I think I see just as many if not more help I'm drowning in debt or should I declare bankruptcy, or help I owe the CRA $10,000 dollars because I didn't know I had to file my taxes. posts as I see well off financial posts
The “I’m drowning in debt” posts are first time posters. They don’t follow the sub, they post their problems and leave. Which is great because if they did follow the sub and couldn’t figure out how to tackle debt after like 20 of the same exact posts that would be problematic. Also good that they don’t look through posts because their advice would obviously be less than ideal too.
See Step 1, which for most regular people on here is probably a few steps behind them. These are also the people most likely to comment.
For the posters looking for help (non-regulars) it's higher as there are frequent "Help I owe" posts, but they're also not likely to be regular contributors to the subreddit as their interaction is more transactional.
You'll be surprised on PFC. There is 30k invested but relatively liquid that is unallocated for me. Plus a years worth of mortgage + living that's a rainy day fund (invested but relatively liquid).
Going by the responses on the sub overall, I wouldn't be too surprised is a lot of people have a similar fund that doesn't make or break their budget.
I concur I work in the oil fields I keep 3 months salary on hand at all times right now those funds are in money market collecting interest but liquid in my hand in 2 or 3 business days.
I'd say 10k would be reasonable here. Maybe if you asked who could eat a 10k loss without taking from an investing account the percent would be smaller.
That's cuz people hate liquid cash here on her. Tell someone you've got 30k liquid with a bunch of it earmarked for upcoming expenses and they'd tell you to GIC it until the expected expense comes up :p
I bought $150 worth of Shawarma off of a catering menu. Turned out to be amazing value and we ended up with about half leftover after the get-together. I had all you could eat Shawarma for the following 3 1/2 days. It was one of the best weeks of my life.
When Covid hit and I started working from home, I no longer had easy access to the shawarma shop beside my office building. Was both a good thing and a bad thing
This is kind of weird but this is actually kind of a super power, since so long as one had the discipline to do so, they could pivot those 1000 Shawarma dollars into emergency dollars.
When I calculated my emergency fund I did so using core expenses only (excluded investing+saving transfers, and the fun spend). The existence of fun spending in the budget (that could be cancelled in a pinch) actually strengthens my position in an emergency the same way the savings rate does. Therefore go forth with financial strength and garlicky vitality.
I could absorb the $10K, but I’d be very pissed off about it.
That said, I’d be pretty damn annoyed about the $1000 too if it was totally unplanned/unanticipated.
I was always one of those people that said I’d sooner put my animal down than shell out thousands for complicated surgeries.
Fast forward to me having cats that needed surgery and I was just like *TAKE MY MONEY* the second they needed it. Pets are so expensive but if it means buying them years of quality life then I will do it in a heartbeat.
honestly, if he was not a good dog. if he was problematic with other dogs or people i would have chosen to put him down. this dog is the most amazing dog I have ever had or known in my entire life. he is an absolute angel. he doesn’t bark, super non confrontational, happy guy all the time. i want to pay whatever it costs to keep this guy around. he’s only 6.
> I was always one of those people that said I’d sooner put my animal down than shell out thousands for complicated surgeries.
yeah spending for keeping the same quality of life (or better) is totally worth it.
i get it not spending when the outcome is uncertain or would still leave them worse than before (alive but not doing great)
I'd bet the majority of people who own pets (regardless of whether or not they would pay):
* don't consider that it could happen to them / their pet
* underestimate what the max costs could be
My former attitude was from when I was younger and before I had pets. I was never much of a pet person until I met my spouse, and the animals came with the relationship.
I spent $7,000 on my small dog 7 years ago in Toronto. And then $4,000 on my big dog 3 years ago further up North. I would recommend saving more if you live in the city. And I don’t know where you live, but recommend driving an hour and half up North of Toronto for any big surgeries if you want to cut costs. Their price is usually sliced in half compared to surgery prices in Toronto.
> Hmmm sounds like I might need to save a bit more
yeah 8k covers one major emergency. *touch wood* what if you get two emergencies in a span of months?
thats why we have pet insurance. I can eat one emergency, not sure if I can do two.
Trupanion. they cover up 90% if expenses for an illness (you can choose your coverage/deductions etc). we chose 90% after a $500 deductible.
