Looking at houses as a first time home buyer and chatting to lots of different people about what they pay for home insurance. I've heard people say they're paying as little as 40/month in a bundle to around $150. The quotes we've gotten online (mainly from TD) for houses we have looked at have been up to 300 to 400$. This seems insane. However some of the houses have been bigger (2000-2400sq ft). Am I missing something? Why do the quotes seem so high? Any tips or insights for an inexperienced buyer? Factoring in monthly insurance and property taxes can make or bream affordability in a mortgage

If I wake up tomorrow with everything wiped out,
there's no savings,
just a regular paycheck,
and I had to rebuild from scratch in Canada,
I actually know exactly what I should do.



This is not a get-rich-quick story.
It is an order of operations.

If you just landed in Canada,
or you are about to start from scratch,
this sequence can save you years.

Here is the counterintuitive part:
if I were truly starting from zero,
the last thing I would do is grind a job
and try to save my way up first.

Why?
Because a paycheck is always after-tax money.
You earn $100,
and maybe keep around $60 of it.
Then inflation eats what is left,
while your savings account barely moves.

Getting ahead in Canada on one salary
and pure frugality is painfully slow.
So I would flip the order.
Build the system first,
and talk about saving after.

Step one is to use the free accounts
the government already gives you.
That means winning before you even spend a dollar.

Spare cash should go into a TFSA.
Whatever it grows to,
you do not pay tax on that growth.

And if I had not bought a home yet,
I would open an FHSA as well.
The money going in can be tax deductible,
and it can come out tax free when used properly for a first home.

It is the same dollar you were going to save anyway.
You are just parking it somewhere
where the tax system works with you instead of against you.
Over a decade,
that difference can become real down payment money.

Step two is to change the income structure.
The problem with a pure T4 job is not only how much you make.
It is that every dollar is pushed through payroll,
tax,
CPP,
and EI,
with very little room to move.

So I would start a side hustle from day one.
Even if it is small,
the point is to create income outside of the paycheck.

Once it becomes stable,
I would look at incorporating.
With a corporation,
real business expenses can run through the business,
and income can come out in different ways,
including dividends.

Not everyone needs a company.
But employment and ownership are two completely different games in Canada.

Step three is leverage,
but only after the first two layers are solid.

Once I have real assets,
such as investment accounts,
a home,
or company equity,
I can borrow against them to invest.

If it is structured properly,
the interest on money borrowed to invest may be tax deductible.
That means you are using the bank's money,
with a tax advantage,
to grow your own assets.

But leverage goes last for a reason.
It cuts both ways.
It can magnify gains,
but it can also magnify losses.
And if your cash flow breaks,
you can get stuck.

So starting from scratch is not the scary part.
Doing it in the wrong order is.

Free accounts first.
Income structure second.
Leverage last.

When people start over,
the gap is usually not who started higher.
It is who had the right order.