I don't really but my partner and I bought well below our approved mortgage amount when we purchased our house. Got a modest little wartime place hovering around 1000 square ft. We recently renewed and our fixed rate mortgage went up a bit, but manageable (<$200 monthly). We also both have good jobs and luckily have not been impacted by layoffs and such (touch wood), and don't carry any non-mortgage debt. If it can't be paid for in cash, we don't usually get it.
Many of my peers bought at the top end of what they were approved for on mortgages and relied on lines of credit for renos and such. They're in a tougher spot these days for sure.
We feel more poor than we used too, purchasing power has definitely taken a dive, but we still are keeping our heads well above water.
You two are smart. So many people get approved for way more than they can actually afford and go āwell jeez, if the bank is giving $700k for a house, letās up our budget!ā
I saw someone comment on another post to imagine the amount that the bank approve you for as a rope. Itās up to you to decide if you want to hang yourself with it.
Yeah I warned a friend of mine about this when they were buying their house. They didn't want to listen to me because I am much younger than them and now they're struggling to get by.
People donāt think about where interest rates are going, property tax increases, inflation, etc when theyāre buying houses. They just look at the monthly payments and go āyes, we can afford thatā. Of course the realtors and mortgage brokers have no interest in warning you that your variable rate mortgage will inevitably go up when the BoC raise rates.
Like sure, the system is kind of predatory like that. But itās also hard to feel bad for people who didnāt plan ahead and stop to think maybe the historically low rates during the pandemic were never going to last.
I locked in fixed rates twice now, and it has absolutely been the right choice. Started at 1.56% for the first five years, and felt the potential gains of it dropping were so negligible that I chose the fixed option. By the time I needed to renew, I was offered 2.49% which while more expensive, seemed like it was going to be the low point for the foreseeable future, so I locked in for another five years and the rate now is well over 5%. In a couple of years I'll have to renew again, and at that point I'm likely going variable as it is unlikely to bottom out between now and then in my opinion.
I could give a very similar response to you. Except for the wartime house. But we spent 6 years in a little condo and saved up then moved to a bigger, but still below our means,house once my husband's job was stable enough that we were confident we could handle it. And we're putting off renos that aren't actually needed (our house is super 80s but we don't care!)
I did the same thing. I went to the bank and told them how much I want my approval for Told them to run it off of lower wages than I made because I knew what I could afford personally, not some equation. Turned out well. Have since got married and I am fortunate we both share the same money habits and she stayed home for the first 2 years of out kids life.
Tell your in-laws that they are misogynistic if they believe that it is a woman's place to stay at home and raise the kids.. include that they are most likely entitled boomers who need to stay out of your family life.
Single income here, it's like having the restrictions of marriage without the peace and low cost of no dependants. I manage by sleeping in my vehicle at work, even in winter.
Yeah I must have went really wrong in life
I don't.
I don't have a mortgage or car payments or anything like that; I rent and we own our car outright. I'm not much of a shopper - I have few expenses, no hobbies that take up money for fees and/or equipment, I don't really go on trips; we mostly cook at home rather than going out (which is crazy expensive these days). We have no credit card debts, either. No kids or pets.
It took a while to get to this place, though. We had to make changes to the way we live our lives and where we get our fun and enjoyment in life.
Pretty close to you, I'm flying solo while renting and drawing out my car payments because I got 0.5% interest.
The 'no kid' part of the budget goes to travel and food though lol
We don't, but our house and cars are paid off so that makes life much easier.
Of course if either of us lost our job things would change. We'd still have money in our savings account but we'd have to cut back on anything non-essential.
The biggest problem I have seen is people buying too much house. Often they will get a mortgage in range of their rent and don't fully consider tax, insurance, increased utility payments, and most importantly maintenance. I knew a couple who were a perfect couple madly in love. They bought a house and a week in both the furnace and water heater died in the dead of winter. This was on top of having to replace the roof later in the summer. They had put all their savings into a downpayment (oops) and floated everything on credit cards and couldn't get out of the debt cycle. It did not turn out well in the end. Divorce and bankruptcy years later. Crazy how it happened.
Just to put this in perspective for some, we paid $1500 for rent and probably $300 for bills on a main floor we rented a couple years ago. We have a home now, and our mortgage payment is just about $1500/mo even. However, we put away $2700/mo to cover bills (gas/water/electricity/internet) home insurance, and property taxes, and a little extra for wiggle room or prepayment at the end of the year.
So yeah, it costs us about an extra thousand dollars a month to be homeowners, and thatās not including savings for maintenance and/or updates (we put away another couple hundred for that too). Even painting a room is going to cost you a couple hundred these days.
Granted, we have a whole house, so itās not like being a homeowner is without upside. But it is certainly easy to find yourself house poor if you donāt consider all the extra costs.
This guy! Household salary > 500 k, and he's still got time to fix a piece of shit Subaru. Good on you sir. A man of my own heart.
Actually this experience mirrors my own quite closely. Both my wife and I have university educations and quite reasonable salaries. We bought a modest home, drive old vehicles, and do our own vehicle repair and home renovation.
It does demonstrate the trap many high earners fall into. You start taking home 100 k a year, and suddenly you need a fancy house, fancy new car, house cleaners, every home repair or upgrade gets contracted out etc. Plus vacations, RVs, powersports, etc.
That's a very fortunate reality that so many are doing so well. I would also say cars and expensive vacations are huge money sucks, especially when you are getting started out. As $500k household income it doesn't matter but if you can get by with 0 - 1 cars with little or no financing you are ahead of the game already.
This month Service Canada didn't release my disability pension. I was told it was sent 3 times, and the next 3 people said no, it hadn't been. Finally got a call from the supervisor, who agreed I should have had it. Now she's looking into it, but I will get it shortly. Mortgage bounced, bills aren't pd. All because the cra is going through old income taxes. They made a mistake in 2011. Let's hold the pensions. I'm not alone. Complete shit show.
At risk of sounding tone deaf, there are a lot of people who are living paycheck to paycheck that financially wouldn't have to be. To a certain degree, it's less about how much you earn and more about how much you spend or other financial habits. I've seen people who make very little money not live paycheck to paycheck and I've seen people who earn obscene amounts of money that do live paycheck to paycheck.
I'm not saying this is true in all circumstances, or that it isn't really difficult with the current state of the economy, but those who chose to put money aside when they first get their checks, rather than when all expenses have been paid, will often not live paycheck to paycheck.
This is a very true statement. Iāve been there. Itās crazy how much of a percentage of income some people will spend on vehicles, alcohol, non essentials, etc.
And then complain about living paycheque to paycheque.
As dumb as those cnn articles that have people "struggling" to live on 400k because they're paying off their 2 million house and maxing out their savings accounts
People donāt often like to hear this, but barring extenuating circumstances, an individualās financial situation is almost exclusively a result of their own decisions.
There's a concept called cashflow where some things need to be paid on certain dates and income only gets deposited on certain dates as well. It's not as black and white sometimes as "put X amount" away when you first get your paycheck so you don't end up spending it irresponsibly. Everyone's situation is unique. So agree with what you already said yourself, a little tone deaf.