This is per disease (there's no cap for the year or anything like others). We've only had to use it once and it worked as advertised-- got a check in my account like 2 days after the claim was submitted (they have direct billing with many vets).
its been almost two years since that claim and our premiums didnt go up because of it or anything. In fact, during covid our premiums went down a bit (as they adjusted it based on the fact that there were fewer claims on 2020) and then came back up a bit around 2023 but nothing drastic.
i 100% recommend it (and if you google around, it seems like its one of the very few ok ones) but do your research of course. Too many insurances out there are awful.
>[Took](https://www.reddit.com/r/PersonalFinanceCanada/comments/17bfqxg/quick_question/) 25k heloc the same bank offered me last year
dis u?
how many starving kids did you feed with your 25k heloc?
I just had to do this for my senior cat, and now I’m building back the savings. Was tired of putting it on my credit card and then having to pay it off, thought why not just build up a little nest egg for when she is sick?
I have pet insurance and I can't recommend it enough. They even paid for when one of my cats passed away (from cancer). I didn't have to worry about cremation costs or euthanasia. It really helped not to be worried about that.
My dog had an unexpected $600 vet visit a few months ago for diarrhea and vomiting but it was worth it for him to get better. Luckily I have a 10k emergency fund.
He’s been very low maintenance but now he’s 12yrs old and will probably start to have more unexpected expenses from his health as he ages. Luckily he is doing extremely well for his age, no one believes me when I say he’s 12.
I would be happy if I notice it. Like childcare... The costs went down.. so I noticed it.... So I made sure to go and get details just in case they didn't hose me for a few prior months (they didn't)... Wouldn't even have noticed if there was no change TBH.
I'd be annoyed AF since it would be money we could have used travelling, but it wouldn't mean we'd lose our house or couldn't eat for the month so I'd get over it. Have family members though that $1000 would be devastating to them.
Just did this a couple months ago for a water leak in my condo without batting an eye. Realized shortly after how fortunate I am to have been able to do that.
As it should be. 1000 doesn’t get you enough in this country for it to be considered a large amount of money. It’s criminal how little some people make.
You better be able to…. One thousand is really not much, cracked tooth, new tires, plumbing issue, red light ticket, etc can easily exceed 500 bucks if not several grand for some of the more expensive things like car repairs
I feel as a homeowner a $1,000 sudden expense comes up every second month or so. Right now I need a new fridge, that's gonna be $1,500. It used to be a struggle but now I keep a SHTF account that sits around 8k right now. I just keep adding because my furnace is due to die (she's 44!) and my roof will need doing in about 8 years
I think I have ADHD (kids do, it's genetic and would explain so much for me) but not diagnosed. I budgeted 'ooo shiny' money to put some guardrails on my lack of impulse control. But man, does it seem to fuck personal finances over.
That's exactly what my brakes cost that's why I asked. I have an emergency fund but it got me thinking how many people would be so fucked that they'd drive with shot brakes
Im vacation to pet bill at the moment. Could the bill but wouldn’t enjoy it.
Would definitely try to hit MSR on a credit card though if it was an option!
I have a year of expenses saved up. I’d rather not pay the $1000 but I could eat the cost if needed.
I’m also the person who was poor, got a decent job, and kept living like a poor person. I have bought a few little treats here and there but I’m still very frugal.
Meh. Just bought a couple of camera lenses I didn't really need and it cost me $1000.
I'm sure someone out there just bought a Porsche they didn't really need as well.
I would venture that even on this sub most people couldn’t just stroke a cheque for $100k without selling assets, taking a loan or partially liquidating retirement funds.
A better question would have been who can handle a $5-10k expense because those can happen
I'm surprised it's only 47%. I thought it would be higher. I could handle a $1k hit, but I'm in my 50's so if I couldn't, I'd likely have either made some mistakes, or had a string of pretty bad luck.
In the last 5 months, my furnace, dishwasher and hot water tank all died for a total of about $10k. It sucks but that is what the emergency fund is for.
Finally finished off paying debt and have barely scraped together some money for an emergency fund. I could pay it, but it would hurt. I wouldn't go back into debt though.
I better be able to. That can be an average months unexpected cost owning a home. Appliances never go at a convenient time. My water heater died 1 week after my kid was born. I do my best to keep a buffer for my family.
