Risa Malek is a 47-year-old teacher in North Bay, Ontario. She makes $48,000 a year after taxes. She also gets $6,000 a year in support payments from her ex-spouse, for a total of $54,000. She lives with her 17-year old son Anton. Anton plans to attend college next year, so Risa is anxious to save more each month to help pay some of those costs. Where can she cut back her spending?
Risa knows she could probably spend less on some personal things like eating out and clothes. To find out how much, she sits down to create a new family budget:
What Risa learned: With her new budget, Risa estimates she can save $500 a month for Anton’s college costs. That will add up to $6,000 a year, which is about half of the total cost each year. If Anton gets a part-time job, he can help pay the rest.