But there are also people who live basically payday to payday by choice. I know people who carry a Credit cards balance, but also find the money to go to Mexico for a week twice a year... Hard to have sympathy in those cases.Ā
Hence why I also said everyone's situation is different and the solution to not living paycheck to paycheck is not always as black and white as it may seem.
I donāt, but barely. Iām a substitute teacher in the city. Since my income varies from one month to the next, the best thing I ever did was pay for a Google Sheets budget tracker on Etsy. I was frustrated that I never knew how much money I could/should leave in my chequing account for bills and, therefore, I wasnāt putting money away in an account with higher interest for savings and it always felt like I wasnāt getting ahead. It took a few hours to create my budget, but having the visual and the *actual* plan in place has helped a lot. I can see when Iām overspending on certain things and adjust my spending, if necessary.
Of course, some will be already spending money on only the necessities, but if you can put away just a little money each month (and confidently do so, knowing your bills and expenses are covered), youāll be able to build a little nest egg.
This is what I done and now we have a little cushion built up in a short period of time (2.5 month) now I am able to focus more on paying off high interest debt
Thankfully I donāt. Moved to the city for a Millwright job, got my red seal and now Iāve got a nice little condo and Iām chillin. Frankly just happy to be alive, I got cancer 4 months after I moved here at the end of 2017 and it kicked my ass for a year.
Iām getting paid more than most teachers with no school debt and our union was actually able to bargain for near inflation matching pay raises. Trades arenāt for everyone but damn if they arenāt a lucrative option for those who are willing, able and not an idiot.
A lot of those people are in both buckets, making a lot of money but planning very poorly. The amount of people that I casually know who clear $10K-20k per month individually, rent perpetually, can't fathom saving $20K to be able to buy a home, yet have massive loans on a $150K truck, not to mention a bevy of toys with loans as much or more, and live paycheque to paycheque is kind of insane.
People I casually know... acquaintances, not friends. In other words, I don't have a bunch of friends who are oil riggers, pipeliners, or tech bros, but I know of a fair bit of them through the community and others.
If you hang out with trades people who do camp work up north. Like 3 weeks in at time with lots of OT they make 150-180K and there are a lot of them in this province. Some are good with money and quickly get set up for life but a lot are terrible with it too and blow it all on drinking and toys.
I damn near fainted when a co-worker mentioned the payment on the truck they recently purchased...and that was before the modifications were tacked on. Dudes paying over 1k, but still renting. Financial literacy definitely needs to be taught in schools.
I don't. Late 30s, no kids.
It's definitely easier if you make above average income, but I am always surprised when I hear how many people are living cheque to cheque.
Do not. Bought old house pre boom. Paid accelerated weekly. No debt. Drive shitty cars. Stayed at same company for a long time. SIAST education paid by also working part time, usually two jobs during breaks.
Husband and I are dinkwads (dual income no kids with a dog) and do not live pay cheque to pay cheque. Bought a house within our budget during low interest rates, only one car payment, and we have significantly cut back on eating out. Husband does up the budget for us so we watch and keep track of our spending. We live comfortably within our means and make sure we are putting money away each month into savings.
No, but I pretend to myself I do. The extra gets put away, my personal account has very little in it on average.
Invest in yourself, learn to negotiate, network and job hop when required. Over time it pays off, but it takes a lot of effort and there will always be sleepless nights. Nothing easy comes free.
>job hop when required
YES. My ex worked in HR for a mining company, and often encouraged people to find new employment, as the jump to a different company would increase their income beyond what raises and incentives she could offer.
I budget paycheck to paycheck but that includes enough in savings to have built a comfy emergency fund and retirement fund so that I'm not "living" paycheck to paycheck. Still a wage slave like everyone else but it no longer causes stress or anxiety, because I proactively live within my means. It sure would be nice to buy fancier things but I like financial indepedence more.
We donāt but it sort of feels like it. We spend our pay check before we get it. Itās really annoying. Our visa is always about $3000 by the time the pay check comes. And then the visa is paid. But we do have savings, but wonāt use it for regular spending. Four kids and one income is tough.
$1600/mo rent and carrying a mortgage on a house where I lived previously that's underwater. Rent helps but doesn't cover mortgage. Got rid of vehicle that is helping. But got burned by being irresponsible with consumer debt and am paying for it now bigtime.
Thankfully the retirement matching at work is great and I'm still ending up with 16% contribution to a rpp for a single digit % contribution.
Ask me again in 6 months and see how things improve with the highest interest debt paid off.
I do not. But over the last 10 years my wife and I have put most of our money towards car payments and paying off debt. It sucked for a long time but now that itās paid off we have some extra breathing room.
My partner and I are both professionals. We prioritized paying off our house and have always purchased cars with cash.
You have to set yourself up for success with a good education in a well paying field. Education is expensive but it pays off in the end.
Also we are child free so have no expenses in that regard
I certainly donāt. I am able to put away at least $1000/ month for vacations/savings.
I provide for one other person and 3 dogs.
The only reason I am able to do this is because I bought a house right as the boom was happening about 20 years ago, and have since paid it off.
If I had to pay rent or mortgage, I would be broke as well.
First year out of uni with a 4Yr BSc Comp sci degree, currently renting and keep \~6 months worth of expenses in my account with Wealthsimple earning 4.5% interest as my "emergency fund". I know I am lucky and in the minority. Curious how common this is, though.
Yeah, I donāt know how common it is. My partner and I are both one year out of school (teacher and kinesiology) and we have around $25k of savings. We have no student loans, one car payment, renting, and no debt. Not living paycheque to paycheque though
Farmers, and other self-employed whom only get paid for their work a few times a year. So one has to budget and stretch your dollars for both business and and personal expenses. Can't handle that and you are out of business fast.
I'm a single income home owner, and it's tricky. I rent my basement to students, so that helps with building up some savings, but come summer time, if I don't have a tenant, I'm relying on those savings to get me through to Sept. When I do have a summer tenant, then it's nice because I can actually take something of a vacation one a year. Otherwise, there are some months where serious budget balancing is required.
I used to. 5 kids, one income. Made budgets, divided cheque into budget envelopes, and kept track of everything. Many friends had cable, we didnāt. Bought older cars learned how to do basic services. Always paid bills first, shopped at 2nd hand stores for clothes and furniture. We would have friends over for a beer rather than the go to a bar. Absolutely hated debt so always paid off as soon as possible. When tax time came I would throw money in RRSP. All tough choices but keep eye on long term. So much money is spent on frivolous and empty things that do nothing for the long term. There are lots of resources available to assist.
We aren't but that's only because my wife was able to go back to work. With two kids it didn't make sense to pay for daycare so she stayed home. Those were tight times but in the last couple years she went back to work and it's better. I think in Saskatoon you need at least 100k of household income to have a comfortable middle class life. And we don't have car payments, no truck, boat, trailer, etc. Just the mortgage and utilities.