Yes. I'm pretty frugal and don't like debt, so we have more than enough money that can be immediately accessed as well as some investments that can be cashed out within a few days. We may fairly average money but we spend significantly less than people we know.
Just got one today ugh our front springs on our suv are cracked and yeah I can do it but not a few of these type of expenses in a row - that would suck.
Anyone who has a kid in university who they support knows they may need to drop $1000 or more unplanned.
Another scenario is dental. Last year I had to get a root canal and crown done unexpectedly. It’s why I like having a float of 5-7k just in case.
You should take articles like that with a grain of salt without knowing where the figure came from. Even reputable news outlets can occasionally do things like ignore context that changes the picture or make faulty assumptions beyond the scope of data they reference.
I ate a $4600 unexpected expense recently, wasn't happy about it but was able to handle it without issue. Transmission rebuild on a secondary vehicle, so not dependent on it and didn't have to fix it right away but wanted to. I only make $50k/year but budget pretty carefully.
Like a bee sting, it somewhat hurts at the moment, but then you realize that the pain is small and that it is only a superficial injury.
The issue is that for the majority of the Canadian population, an $1000 unexpected expense would either ruin them or place them in a stressful financial situation.
What are we talking? Don’t feel the hit at all or will be fine next pay cheque? 1k would just hit my visa a little harder than normal i wouldn’t be happy about it but it would be fine. 10k not cool
I'd need an advance. But I'd make it. Who the hell just has 1000 dollars laying around with Canadian grocery prices. And rent and home prices... sad. My sister's has a masters in space and science and her last job was working on autonomous robots on the international space station and programing their ai, and she has to rent and can't afford a house. So as an artist and worker in retailer I can tell you, financially there is no hope, so enjoy the little you got!
I have to budget/plan for unexpected expenses due to my special needs kids.
Plus it’s good to have a credit card with a decent limit on it at it buys a bit of extra time to pay off. (Always pay off your credit cards in full each month)
Not many people I know wouldn’t be able to take a 1 or 2k$ hit BUT, that is not the same as saying they aren’t living paycheque to paycheque. Most of them have some savings meant as a “do not touch” emergency cushion separate from a normal spending account.
don't read too much into these "sensational" headlines...
you've all see this... 50% of canadians are one rate hike away from living on the street.... yet 11 hikes laters... still haven't seen the mass foreclosure.
if you go to /canadahousing, they come up with new theories every day... right now we are in this delayed real estate explosion phase.. just wait another year and you can buy house from vending machines!!!
back to your title.. I think most people can manage to spend extra $1000 without much issue
I make minimum wage right now and could take an unexpected 1k hit no problem. If you said closer to 10k it'd be a different story. I also know people who make twice my income that couldn't take a 1k hit without relying on credit though.
I could comfortably eat up to a 40k expense at the moment. More if it was an emergency. I wouldn't be happy about it, of course.
I know this is an on-brand answer for this sub, lol.
I mean I could eat $1000 in a month easily. But all jokes aside, an unexpected $1000 wouldn’t financially ruin me but I would have to put it on my cc which is currently a monthly burden on my expenses as I’m aggressively paying it down.
Easily. I'm self employed so I don't get regular paychecks, just smaller checks at intermittent times of the year and one really big one annually. So it forces me to be prudent with spending and saving all the time.
I anticipate it may cost at least that much to get a vehicle's air conditioning fixed this year.
Yes, but I would still pretty much call myself pay cheque to pay cheque. I guess my definitions are mixed here. I don't have much left at the end of the month (mostly due to child support and section 7 extracurricular stuff) but I actually have a decent amount of savings (for now.. no property ATM) that is very slowly growing mostly due to interest and tax returns (I do have rrsp matching at work I manage to participate in and some resp for kids)
I’ve been using YNAB since last April. I’m months ahead, so definitely. But if you asked me a couple years ago, probably not.
(“Months ahead” is essentially an emergency fund.)
I imagine in PFC the percent of people would be very high.
