I'm still analyzing last year's expenses, and already at number seven I'm feeling like it's one I can't do anything about - property taxes.

Our taxes are actually reasonable by some standards, since there aren't a ton of infrastructure projects going on in the neighbourhood. We pay just over $3000 a year, or $260/month, which we can usually spread out over 8 payments.

We're not interested in moving out of our home when we're retired, although I guess our opinions could change. I like the idea of hosting foreign students for some part of the year, enough to pay for the property taxes. I'm a teacher with ESL qualifications, so I think we'd be a desirable host family.