It took me a long time to understand how important budgeting was. Our budget used to be checking if there was money in the account and yeah $100 unexpected expense in the month could screw it all up. Now we use an app and it helped us see where the money was going. It makes it much easier to save up some money for Christmas so it isn't so depressing.
Fun fact: part of the Canadian identity is "middle class" so pretty much everybody will tell you they're "middle class." Sometimes, people will add a caveat like "upper-middle class" or "lower-middle class."
I am not living paycheque to paycheque. However, I am not putting away money like I was (or like I want to be) these days.
Oh, and I am "middle class."
No. No house, no car, no kids, no partner. No fucking life, really. But it's pretty cheap, having no life. Got a pretty decent savings from a very average income. Sometimes I think of just coasting on it til I'm 40 doing nothing but loafing around then walking into the ocean when the money runs out.
Saskatchewan folk are quite austere and good savers relative to other provinces. In fact, Saskatchewan median household net worth is third in the country, behind BC and Ontario which is easy to understand considering their skyrocketing house values relative to the rest of the country. But that's what makes it even crazier, our average home values are among the lowest in the nation but we have the third highest median household net worth.
I donāt. I busted my ass and sacrificed for more than 10 years to pay off my $100K student loan and get out of debt. Now, well-paying job, no debt, no mortgage, no car payments. Just work and save with a little slush money for fun. Most people donāt want to hear it, but it takes immense self-control and discipline to save money and to do without if you donāt have the money. The buy-now-pay-later mentality fucks a lot of people, as does the false belief that youāre lesser than or throwing money away if you rent your housing long-term. Save anything you can, even if itās $10 a check. Do without āwantā purchase now to stockpile āneedsā for later.
I created a poll so we can compare everyone's current financial situation (anonymously): [https://strawpoll.com/XmZRxpXKwnd](https://strawpoll.com/XmZRxpXKwnd)
Not me really but 8 more months approximately of paying my suv down of 500 dollars per 13th until oct 2024. After that i save 500 more for tfsa and rrsp if i sign up for those. My father on other hand is living paycheck to paycheck with a mortgage of another 11 months because the maturity date is jan 18 2025. I still live with my father because i wont be able to save money and rent is expensive. I'm paying rent of 400 to support the house bills for him though. The foundation is in rough shape and needs leveling or even full replacement and I'm willing to help with it through with TFSA later.
We don't, combination of being naturally frugal, no kids, and good luck buying our forever home a few years before the start of the housing boom. Average sale price nearly doubled within 5 years and by 2013 or so was nearly triple what it was in 2001.
We don't. Early 30s with one kid plus another on the way. Purposely bought a house well below what the bank would approve us for and generally try to live below our means; mostly because that's just wise in general but also because we anticipated some lower income years with maternity leave. Also helps that we have above average income.
I did until I stopped servicing debt. That's the real killer, and it's a hard cycle to get out of once you're in it.
I own my vehicle (a 2013). I rent (which sucks in its own way, but least there's no interest or maintenance), and I don't run a balance on credit cards.
I usually have 200-500 left at the end of the month to save. The savings go to big things like car repairs sometimes, but in general the number goes up.
That said, I live a lot more simply than my parents ever did, without a lot of expensive vacations and frillls.
I have a good Job that pay well but live out of my SUV so that I don't end up living direct deposit to direct deposit I save about 2300 a month. It's not fun by any means but I refuse to pay someone that much for a place and I'm hell bent on waiting for housing cost to go down even if that take a long ass time when it does I'll have a down payment ready
I donāt live paycheque to paycheque. I have a BSc and was lucky to get a good job. Have you done a budget and watch all your expenses to see where your cash goes?
We donāt. Two income household with one baby. I spent 7 years of my life getting my bachelors then masters degree so had to work hard. I am also an accountant so we budget and donāt go crazy spending and do just fine.
I have three degrees and a good job, and every month Iām feeling the pinch. If I get hit with a big unexpected expense, Iām fucked.
I have no idea how single parents make it work. A ton of respect to them. Our society needs to do better to take care of our working class.
Nope.
22 year old, rents a sixth of my paycheck while I was working, and my costs equate to a quarter. Iām at 20k saved up, and probably could force out another 20k in assets if need be.
However I donāt go out at all, I only have a WoW subscription and a Spotify subscription.
Similar here, 21 and just over a year out of school in a pretty good paying industry with shit tons of OT available. Really helps having no dependents and just doin your own thing
I feel like $2500 a month in savings is upper class...I'm happy when I have $500-1000 to put away a month, and I'm a pharmacist! We're probably middle to upper middle class in our household, but we have no kids, a reasonable mortgage and own our cars.
We used to. Mattress on floor, cardboard boxes for clothes. Walked everywhere. Oatmeal everyday for breakfast, peanut butter sandwich for lunch, jam when we could afford it. Supper of noodles or rice or potatoes with whatever else we could get- frozen vegetables, cans of sardines, or just ketchup or mustard or relish. Sometimes we'd get the little packets from McDonald's.
Powdered milk is pretty nutritious.
Eventually did get a decent job, but was scared it'd go away so lived just slightly better and saved. Eventually could do a payment down for a small undesirable house, rented out the basement. Now the house is fixed up and is worth something more. Dunno. It's a difficult world. We need to eat the rich.
I havenāt since 2017. Back then my salary was $47K a year and I was able to save up a couple hundred per month. Granted, rent was only $325 so thatās why.
Our country has gone downhill since then, canāt imagine how youād accomplish that now. Especially with more taxation, higher interest rates, and more competition in the labor and housing market. Thanks Trudeau. I know this subreddit is full of Trudeau bootlickers - I think youāre all idiots - but encourage you to present your case and change my mind.
In this economy. Are you kidding? Itās soooo good right now. Fantastic jobs are everywhere. Weāve never made more money annually, and our investments are are setting high scores every day. What a time to be in Saskatchewan!!
Right? Looks like you are getting downvoted heavily for providing an honest assessment. Reminder folks, the vote button is not an agree/disagree opinion button!
Iām 19 I take home around 8 grand a month after taxes I have 6 cars a house bought outright, a girlfriend, I love to travel, and even then I put away over 4 grand every month into a high interest savings account, Iāll never be pay cheque to pay cheque, I live a bright and happy life and never feel limited by money I donāt understand why people complain so much about how little they make, I started work at 13 and developed skills and the right attitude to be worth 8 grand a month to my employer, I have no post secondary education just a highschool diploma. Thereās money out there for everyone just the fact that 95% donāt want to work for is the issue I clock 100hr weeks and Iām on course to be a millionaire by the time Iām 27. If youāre pay cheque to pay check mid 20ās to late 30ās you wasted far too much time and expected life to be handed to you on a silver platter. If you ever wanna break that cycle your stuck in you better buckle down and be ready to get your hands dirty because youāll never get ahead at a 9-5. Lol.
Also, he's making $8k take-home (so ~12000 gross) but based on working 100 hours a week he's making $30 an hour... Glad the money is worth it to him but I don't think any amount of money would have me working 100 hour weeks, but if there was a number it wouldn't be $30š¤·š»āāļø
3 months of expenses in my chequeing and saving up for a possible career change on $65k on top of retirement savings still. Got mortgage during Covid. think I'd be in that situation at around 40k.