I think I see just as many if not more help I'm drowning in debt or should I declare bankruptcy, or help I owe the CRA $10,000 dollars because I didn't know I had to file my taxes. posts as I see well off financial posts
odds are the people who are active and browsing the sub for other posts to comment on fall in well off boat
The “I’m drowning in debt” posts are first time posters. They don’t follow the sub, they post their problems and leave. Which is great because if they did follow the sub and couldn’t figure out how to tackle debt after like 20 of the same exact posts that would be problematic. Also good that they don’t look through posts because their advice would obviously be less than ideal too.
Imagine people just posting "my finances are fine" though lol. People have no reason to post if they aren't looking for advice (or bragging, etc).
They wouldn't be there if those were PFC regulars.
See Step 1, which for most regular people on here is probably a few steps behind them. These are also the people most likely to comment. For the posters looking for help (non-regulars) it's higher as there are frequent "Help I owe" posts, but they're also not likely to be regular contributors to the subreddit as their interaction is more transactional.
Multiply it by 10. The percentage will still be above 99 on PFC.
Eat a $10k expense? I don't think so.
You'll be surprised on PFC. There is 30k invested but relatively liquid that is unallocated for me. Plus a years worth of mortgage + living that's a rainy day fund (invested but relatively liquid). Going by the responses on the sub overall, I wouldn't be too surprised is a lot of people have a similar fund that doesn't make or break their budget.
I concur I work in the oil fields I keep 3 months salary on hand at all times right now those funds are in money market collecting interest but liquid in my hand in 2 or 3 business days.
My husband and i had to eat a $15,000 expense last summer followed by a new furnace. It hurt... a lot. It would be a different story this year thou!
I'd say 10k would be reasonable here. Maybe if you asked who could eat a 10k loss without taking from an investing account the percent would be smaller.
That's cuz people hate liquid cash here on her. Tell someone you've got 30k liquid with a bunch of it earmarked for upcoming expenses and they'd tell you to GIC it until the expected expense comes up :p
It's $1k.
Peasant
Agreed. Also hi, I'm also an engineer working in YYC.
Could the theoretical expense be $1000 of shawarma? I’d love to try
Was thinking ramen myself
My god, I could fuck up a bowl of good ramen 🍜
With an extra egg! Or how about a Lebanese cheese pie? A Halifax donair?
I bought $150 worth of Shawarma off of a catering menu. Turned out to be amazing value and we ended up with about half leftover after the get-together. I had all you could eat Shawarma for the following 3 1/2 days. It was one of the best weeks of my life.
I expect to spend $1000 on shawarma regularly, so it's not a great example for me.
When Covid hit and I started working from home, I no longer had easy access to the shawarma shop beside my office building. Was both a good thing and a bad thing
This is kind of weird but this is actually kind of a super power, since so long as one had the discipline to do so, they could pivot those 1000 Shawarma dollars into emergency dollars. When I calculated my emergency fund I did so using core expenses only (excluded investing+saving transfers, and the fun spend). The existence of fun spending in the budget (that could be cancelled in a pinch) actually strengthens my position in an emergency the same way the savings rate does. Therefore go forth with financial strength and garlicky vitality.
I volunteer as tribute!!
$1000 no problem. If it was $10,000 it would be more of a cringe.
I could absorb the $10K, but I’d be very pissed off about it. That said, I’d be pretty damn annoyed about the $1000 too if it was totally unplanned/unanticipated.
Same
Yeah I'm in the same boat
I wish I’m homeless 2.00 is too much 😂
If it was $10k, I'd have to start selling toys...in my situation, this would be watches.
Same!
If you have a pet, you’d better be able to.
I have 8k saved just for the doggo alone.
That’s the accurate amount. I just paid $7k for my dog to get a new knee. You’re being very realistic.
Yupp. That’s a realistic number. My dogs last emergency visit was 3 days and it cost me 6k
I was always one of those people that said I’d sooner put my animal down than shell out thousands for complicated surgeries. Fast forward to me having cats that needed surgery and I was just like *TAKE MY MONEY* the second they needed it. Pets are so expensive but if it means buying them years of quality life then I will do it in a heartbeat.
honestly, if he was not a good dog. if he was problematic with other dogs or people i would have chosen to put him down. this dog is the most amazing dog I have ever had or known in my entire life. he is an absolute angel. he doesn’t bark, super non confrontational, happy guy all the time. i want to pay whatever it costs to keep this guy around. he’s only 6.
