Beat the Hydro Man!

Three years since my last post and hopefully I am three times more educated/smarter/better off in life..and so the saying goes...

SO MUCH HAS HAPPENED!

First of all, we live next to this great city of Toronto, Ontario.  Housing prices have jumped to sky high levels and professionals are now moving to our suburban area offering way more than the asking price of homes that are initially listed for on the market in our area.  We are in the throes of a bidding war.  Many homeowners are putting their homes up for sale at a certain asking price.  They then wait for a week to see all offers "up and above" the asking price and settle on the highest bidder.  Great sellers market - sell your home at a premium, rent for a year, then buy a house next year when the market settles.  Easy peasy right?

For ourselves, we knew we had to make a change with respect to our own home.  Our hydro (yep had a "smart meter"), gas, water and food bills were increasing steadily, yet our incomes were staying the same.  Our 9 year-old daughter seemingly developed a strong passion for dance and gymnastics which was also very important to us.

 I actually pondered the possibility of downsizing for probably two to three years before it finally became a reality and a necessity.  I say necessity because we gradually seemed to stop living over time and just kept on working.  It's funny (in a peculiar way) how long that an individual will let themselves run on the same "hamster wheel" in order to keep up with the status quo.

Well, thank heavens for that wonderful term called "fatigue".  I got "tired" of paying the Hydro Man, the Gas Man and the Water Man (usage = sewage)....Oh and shall I mention all that snow shovelling the snow in the winter?  We do live in Canada and our weather can be unpredictable for sure. 
Regardless, after a lot of fretting and worrying, we decided to make a huge leap! 

We officially downsized from a three-bedroom and three-bathroom home and leaped right into a two-bedroom and one bathroom apartment that includes heat, water and hydro.  What a shock to the old system in so many ways.  First of all, we have nowhere near the amount of floor space as we did before, but let me tell you we no longer have to worry about all of those other bills!  Everything is included in one price!  Heat, hydro and water all in one nifty bill due by the first of the month.  Incredible if you ask us!

Now we are able to budget more accurately and plan for the future.  We beat the Hydro Man! (For Now)