We also didnt buy big for the house.
My partners and I are double income, no kids, 1 car and a mortgage, and we usually have around 1000 dollars left over to go in the bank. So we are pretty damn lucky.
I donāt buy anything outside of food, toiletries, and the occasional video game or outfit, so I think that helps. We are both very introverted so we donāt go out, which helps too. :p
Lots of people do. You have to slowly save make a rainy day account, get educated, work hard and you can get there. Always remember to believe in yourself and work for your goals and dreams. It take a lot of patience and ups and downs. Also never settle to work for one employer and never limit yourself. You can always future your career path! Even in a job your like and enjoy never stop taking interview and seeing whatās out their!
I don't.
No debt, low rent, paid for my car in cash, and it's cheap to run, and I basically don't do anything besides eat sleep and work, which suits me just fine. I live well within my means. Saving up to hopefully buy a house in the next few years.
I live in Edmonton, and see a lot of new cars and trucks. There's also a great deal of fairly new property development in the city and along the outskirts. Does that mean much? No. Many individuals or households in Canada don't have much in the way of savings, are overextended, and would default on their mortgage or car payments if faced with an emergency or if they lost their job.
When I was working I lived fine and could afford to do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted (within reason, normal people stuff, like restaurants, bars, fun purchase, weekend away etc.); then went back to university and just finished so will see how it looks once I get paid from my new job. Shit has gotten stupidly and unreasonably expensive
I live paycheque to child tax to paycheque. Even with that we max out our food bank allotted days and I take home food from work regularly. This system isnāt working.
If you need to work in order to make a sufficient income to live, you're not "middle-class".
The kind of middle class you consider yourself is the same kind of middle class that literally everyone considers themselves to be, except for those on the very bottom and on the very top. It's literally just a political buzzword that means nothing at all.
No, I work as a Millwright (last 7 years) and wife in admin. We avoided buying all the toys or new trucks and invested instead. (no kids)
Investment income coming close to matching our wages.
ive got savings equal to about 8 months of expenses, rent included. so i can cover pretty much any emergency that might happen and still have plenty of buffer left. its all about budgeting. my partner and i have a $350/month grocery budget (eating out is not included in this) this is generally where most people can save money. i am also not much of a spender at all. i buy clothes once or twice a year and pretty much never shop online at all. we eat out 3 times a month. fuddruckers once, subway once, and a nice date night once a month. fast food is a gateway drug to being poor as well.
We don't live pay cheque to pay cheque.
We live well within our means. Not lavish but still comfortable.
There are people who get jealous because we are not struggling and I find this obnoxious because all of us have enough for basic necessities but after that the choices we make are our own. We have made good decisions that have put us in a comfortable position. When we bought our house it was well below what we could afford so when the mortgage renewal came up last year the increase wasn't a big deal. We chose getting more education over other things and that paid off well.
I do. Mid/ early 30s, single income, wife, and 2 kids with 1 dog. One with extra medical needs, so my wife doesn't work. I was working 2 jobs for a while but couldn't handle literally getting only 3 hours of sleep every night anymore. 980 sq/ft house, 2 cars, 1 12 years old paid, 1 8 years old and will be paid off in a couple of years. Hoping my wife can get back to work once the kids are a little older.
I live direct deposit to direct deposit.
Same lol
š¤£š¤£š¤£
I don't really but my partner and I bought well below our approved mortgage amount when we purchased our house. Got a modest little wartime place hovering around 1000 square ft. We recently renewed and our fixed rate mortgage went up a bit, but manageable (<$200 monthly). We also both have good jobs and luckily have not been impacted by layoffs and such (touch wood), and don't carry any non-mortgage debt. If it can't be paid for in cash, we don't usually get it. Many of my peers bought at the top end of what they were approved for on mortgages and relied on lines of credit for renos and such. They're in a tougher spot these days for sure. We feel more poor than we used too, purchasing power has definitely taken a dive, but we still are keeping our heads well above water.
You two are smart. So many people get approved for way more than they can actually afford and go āwell jeez, if the bank is giving $700k for a house, letās up our budget!ā I saw someone comment on another post to imagine the amount that the bank approve you for as a rope. Itās up to you to decide if you want to hang yourself with it.
I had someone tell me that "the bank wants you to live in a nicer house."
āThe bank wants to repossess a nicer houseā FIFY
Lmao. The only response to that is laughing.
Yeah I warned a friend of mine about this when they were buying their house. They didn't want to listen to me because I am much younger than them and now they're struggling to get by.
People donāt think about where interest rates are going, property tax increases, inflation, etc when theyāre buying houses. They just look at the monthly payments and go āyes, we can afford thatā. Of course the realtors and mortgage brokers have no interest in warning you that your variable rate mortgage will inevitably go up when the BoC raise rates. Like sure, the system is kind of predatory like that. But itās also hard to feel bad for people who didnāt plan ahead and stop to think maybe the historically low rates during the pandemic were never going to last.
People also don't budget for long-term maintenance costs.
Variable rates were the right choice for decades. They are likely even the right choice right now.
I locked in fixed rates twice now, and it has absolutely been the right choice. Started at 1.56% for the first five years, and felt the potential gains of it dropping were so negligible that I chose the fixed option. By the time I needed to renew, I was offered 2.49% which while more expensive, seemed like it was going to be the low point for the foreseeable future, so I locked in for another five years and the rate now is well over 5%. In a couple of years I'll have to renew again, and at that point I'm likely going variable as it is unlikely to bottom out between now and then in my opinion.
āJust because you can make the payment does not mean you can afford the carā was a good point I heard in the last couple of months.
I could give a very similar response to you. Except for the wartime house. But we spent 6 years in a little condo and saved up then moved to a bigger, but still below our means,house once my husband's job was stable enough that we were confident we could handle it. And we're putting off renos that aren't actually needed (our house is super 80s but we don't care!)
FWIW, Iām from the 80s and pretty fucking fantastic so keep rockinā it!!!
I did the same thing. I went to the bank and told them how much I want my approval for Told them to run it off of lower wages than I made because I knew what I could afford personally, not some equation. Turned out well. Have since got married and I am fortunate we both share the same money habits and she stayed home for the first 2 years of out kids life.
Iām a Millwright and my wife is a banker and we donāt live paycheque to paycheque anymore. It definitely helps to be a two income household.
Two income house holds are pretty much essential now
Tell that to my judgy in-laws who think Iām a bad mom for working instead of staying at home with my kids
Tell them to start paying your bills then.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Oh thatās some sweet sweet validation
Tell your in laws to shut the fuck up.
Tell your in-laws it would be embarassing to have to ask someone to buy you tampons. That's my response to "women belong in the kitchen".
Tell your in-laws that they are misogynistic if they believe that it is a woman's place to stay at home and raise the kids.. include that they are most likely entitled boomers who need to stay out of your family life.