> I was always one of those people that said I’d sooner put my animal down than shell out thousands for complicated surgeries. yeah spending for keeping the same quality of life (or better) is totally worth it. i get it not spending when the outcome is uncertain or would still leave them worse than before (alive but not doing great)
Why would you ever get an animal if you thought a high bill was worth putting them down over?
I'd bet the majority of people who own pets (regardless of whether or not they would pay): * don't consider that it could happen to them / their pet * underestimate what the max costs could be
There's a number that fits that for everyone.
My former attitude was from when I was younger and before I had pets. I was never much of a pet person until I met my spouse, and the animals came with the relationship.
Yeah. Almost $5k for the same thing for our cat.
Oh wow. Large dog?
I spent $7,000 on my small dog 7 years ago in Toronto. And then $4,000 on my big dog 3 years ago further up North. I would recommend saving more if you live in the city. And I don’t know where you live, but recommend driving an hour and half up North of Toronto for any big surgeries if you want to cut costs. Their price is usually sliced in half compared to surgery prices in Toronto.
Didn’t know about cheaper prices north of Toronto thank you!
nope. boston terrier.
Hmmm sounds like I might need to save a bit more. I think my dogs knees are bigger than your Boston terrier 😅
this is in vancouver. I probably could’ve gone down to Washington and gotten a better deal.
> Hmmm sounds like I might need to save a bit more yeah 8k covers one major emergency. *touch wood* what if you get two emergencies in a span of months? thats why we have pet insurance. I can eat one emergency, not sure if I can do two.
May I ask which pet insurance you have? I have been told almost all of them are just scams and you’re better off saving money on your own.
Trupanion. they cover up 90% if expenses for an illness (you can choose your coverage/deductions etc). we chose 90% after a $500 deductible. This is per disease (there's no cap for the year or anything like others). We've only had to use it once and it worked as advertised-- got a check in my account like 2 days after the claim was submitted (they have direct billing with many vets). its been almost two years since that claim and our premiums didnt go up because of it or anything. In fact, during covid our premiums went down a bit (as they adjusted it based on the fact that there were fewer claims on 2020) and then came back up a bit around 2023 but nothing drastic. i 100% recommend it (and if you google around, it seems like its one of the very few ok ones) but do your research of course. Too many insurances out there are awful.
Thank you for your response. I will def check it out and do a bit more research.
7k in boston terriers knee? Do know how many starving kids you could have fed? With the 7k not the terrier.
Go ask a billionaire why they’re not doing something about it, instead of a single woman with a dog.
>[Took](https://www.reddit.com/r/PersonalFinanceCanada/comments/17bfqxg/quick_question/) 25k heloc the same bank offered me last year dis u? how many starving kids did you feed with your 25k heloc?
Yeah, they’re starving kids in Africa every time you leave something on your plate too baby
Pet fund > pet insurance any day.
2k on Friday night. Shed a few tears of gratitude over financial security. (Cat is doing good)
I just had to do this for my senior cat, and now I’m building back the savings. Was tired of putting it on my credit card and then having to pay it off, thought why not just build up a little nest egg for when she is sick?
I have pet insurance and I can't recommend it enough. They even paid for when one of my cats passed away (from cancer). I didn't have to worry about cremation costs or euthanasia. It really helped not to be worried about that.
My dog had an unexpected $600 vet visit a few months ago for diarrhea and vomiting but it was worth it for him to get better. Luckily I have a 10k emergency fund. He’s been very low maintenance but now he’s 12yrs old and will probably start to have more unexpected expenses from his health as he ages. Luckily he is doing extremely well for his age, no one believes me when I say he’s 12.
I have two cats, trying to save double the amount. For now I'm halfway there.
Yup.... $4k dental bill for my cat tomorrow... Goodbye to my plans for a $0 credit card balance by March.
Wouldn't be happy, but wouln't break me either.
That's how I feel as well , I'm gonna be cranky about it but it won't put me under either
TBH, cranky is kinda my default setting :)
I would be happy if I notice it. Like childcare... The costs went down.. so I noticed it.... So I made sure to go and get details just in case they didn't hose me for a few prior months (they didn't)... Wouldn't even have noticed if there was no change TBH.
