How much money do you put aside for...

[Kath]

Last year was my first year and after all was said and done, claimed a loss for tax time (we bought a huge house with a huge mortgage to do the Dayhome). But, with this said, there are some predictable costs. We have mortgage insurance - that's our life insurance as my husband is often in between jobs and going to school. If either of us die, the mortgage is paid. You can also add disability to that (haven't done it yet but I will). We won't keep the mortgage insurance forever - there's a point where the mortgage becomes smaller - at that point we'll put that $50/month into savings or another plan - this insurance isn't through our bank.
Insurance for my Dayhome is $600/year. I can't use my homeowners insurance because it's a business.
RRSPs pay back so little these days, if we have extra money we put it against our mortgage or in the kids' RESPs.
Smart idea if you have 5-6 kids to put one kid's fees in a tax account. Those of us running with 3 or less aren't turning much of a profit to pay taxes at all (if you write off all that you are entitled to).