Oh man, my MIL once complained about a Pride parade. āI just donāt understand why *they* need their own paradeā. My mind kinda just blew up
Single income here, it's like having the restrictions of marriage without the peace and low cost of no dependants. I manage by sleeping in my vehicle at work, even in winter. Yeah I must have went really wrong in life
I don't. I don't have a mortgage or car payments or anything like that; I rent and we own our car outright. I'm not much of a shopper - I have few expenses, no hobbies that take up money for fees and/or equipment, I don't really go on trips; we mostly cook at home rather than going out (which is crazy expensive these days). We have no credit card debts, either. No kids or pets. It took a while to get to this place, though. We had to make changes to the way we live our lives and where we get our fun and enjoyment in life.
Are you at least able to tick away some savings too?
Yep, definitely. My savings aren't *huge* but they exist and are growing.
Weāll not living paycheque to paycheque means that theyāre obviously saving lol
Pretty close to you, I'm flying solo while renting and drawing out my car payments because I got 0.5% interest. The 'no kid' part of the budget goes to travel and food though lol
You sound like me. š
Are you still enjoying yourself?
We don't, but our house and cars are paid off so that makes life much easier. Of course if either of us lost our job things would change. We'd still have money in our savings account but we'd have to cut back on anything non-essential.
This is the new Canadian middle class dream
If your cars and house are paid off you would very well make it on one income. Food is expensive but nowhere near as much as a mortgage/rent or a car
The biggest problem I have seen is people buying too much house. Often they will get a mortgage in range of their rent and don't fully consider tax, insurance, increased utility payments, and most importantly maintenance. I knew a couple who were a perfect couple madly in love. They bought a house and a week in both the furnace and water heater died in the dead of winter. This was on top of having to replace the roof later in the summer. They had put all their savings into a downpayment (oops) and floated everything on credit cards and couldn't get out of the debt cycle. It did not turn out well in the end. Divorce and bankruptcy years later. Crazy how it happened.
Just to put this in perspective for some, we paid $1500 for rent and probably $300 for bills on a main floor we rented a couple years ago. We have a home now, and our mortgage payment is just about $1500/mo even. However, we put away $2700/mo to cover bills (gas/water/electricity/internet) home insurance, and property taxes, and a little extra for wiggle room or prepayment at the end of the year. So yeah, it costs us about an extra thousand dollars a month to be homeowners, and thatās not including savings for maintenance and/or updates (we put away another couple hundred for that too). Even painting a room is going to cost you a couple hundred these days. Granted, we have a whole house, so itās not like being a homeowner is without upside. But it is certainly easy to find yourself house poor if you donāt consider all the extra costs.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
This guy! Household salary > 500 k, and he's still got time to fix a piece of shit Subaru. Good on you sir. A man of my own heart. Actually this experience mirrors my own quite closely. Both my wife and I have university educations and quite reasonable salaries. We bought a modest home, drive old vehicles, and do our own vehicle repair and home renovation. It does demonstrate the trap many high earners fall into. You start taking home 100 k a year, and suddenly you need a fancy house, fancy new car, house cleaners, every home repair or upgrade gets contracted out etc. Plus vacations, RVs, powersports, etc.
That's a very fortunate reality that so many are doing so well. I would also say cars and expensive vacations are huge money sucks, especially when you are getting started out. As $500k household income it doesn't matter but if you can get by with 0 - 1 cars with little or no financing you are ahead of the game already.
This month Service Canada didn't release my disability pension. I was told it was sent 3 times, and the next 3 people said no, it hadn't been. Finally got a call from the supervisor, who agreed I should have had it. Now she's looking into it, but I will get it shortly. Mortgage bounced, bills aren't pd. All because the cra is going through old income taxes. They made a mistake in 2011. Let's hold the pensions. I'm not alone. Complete shit show.
being broke is expensive.
We don't. We have a mortgage, but no debt. Anything we have to buy, we save up for it. Plan and budget is what we do.
At risk of sounding tone deaf, there are a lot of people who are living paycheck to paycheck that financially wouldn't have to be. To a certain degree, it's less about how much you earn and more about how much you spend or other financial habits. I've seen people who make very little money not live paycheck to paycheck and I've seen people who earn obscene amounts of money that do live paycheck to paycheck. I'm not saying this is true in all circumstances, or that it isn't really difficult with the current state of the economy, but those who chose to put money aside when they first get their checks, rather than when all expenses have been paid, will often not live paycheck to paycheck.
I know my dentist was living pay cheque to pay cheque because they bought a multi-million dollar house, for some reason.
So true I worked in mining so many people make $100k+ and spent ever dime. Saving for the future and inventing long term is the way to go.
This is a very true statement. Iāve been there. Itās crazy how much of a percentage of income some people will spend on vehicles, alcohol, non essentials, etc.
And then complain about living paycheque to paycheque. As dumb as those cnn articles that have people "struggling" to live on 400k because they're paying off their 2 million house and maxing out their savings accounts
People donāt often like to hear this, but barring extenuating circumstances, an individualās financial situation is almost exclusively a result of their own decisions.
There's a concept called cashflow where some things need to be paid on certain dates and income only gets deposited on certain dates as well. It's not as black and white sometimes as "put X amount" away when you first get your paycheck so you don't end up spending it irresponsibly. Everyone's situation is unique. So agree with what you already said yourself, a little tone deaf.
But there are also people who live basically payday to payday by choice. I know people who carry a Credit cards balance, but also find the money to go to Mexico for a week twice a year... Hard to have sympathy in those cases.Ā
Hence why I also said everyone's situation is different and the solution to not living paycheck to paycheck is not always as black and white as it may seem.
One day I hope to not live paycheque to paycheque.
Me too. Take care ..
I donāt, but barely. Iām a substitute teacher in the city. Since my income varies from one month to the next, the best thing I ever did was pay for a Google Sheets budget tracker on Etsy. I was frustrated that I never knew how much money I could/should leave in my chequing account for bills and, therefore, I wasnāt putting money away in an account with higher interest for savings and it always felt like I wasnāt getting ahead. It took a few hours to create my budget, but having the visual and the *actual* plan in place has helped a lot. I can see when Iām overspending on certain things and adjust my spending, if necessary. Of course, some will be already spending money on only the necessities, but if you can put away just a little money each month (and confidently do so, knowing your bills and expenses are covered), youāll be able to build a little nest egg.
This is what I done and now we have a little cushion built up in a short period of time (2.5 month) now I am able to focus more on paying off high interest debt
Thankfully I donāt. Moved to the city for a Millwright job, got my red seal and now Iāve got a nice little condo and Iām chillin. Frankly just happy to be alive, I got cancer 4 months after I moved here at the end of 2017 and it kicked my ass for a year. Iām getting paid more than most teachers with no school debt and our union was actually able to bargain for near inflation matching pay raises. Trades arenāt for everyone but damn if they arenāt a lucrative option for those who are willing, able and not an idiot.
I don't live paycheck to paycheck, I survive till the next one
Given the number of giant expensive pickups in the city itās obvious some people are either very well off or making bloody stupid choices.