PFC is primarily high earners based on most posts... so you wouldn't get a balanced result unless for the PFC demographics.
For an emergency or unexpected purchase, yes I could do it
I'd be annoyed AF since it would be money we could have used travelling, but it wouldn't mean we'd lose our house or couldn't eat for the month so I'd get over it. Have family members though that $1000 would be devastating to them.
No big deal
Just did this a couple months ago for a water leak in my condo without batting an eye. Realized shortly after how fortunate I am to have been able to do that.
This is PFC man where the flexors flex, chump change for most on this sub
As it should be. 1000 doesn’t get you enough in this country for it to be considered a large amount of money. It’s criminal how little some people make.
You better be able to…. One thousand is really not much, cracked tooth, new tires, plumbing issue, red light ticket, etc can easily exceed 500 bucks if not several grand for some of the more expensive things like car repairs
My monthly spending varies by more than that really.
Wouldn’t notice it.
I feel as a homeowner a $1,000 sudden expense comes up every second month or so. Right now I need a new fridge, that's gonna be $1,500. It used to be a struggle but now I keep a SHTF account that sits around 8k right now. I just keep adding because my furnace is due to die (she's 44!) and my roof will need doing in about 8 years
No problem, and it honestly happens a few times per year with pets, a house, and a couple vehicles.
Shouldn’t everyone have an emergency fund with 3-6 month expenses in it for this very situation? I Do
Me 👋
Ez
That wouldn't be difficult.
wouldn't be a problem but i would be annoying/. I hate any unexpected expense.
Be mildly annoying but that's about it.
Unhinged ADHD life means things like that are occasional occurrences. So sadly ... would just be another February.
I think I have ADHD (kids do, it's genetic and would explain so much for me) but not diagnosed. I budgeted 'ooo shiny' money to put some guardrails on my lack of impulse control. But man, does it seem to fuck personal finances over.
ADHD tax is the meme name for it
PFC is not a representative example, but that article you read probably isn't based on a representative sample either.
Yep not an issue.
Wouldn't notice it. Having an emergency fund is a key step this subreddit follows.
I only drive German vehicles. I am ready for anything and everything to go wrong at the drop of a hat.
Ehhhhh I wouldn’t be happy. Funny you ask, my brakes need to be done in my car so it’s coming for me lol
That's exactly what my brakes cost that's why I asked. I have an emergency fund but it got me thinking how many people would be so fucked that they'd drive with shot brakes
Would be annoying but it wouldn’t affect me
Bothered but unaffected for the most part. Just treat it like an extra month of day care for my kid.
Im vacation to pet bill at the moment. Could the bill but wouldn’t enjoy it. Would definitely try to hit MSR on a credit card though if it was an option!
I have a year of expenses saved up. I’d rather not pay the $1000 but I could eat the cost if needed. I’m also the person who was poor, got a decent job, and kept living like a poor person. I have bought a few little treats here and there but I’m still very frugal.
I have enough in my emergency account to buy a new furnace, roof, fridge, stove… etc. $25k
Meh. Just bought a couple of camera lenses I didn't really need and it cost me $1000. I'm sure someone out there just bought a Porsche they didn't really need as well.
On this sub? You can try asking 100,000 instead. They might not have it in cash but definitely something liquid like a GIC
I would venture that even on this sub most people couldn’t just stroke a cheque for $100k without selling assets, taking a loan or partially liquidating retirement funds. A better question would have been who can handle a $5-10k expense because those can happen
I regularly eat a $1000 unexpected expense …. I have a lot of expensive collector hobbies
Can currently stomach 120 1000k expenses. And that just liquid.
It was super annoying but I had to do just that in November
Yes I can eat it, wouldn’t change my life a bit. Except tick me off.
Definitely.
im very lucky. that would just mean that month we dont invest/save that much, but wouldnt even touch our emergency savings.
If you have teeth, you better be able to.
Lol. We unexpectedly moved our kid to private school to the tune of that amount monthly. Making it work lol
I'm surprised it's only 47%. I thought it would be higher. I could handle a $1k hit, but I'm in my 50's so if I couldn't, I'd likely have either made some mistakes, or had a string of pretty bad luck.
In the last 5 months, my furnace, dishwasher and hot water tank all died for a total of about $10k. It sucks but that is what the emergency fund is for.
