him. Which the full price
would be $5000 for his Honda Civic 2005.
Never mind, he said that he would let me borrow it and I would get it for free
as long as I maintained it. He gave me the contact information for Andrew Hawkes,
who can reupholster the seats, because the seats are getting kinda grungy.
That means there are two options within transportation that are realistic to
me.
1. Car
This would cost me a fair amount more but I would be much more flexible in
where I go.
I learned that Insurance is supposedly $200 a month according to my brother
for new drivers, and he said that gas for his car is anywhere between $45 and $80.
Since his car is a manual transmission, and Ill only really need to go between the
grocery store, school, and wherever I live, I might not need to gas up as often
hopefully; I will probably be gassing up about once a month? (This is being really
optimistic)
I will also likely have to buy a parking pass or something like that in UBC and
it is apparently hella expensive. The best deal for parking is an 8-month pass in
five parkade http://parking.ubc.ca/students which costs $720 including tax.
$200 = Insurance $45 = 1 gas refills a month $720 = Car parking permit
So the best best best case scenario (without me paying for the car, not
having to repair any damages and paying the minimum amount of gas) formula for
8 months is 245m +720 so if the m were 8 then I would be paying about $2680
every 8 months. This is of course not including any damages that happen to the car
or any pre-repairs that need to happen for it to become (a) fully operational (battle
station).

2. Bus
Bus would be significantly cheaper
http://www.translink.ca/en/Fares-and-Passes/Student-Passes/U-Pass.aspx

The cost on paper is very cheap when compared to taking a car, only at most
$38 every year. And I would still be able to get places relatively quickly. So I will
most likely be taking the bus.

Day 4
And now to answer all the example questions since I have nothing better to
do on Day 4.
Will I want a roommate?
I would like to think that I will get a roommate who is hygienic and
social/busy, since if he is social, or if he is studying in the library often, then he will
be out of the house more. If I dont get that kind of roommate Ill just have to suck it
up.
How hard was it to find an apartment?
Surprisingly easy? Thank you, Internet.
Will I buy cable?
I dont watch TV so no cable. (Pfft I have a computer for that.
Youtube/Netflix FTW.)
Will I have a phone?
A phone? Duh. Im probably using it right now. (I mean wut.) My current plan
is $20 a month unlimited texting and free everything when calling or texting family
members with the same plan. (Did you need to know that?)
Eat in or Eat out?
I will try to eat in and cook for myself as much as possible and have my
mother and brother teach me how to cook for myself even though I should have
learned more about cooking earlier. (Realistically though, Im going to be eating ALL
the ramen!)

Day 5
Day 5 was really just organizing everything, getting all the links, doing math,
and generally tidying things up.
Things I learned while doing this assignment
1. I will likely have to pay about 863.42 a month, ($163.42 for groceries, and
$700 for the apartment. With an additional initial cost of $352.42. $195 for
appliances and another 163.42 for the double groceries. I will also have to pay $38
a year for the bus pass.)
2. The cost of living is much cheaper than the cost of getting an education.