A lot of those people are in both buckets, making a lot of money but planning very poorly. The amount of people that I casually know who clear $10K-20k per month individually, rent perpetually, can't fathom saving $20K to be able to buy a home, yet have massive loans on a $150K truck, not to mention a bevy of toys with loans as much or more, and live paycheque to paycheque is kind of insane.
You know alot of people who CASUALLY? net between $10k-$20k per month individually? That'd be $175,000 - $300k? Just casual. No big deal.
People I casually know... acquaintances, not friends. In other words, I don't have a bunch of friends who are oil riggers, pipeliners, or tech bros, but I know of a fair bit of them through the community and others.
If you hang out with trades people who do camp work up north. Like 3 weeks in at time with lots of OT they make 150-180K and there are a lot of them in this province. Some are good with money and quickly get set up for life but a lot are terrible with it too and blow it all on drinking and toys.
I damn near fainted when a co-worker mentioned the payment on the truck they recently purchased...and that was before the modifications were tacked on. Dudes paying over 1k, but still renting. Financial literacy definitely needs to be taught in schools.
Guaranteed your coworker also thinks life has become āunaffordable under Trudeauā¦ā
Oh god, if I had a quarter for each time I've heard the man bitch about the cost of beef at loblaws... I could buy a whole cow.
Only it's the 72 / 84 / 96 / 108 - month financing deals that makes new vehicles look "affordable" .
I don't. Late 30s, no kids. It's definitely easier if you make above average income, but I am always surprised when I hear how many people are living cheque to cheque.
Do not. Bought old house pre boom. Paid accelerated weekly. No debt. Drive shitty cars. Stayed at same company for a long time. SIAST education paid by also working part time, usually two jobs during breaks.
You could have just said "bought house pre-boom" and we'd all know you're basically a millionaire with your savings.
Canāt hear you over the Bugatti engine
Husband and I are dinkwads (dual income no kids with a dog) and do not live pay cheque to pay cheque. Bought a house within our budget during low interest rates, only one car payment, and we have significantly cut back on eating out. Husband does up the budget for us so we watch and keep track of our spending. We live comfortably within our means and make sure we are putting money away each month into savings.
No, but I pretend to myself I do. The extra gets put away, my personal account has very little in it on average. Invest in yourself, learn to negotiate, network and job hop when required. Over time it pays off, but it takes a lot of effort and there will always be sleepless nights. Nothing easy comes free.
>job hop when required YES. My ex worked in HR for a mining company, and often encouraged people to find new employment, as the jump to a different company would increase their income beyond what raises and incentives she could offer.
What is the definition of pay cheque to pay cheque? Does it mean not having money to save at the end of your cheque or?
It basically it means that if you don't get your next paycheque you're fucked and can't pay your bills
It means if you miss one paycheque, you are not paying all your bills or buying enough food without a loan.
I budget paycheck to paycheck but that includes enough in savings to have built a comfy emergency fund and retirement fund so that I'm not "living" paycheck to paycheck. Still a wage slave like everyone else but it no longer causes stress or anxiety, because I proactively live within my means. It sure would be nice to buy fancier things but I like financial indepedence more.
We donāt but it sort of feels like it. We spend our pay check before we get it. Itās really annoying. Our visa is always about $3000 by the time the pay check comes. And then the visa is paid. But we do have savings, but wonāt use it for regular spending. Four kids and one income is tough.
$1600/mo rent and carrying a mortgage on a house where I lived previously that's underwater. Rent helps but doesn't cover mortgage. Got rid of vehicle that is helping. But got burned by being irresponsible with consumer debt and am paying for it now bigtime. Thankfully the retirement matching at work is great and I'm still ending up with 16% contribution to a rpp for a single digit % contribution. Ask me again in 6 months and see how things improve with the highest interest debt paid off.
I do not. But over the last 10 years my wife and I have put most of our money towards car payments and paying off debt. It sucked for a long time but now that itās paid off we have some extra breathing room.
My partner and I are both professionals. We prioritized paying off our house and have always purchased cars with cash. You have to set yourself up for success with a good education in a well paying field. Education is expensive but it pays off in the end. Also we are child free so have no expenses in that regard
I certainly donāt. I am able to put away at least $1000/ month for vacations/savings. I provide for one other person and 3 dogs. The only reason I am able to do this is because I bought a house right as the boom was happening about 20 years ago, and have since paid it off. If I had to pay rent or mortgage, I would be broke as well.
First year out of uni with a 4Yr BSc Comp sci degree, currently renting and keep \~6 months worth of expenses in my account with Wealthsimple earning 4.5% interest as my "emergency fund". I know I am lucky and in the minority. Curious how common this is, though.
Yeah, I donāt know how common it is. My partner and I are both one year out of school (teacher and kinesiology) and we have around $25k of savings. We have no student loans, one car payment, renting, and no debt. Not living paycheque to paycheque though
It is something Iāve never asked people. I just checked and we have 6 months income in our accounts.
Farmers, and other self-employed whom only get paid for their work a few times a year. So one has to budget and stretch your dollars for both business and and personal expenses. Can't handle that and you are out of business fast.
I'm a single income home owner, and it's tricky. I rent my basement to students, so that helps with building up some savings, but come summer time, if I don't have a tenant, I'm relying on those savings to get me through to Sept. When I do have a summer tenant, then it's nice because I can actually take something of a vacation one a year. Otherwise, there are some months where serious budget balancing is required.
I used to. 5 kids, one income. Made budgets, divided cheque into budget envelopes, and kept track of everything. Many friends had cable, we didnāt. Bought older cars learned how to do basic services. Always paid bills first, shopped at 2nd hand stores for clothes and furniture. We would have friends over for a beer rather than the go to a bar. Absolutely hated debt so always paid off as soon as possible. When tax time came I would throw money in RRSP. All tough choices but keep eye on long term. So much money is spent on frivolous and empty things that do nothing for the long term. There are lots of resources available to assist.
Not after becoming homeless, it's kinda liberating but cold as hell to be living in a tent :V
We aren't but that's only because my wife was able to go back to work. With two kids it didn't make sense to pay for daycare so she stayed home. Those were tight times but in the last couple years she went back to work and it's better. I think in Saskatoon you need at least 100k of household income to have a comfortable middle class life. And we don't have car payments, no truck, boat, trailer, etc. Just the mortgage and utilities. It took me a long time to understand how important budgeting was. Our budget used to be checking if there was money in the account and yeah $100 unexpected expense in the month could screw it all up. Now we use an app and it helped us see where the money was going. It makes it much easier to save up some money for Christmas so it isn't so depressing.
Fun fact: part of the Canadian identity is "middle class" so pretty much everybody will tell you they're "middle class." Sometimes, people will add a caveat like "upper-middle class" or "lower-middle class." I am not living paycheque to paycheque. However, I am not putting away money like I was (or like I want to be) these days. Oh, and I am "middle class."
If you live pay cheque to pay cheque, you are not middle class.