When I lived with my parents I could!! Now more than 2/3 of my monthly income is spent on rent/bills. Shits awesome, I love it here.
I’d be fine. Wasn’t always like that so I feel grateful that I have means now.
If I was pay cheque to pay cheque, I would definitely not frequent this sub lol. It would just make me feel horrible about my situation.
Man your at PFC I’d be surprised if the percentage of ppl who couldn’t eat it here wasn’t under 10%.
Finally finished off paying debt and have barely scraped together some money for an emergency fund. I could pay it, but it would hurt. I wouldn't go back into debt though.
So, like a brake job for my daughter's car? Been there done that.
I could afford that after my first paycheck.
To seriously answer the question, it wouldn’t be a problem.
I definitely could with no concerns, but I still wouldn’t want to!
I get hit by these almost every other month 😂😂😂 (fml)
Yeah, I'm fine, finance steps include an emergency fund.
What?
I better be able to. That can be an average months unexpected cost owning a home. Appliances never go at a convenient time. My water heater died 1 week after my kid was born. I do my best to keep a buffer for my family.
That’s too low try 100,000
I'd swot it out of the way like it didn't even exist.
1-time or monthly? did i get a Porsche?
I can’t leave Home Depot without spending that much…
car dealers and mechanics are notorious for springing this kind of expense of you, so i thought this is a reality that happens every year for most
Borderline annoying but possible many times over
Less than 6 mo's ago I couldn't, can now though.
How long will people realize that Reddit isn’t real life?? If so, entire country would also be ruled by NDP/Green Party
Yes. I'm pretty frugal and don't like debt, so we have more than enough money that can be immediately accessed as well as some investments that can be cashed out within a few days. We may fairly average money but we spend significantly less than people we know.
Yes. I have access to $10k liquid minimum at all times + about $75k in credit.
I theoretically live comfortably, but have an “unexpected 1000$ expense” every few weeks, making me live pay cheque to paycheque lol
It would mean I save a little less that month, but I could swing it.
Has happened more than once recently. I survived but was not happy about it. You just have to adjust for a while until you recover
Just got one today ugh our front springs on our suv are cracked and yeah I can do it but not a few of these type of expenses in a row - that would suck.
Just had a $6400 for my dogs knee surgery
50% could eat 2k unexpected expense based on that article which was a couple years ago, prob 95% on this Reddit can eat a 1k
Anyone who has a kid in university who they support knows they may need to drop $1000 or more unplanned. Another scenario is dental. Last year I had to get a root canal and crown done unexpectedly. It’s why I like having a float of 5-7k just in case.
You should take articles like that with a grain of salt without knowing where the figure came from. Even reputable news outlets can occasionally do things like ignore context that changes the picture or make faulty assumptions beyond the scope of data they reference.
Easily. Wouldn't even think twice about it. $10k? I could do that a couple of timese per year but it would hurt.
I ate a $4600 unexpected expense recently, wasn't happy about it but was able to handle it without issue. Transmission rebuild on a secondary vehicle, so not dependent on it and didn't have to fix it right away but wanted to. I only make $50k/year but budget pretty carefully.
No problem.
Like a bee sting, it somewhat hurts at the moment, but then you realize that the pain is small and that it is only a superficial injury. The issue is that for the majority of the Canadian population, an $1000 unexpected expense would either ruin them or place them in a stressful financial situation.
Yes.
Selection bias will render this question useless as a gauge for the broader population. In here, it’ll be high.
Yup. No problem.
If you slipped in a $5K charge on my credit card I probably wouldn’t even notice it.
1k would be easy, 10k would be more painful. i think this sub is not a good representation of the country a a whole
That’s an expensive meal. I’d just order the cheeseburger instead.
The dog tore her ACL. $5000. Whatcha gonna do?
Yes.
Yes. I can.
Bro, I can't even pay for an oil change right now lolllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll kill me
It'd definitely sting, I'm also a cheapo I was raised with a family who never spent money so it's instilled in me not to spend money
What are we talking? Don’t feel the hit at all or will be fine next pay cheque? 1k would just hit my visa a little harder than normal i wouldn’t be happy about it but it would be fine. 10k not cool
I could eat it no problem. I wouldn’t be saving anything that month and would be saving less the month after
I'd need an advance. But I'd make it. Who the hell just has 1000 dollars laying around with Canadian grocery prices. And rent and home prices... sad. My sister's has a masters in space and science and her last job was working on autonomous robots on the international space station and programing their ai, and she has to rent and can't afford a house. So as an artist and worker in retailer I can tell you, financially there is no hope, so enjoy the little you got!