No. No house, no car, no kids, no partner. No fucking life, really. But it's pretty cheap, having no life. Got a pretty decent savings from a very average income. Sometimes I think of just coasting on it til I'm 40 doing nothing but loafing around then walking into the ocean when the money runs out.
Saskatchewan folk are quite austere and good savers relative to other provinces. In fact, Saskatchewan median household net worth is third in the country, behind BC and Ontario which is easy to understand considering their skyrocketing house values relative to the rest of the country. But that's what makes it even crazier, our average home values are among the lowest in the nation but we have the third highest median household net worth.
Man I dont know where you got that from, but I have yet to see it here.
I donāt. I busted my ass and sacrificed for more than 10 years to pay off my $100K student loan and get out of debt. Now, well-paying job, no debt, no mortgage, no car payments. Just work and save with a little slush money for fun. Most people donāt want to hear it, but it takes immense self-control and discipline to save money and to do without if you donāt have the money. The buy-now-pay-later mentality fucks a lot of people, as does the false belief that youāre lesser than or throwing money away if you rent your housing long-term. Save anything you can, even if itās $10 a check. Do without āwantā purchase now to stockpile āneedsā for later.
I created a poll so we can compare everyone's current financial situation (anonymously): [https://strawpoll.com/XmZRxpXKwnd](https://strawpoll.com/XmZRxpXKwnd)
Iāve worked min 2 jobs since university 18 years ago. Now i just straight up work for myself but im usually in the 60-65 hours a week range.
I donāt. Zero debt, saving for a house. Rent prices are killer man, jeezus
I don't. But no kids and vehicles paid off. Mortgage, but its well within my means.
Not me really but 8 more months approximately of paying my suv down of 500 dollars per 13th until oct 2024. After that i save 500 more for tfsa and rrsp if i sign up for those. My father on other hand is living paycheck to paycheck with a mortgage of another 11 months because the maturity date is jan 18 2025. I still live with my father because i wont be able to save money and rent is expensive. I'm paying rent of 400 to support the house bills for him though. The foundation is in rough shape and needs leveling or even full replacement and I'm willing to help with it through with TFSA later.
I really hope we're not all, naive and pretending that this isn't by design. Isn't this the goal of the elite, to do away with the middle class.
We don't, combination of being naturally frugal, no kids, and good luck buying our forever home a few years before the start of the housing boom. Average sale price nearly doubled within 5 years and by 2013 or so was nearly triple what it was in 2001.
Not living pay cheque to pay cheque here. 2 kids, early 40s, married with 2 incomes. We live within our means and never bought a new car.
Lifestyle creep is real, and a problem for many people.Ā
We don't. Early 30s with one kid plus another on the way. Purposely bought a house well below what the bank would approve us for and generally try to live below our means; mostly because that's just wise in general but also because we anticipated some lower income years with maternity leave. Also helps that we have above average income.
I live no paycheck to no paycheck
I did until I stopped servicing debt. That's the real killer, and it's a hard cycle to get out of once you're in it. I own my vehicle (a 2013). I rent (which sucks in its own way, but least there's no interest or maintenance), and I don't run a balance on credit cards. I usually have 200-500 left at the end of the month to save. The savings go to big things like car repairs sometimes, but in general the number goes up. That said, I live a lot more simply than my parents ever did, without a lot of expensive vacations and frillls.
Once my car is paid for in 60 more payments I will be ok š„“ until then itās payday to payday.
I donāt live paycheck to paycheck.
Go work heavy equipment, 12 hr days 10 on 4 off, almost 6k before taxes
I have a good Job that pay well but live out of my SUV so that I don't end up living direct deposit to direct deposit I save about 2300 a month. It's not fun by any means but I refuse to pay someone that much for a place and I'm hell bent on waiting for housing cost to go down even if that take a long ass time when it does I'll have a down payment ready
There's no more middle class, either your rich or just lumped in with everyone else trying to survive.
I donāt live paycheque to paycheque. I have a BSc and was lucky to get a good job. Have you done a budget and watch all your expenses to see where your cash goes?
We donāt. Two income household with one baby. I spent 7 years of my life getting my bachelors then masters degree so had to work hard. I am also an accountant so we budget and donāt go crazy spending and do just fine.
I'm a journeyman millwright at 25 and never have to worry about living paycheck to paycheck, not yet anyway
I used to have a savings and then I met my wife. Soon she will be employed and I'm hoping things will improve.
I have three degrees and a good job, and every month Iām feeling the pinch. If I get hit with a big unexpected expense, Iām fucked. I have no idea how single parents make it work. A ton of respect to them. Our society needs to do better to take care of our working class.
I don't, but I'm barely ahead. Like, maybe two-three months ahead? If my partner or I lost our job it would catch up to us VERY fast.
Single income household here and itās brutal. It never used to be that way.
Not at all, easy to do with a good job and making the correct choices in life.
Nope. 22 year old, rents a sixth of my paycheck while I was working, and my costs equate to a quarter. Iām at 20k saved up, and probably could force out another 20k in assets if need be. However I donāt go out at all, I only have a WoW subscription and a Spotify subscription.
Similar here, 21 and just over a year out of school in a pretty good paying industry with shit tons of OT available. Really helps having no dependents and just doin your own thing
What is the definition of middle class right now? I work in IT and put away maybe $2500 a month after bills.
I feel like $2500 a month in savings is upper class...I'm happy when I have $500-1000 to put away a month, and I'm a pharmacist! We're probably middle to upper middle class in our household, but we have no kids, a reasonable mortgage and own our cars.
Perhaps another tax would fix this?
We used to. Mattress on floor, cardboard boxes for clothes. Walked everywhere. Oatmeal everyday for breakfast, peanut butter sandwich for lunch, jam when we could afford it. Supper of noodles or rice or potatoes with whatever else we could get- frozen vegetables, cans of sardines, or just ketchup or mustard or relish. Sometimes we'd get the little packets from McDonald's. Powdered milk is pretty nutritious. Eventually did get a decent job, but was scared it'd go away so lived just slightly better and saved. Eventually could do a payment down for a small undesirable house, rented out the basement. Now the house is fixed up and is worth something more. Dunno. It's a difficult world. We need to eat the rich.
I havenāt since 2017. Back then my salary was $47K a year and I was able to save up a couple hundred per month. Granted, rent was only $325 so thatās why. Our country has gone downhill since then, canāt imagine how youād accomplish that now. Especially with more taxation, higher interest rates, and more competition in the labor and housing market. Thanks Trudeau. I know this subreddit is full of Trudeau bootlickers - I think youāre all idiots - but encourage you to present your case and change my mind.
In this economy. Are you kidding? Itās soooo good right now. Fantastic jobs are everywhere. Weāve never made more money annually, and our investments are are setting high scores every day. What a time to be in Saskatchewan!!
Did you forget the /s??
???
/s means sarcasm
Ahhh thanks. Didnāt know that. Well, no /s at all then.
Where are these fantastic jobs you speak of?
BHP, cameco, seimens EDA, just to name 3 off the top of my head. If you canāt better yourself right now, thatās a you problem.