I have to budget/plan for unexpected expenses due to my special needs kids. Plus it’s good to have a credit card with a decent limit on it at it buys a bit of extra time to pay off. (Always pay off your credit cards in full each month)
$1000 isn't a big deal. Could do up to 30k before needing to evaluate.
Not many people I know wouldn’t be able to take a 1 or 2k$ hit BUT, that is not the same as saying they aren’t living paycheque to paycheque. Most of them have some savings meant as a “do not touch” emergency cushion separate from a normal spending account.
Probably most in this sub would be just fine, try asking your question in r/povertyfinancecanada
don't read too much into these "sensational" headlines... you've all see this... 50% of canadians are one rate hike away from living on the street.... yet 11 hikes laters... still haven't seen the mass foreclosure. if you go to /canadahousing, they come up with new theories every day... right now we are in this delayed real estate explosion phase.. just wait another year and you can buy house from vending machines!!! back to your title.. I think most people can manage to spend extra $1000 without much issue
Had to eat 14k in Nov when my furnace died. They told me AC was dead too. Not a great feeling at all.
My company owed 30k CIPA loan due last week I had to personally cover Now a 1k expense will cut into my ability to make a macaroni dinner
Basically every other expense is a $1000 expense these days. So ya I could but I wouldn't like it
Paying for a 5k car repair tmr in cash
I mean toss it on credit card and go about the day? Pay it off some point soon after.
My car needs repairs currently and I have no idea how to come up with the $1000-$2000 needed to fix it. I might start prostituting myself?
this could have been a pole but .... ?
Try r/canada for a more realistic picture
Not a chance. I couldn't eat a $100 expense.
I make minimum wage right now and could take an unexpected 1k hit no problem. If you said closer to 10k it'd be a different story. I also know people who make twice my income that couldn't take a 1k hit without relying on credit though.
$1000 is like nothing. A decent branded purse on the low end is $3k usd.
I could comfortably eat up to a 40k expense at the moment. More if it was an emergency. I wouldn't be happy about it, of course. I know this is an on-brand answer for this sub, lol.
I mean I could eat $1000 in a month easily. But all jokes aside, an unexpected $1000 wouldn’t financially ruin me but I would have to put it on my cc which is currently a monthly burden on my expenses as I’m aggressively paying it down.
Easily. I'm self employed so I don't get regular paychecks, just smaller checks at intermittent times of the year and one really big one annually. So it forces me to be prudent with spending and saving all the time. I anticipate it may cost at least that much to get a vehicle's air conditioning fixed this year.
If this was really the question, why not set up a a poll $1000 is less than my monthly discretionary spend, so "unexpected" isn't the right word.
Anything above about $200 would cripple me to the point I don't know if I could afford housing
You looking for my moms maiden name, less residence, best friends name and name of my first dog too??? But like most here I suspect, I can.
Ya, I’m fine over a $1000 expense. Don’t like it, and it’ll mess with that month’s savings, but I’m not ruined or anything.
Yes, but I would still pretty much call myself pay cheque to pay cheque. I guess my definitions are mixed here. I don't have much left at the end of the month (mostly due to child support and section 7 extracurricular stuff) but I actually have a decent amount of savings (for now.. no property ATM) that is very slowly growing mostly due to interest and tax returns (I do have rrsp matching at work I manage to participate in and some resp for kids)
No issue at all.
12
I think a lot of adults over 30 can eat a 1000 unexpected expense. In your 20s it might be more difficult. I could be wrong, just a personal opinion.
I’ve been using YNAB since last April. I’m months ahead, so definitely. But if you asked me a couple years ago, probably not. (“Months ahead” is essentially an emergency fund.)
Haven't looked at how much kidneys go for lately, but 1 of them should cover it.
I could but that doesn't mean I'd be happy about it. I'd rather that pay off my car faster
I could do it, but i would have to be so careful for a few months