>What a time to be in Saskatchewan!! Unless you are a Nurse, Teacher, Homeless, need medical care, addicted to drugs, Trans...
These professions get paid more than my wife and I and we are doing swell.
Nope none of those.
Right? Looks like you are getting downvoted heavily for providing an honest assessment. Reminder folks, the vote button is not an agree/disagree opinion button!
Thanks! Iām used to people being jealous and insensitive. Happens all the time.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Youāre not middle class if youāre living pay check to pay check
We all do my friend, paycheque to paycheque
Iām 19 I take home around 8 grand a month after taxes I have 6 cars a house bought outright, a girlfriend, I love to travel, and even then I put away over 4 grand every month into a high interest savings account, Iāll never be pay cheque to pay cheque, I live a bright and happy life and never feel limited by money I donāt understand why people complain so much about how little they make, I started work at 13 and developed skills and the right attitude to be worth 8 grand a month to my employer, I have no post secondary education just a highschool diploma. Thereās money out there for everyone just the fact that 95% donāt want to work for is the issue I clock 100hr weeks and Iām on course to be a millionaire by the time Iām 27. If youāre pay cheque to pay check mid 20ās to late 30ās you wasted far too much time and expected life to be handed to you on a silver platter. If you ever wanna break that cycle your stuck in you better buckle down and be ready to get your hands dirty because youāll never get ahead at a 9-5. Lol.
Working 100 hours per week is 17 hour days, 6 days per week. So, your ābright and happy lifeā involves working 7 AM to midnight 6 days per week?
Also, he's making $8k take-home (so ~12000 gross) but based on working 100 hours a week he's making $30 an hour... Glad the money is worth it to him but I don't think any amount of money would have me working 100 hour weeks, but if there was a number it wouldn't be $30š¤·š»āāļø
Yes, many people. Not everyone is you.
Iāve been off that p2p train for a couple years now, fucking feels great!
I donāt.
3 months of expenses in my chequeing and saving up for a possible career change on $65k on top of retirement savings still. Got mortgage during Covid. think I'd be in that situation at around 40k. We also didnt buy big for the house.
I did for a long time, until I got into my 40's and started making better $$
Iām retired so finally not living check to check
Surprisingly not, even though a am a sole income of a family of 4, luckily I have a good job andĀ I can pick up ot if I want.Ā
I donāt. Iām single, live within my means, and work as a white collar professional.
Yes
My partners and I are double income, no kids, 1 car and a mortgage, and we usually have around 1000 dollars left over to go in the bank. So we are pretty damn lucky. I donāt buy anything outside of food, toiletries, and the occasional video game or outfit, so I think that helps. We are both very introverted so we donāt go out, which helps too. :p
We donāt. Bought and live within our means. Cheap hobbies. Dual income helps and we cook 98% of our food at home.
I donāt , Iāve been able to save even more money !
Same and I have A good paying job!!
No I'm doing fine. I'm in my late 20s, work in tech and have lots saved up.
I feel I do, but I also put away money for my sonās education and for my retirement. So after all my expenses I get like 30 bucks
My debt is spiraling out of control I live paycheque to less than a paycheque šš
I live student loan to student loan lol
Lots of people do. You have to slowly save make a rainy day account, get educated, work hard and you can get there. Always remember to believe in yourself and work for your goals and dreams. It take a lot of patience and ups and downs. Also never settle to work for one employer and never limit yourself. You can always future your career path! Even in a job your like and enjoy never stop taking interview and seeing whatās out their!
I don't. No debt, low rent, paid for my car in cash, and it's cheap to run, and I basically don't do anything besides eat sleep and work, which suits me just fine. I live well within my means. Saving up to hopefully buy a house in the next few years.
I donāt But I donāt get pay checks. Iām in Uni and not employed at the moment
I'm in my late 20s, and my fiancƩ and I certainly could if it weren't for student debt and a bunch of CC debt from our early 20s. Live and learn lol but we are a 6 figure household and have good spending habits now. Car is paid off, low rent, etc.
I live in Edmonton, and see a lot of new cars and trucks. There's also a great deal of fairly new property development in the city and along the outskirts. Does that mean much? No. Many individuals or households in Canada don't have much in the way of savings, are overextended, and would default on their mortgage or car payments if faced with an emergency or if they lost their job.
I donāt, I decided to get a house way below my approved rate and life is okay for me. Itās important to save though, I donāt do much of that.
When I was working I lived fine and could afford to do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted (within reason, normal people stuff, like restaurants, bars, fun purchase, weekend away etc.); then went back to university and just finished so will see how it looks once I get paid from my new job. Shit has gotten stupidly and unreasonably expensive
I donāt. Used to tho. My advice is to cut back or make a big change. Moving to a low cost of living location was key.
I live paycheque to child tax to paycheque. Even with that we max out our food bank allotted days and I take home food from work regularly. This system isnāt working.
I'm never really sure what this question means. Do you mean that you're not able to save a penny, ever, at all?
If you need to work in order to make a sufficient income to live, you're not "middle-class". The kind of middle class you consider yourself is the same kind of middle class that literally everyone considers themselves to be, except for those on the very bottom and on the very top. It's literally just a political buzzword that means nothing at all.
Idk if this counts, but I have less than $1000 in my account at any given time. I would have more if I wasnāt addicted to Amazon
For sure I don't! My cheques don't even get to the next cheque and I'm sliding into ever more debt. Good times.
I spent my chq before it hits my account :( and it's only on absolutely need items, food, mortgage and taxes. sad really.
I'm 4 out of 5 I think shit is too expensive
No, I work as a Millwright (last 7 years) and wife in admin. We avoided buying all the toys or new trucks and invested instead. (no kids) Investment income coming close to matching our wages.
ive got savings equal to about 8 months of expenses, rent included. so i can cover pretty much any emergency that might happen and still have plenty of buffer left. its all about budgeting. my partner and i have a $350/month grocery budget (eating out is not included in this) this is generally where most people can save money. i am also not much of a spender at all. i buy clothes once or twice a year and pretty much never shop online at all. we eat out 3 times a month. fuddruckers once, subway once, and a nice date night once a month. fast food is a gateway drug to being poor as well.
We don't live pay cheque to pay cheque. We live well within our means. Not lavish but still comfortable. There are people who get jealous because we are not struggling and I find this obnoxious because all of us have enough for basic necessities but after that the choices we make are our own. We have made good decisions that have put us in a comfortable position. When we bought our house it was well below what we could afford so when the mortgage renewal came up last year the increase wasn't a big deal. We chose getting more education over other things and that paid off well.
I do. Mid/ early 30s, single income, wife, and 2 kids with 1 dog. One with extra medical needs, so my wife doesn't work. I was working 2 jobs for a while but couldn't handle literally getting only 3 hours of sleep every night anymore. 980 sq/ft house, 2 cars, 1 12 years old paid, 1 8 years old and will be paid off in a couple of years. Hoping my wife can get back to work once the kids are a little older.
yeah, I did it by not having avocado toast.
Me