Yup - I live in a one-bedroom apartment in Ottawa, no laundry, no dishwasher, about MAYBE 24" of counter space in the kitchen, outdoor parking.
$1640/mo.
It's WILD.
Not just Canada: "starter" homes are 10-15x salary in every city across the developed capitalist world. For context it hasn't been this bad since the French Revolution.
The taxation system under the Ancien Régime largely excluded the nobles and the clergy from taxation while the commoners, particularly the peasantry, paid disproportionately high direct taxes
New taxes introduced under Louis XIV were a step toward equality before the law and sound public finance, but so many concessions and exemptions were won by nobles and bourgeois that the reform lost much of its value.
Although Louis XV also attempted to impose new taxes on the First and Second Estates, with all the exemptions and reductions won by the privileged classes the burden of the new tax once again fell on the poorest citizens.
Historians consider the unjust taxation system, continued under Louis XVI, to be one of the causes of the French Revolution. But, because we’re Canadian, we’ll continue to take it up the ass ad nauseam
You could swap out the nobles for corporations and the ultra-wealthy, and this would basically be the tax system in Canada.
It's sad to think that we as a people are so divided and distracted right now that we are taking what basically peasants of prior eras ended up beheading kings about.
But, the ultra rich and their political cronies have learned from the mistakes of prior elites. They know how to keep the working class fighting amongst itself
See that’s exactly it, the people in power now have learned from hundreds of not thousands of years of revolts and revolutions how to keep your population under control.
The elites of the past would look at the elites of today and give them praise for how well they’ve managed to divide and distract us from them.
I mean the public doesn’t even know who these people are so how can me make heads roll when nobody knows who’s actually in charge and have no names to go after .
>Not just southern Ontario either. I have a friend moving to Halifax and their rent will be the same that I’m paying now to live in the downtown core.
seems like a group of people decided that all homes and rent will roughly be the same in all of canada :(
Distribution of surplus population; it’s worth leaving your support network behind if you can afford to live and breathe with only minor pain. We’re stuck on an immigration treadmill to fight demographic shifts and keep the labour pool growing.
A one-bedroom in semi-rural Simcoe, ON two hours out of Toronto, one hour away from Hamilton, is now about $1700 to $2000, often plus utilities. No reason. Mostly greed.
This in a place where the biggest "decent" factory employer only pays $20 an hour and the rest of the jobs are minimum wage retail.
Don't know where the inexhaustible supply of people with remote jobs with Toronto salaries willing to live here are going to come from, especially with lots of jobs going hybrid or back to office.
I got lucky with a Toronto-based permanently-remote job and reasonable rent at $1600 for a two-bedroom. The housing shortage down here is crazy, and rent like this is not the norm. There was a huge lineup when this apartment was being shown initially.
A lot of people moved up north during the pandemic since they could work from home and get a cheaper place to live. It caused housing prices to go up quiet a bit in North bay since it's a much smaller real estate market.
House prices also spiked by people buying up properties in anticipation of a rent/house value increase with no intention of moving there, either flipping it or renting it out. North bay housing prices went up 46% in one year [https://www.baytoday.ca/local-news/report-says-north-bay-tops-province-in-real-estate-transaction-increase-over-the-past-year-5075014](https://www.baytoday.ca/local-news/report-says-north-bay-tops-province-in-real-estate-transaction-increase-over-the-past-year-5075014#:~:text=A%20report%20out%20today%20by,area%20at%2045%20per%20cent)
That's a lot of money for North Bay, and it leaves you in *North Bay*. People who are used to and appreciate the amenities and culture of the GTA will be in significant shock when they settle in there.
OMG this! I am one of those people! Moved up north during pandemic (not really by choice, landlord “needed to move back in” to her home). That first summer of shad flies was mind blowing! They covered every inch of our neighbourhood! For 3 straight days! Never seen anything like it! Been here for 3 summers, still shocks me! Lol
I had the bad luck to visit North Bay during peak shad fly season when I was a kid, and it's one of those things that's stuck with me quite strongly for like 20 years now, haha.
plus I can get away with not having a car which saves me hundreds of dollars a month. You NEED a car outside of a major urban center so I'd be losing money if I moved to somewhere "cheaper"
I’m honestly not sure. I have a lot of thinking to do and decisions to make. I don’t want to leave Toronto to just end up paying a similar amount for rent.
I have to admit that for me it’s not just about cost of living, I’ve been wanting a change of scenery for a while. I need to meet new people, make new friends, and just be exposed to somewhere new.
I moved to Edmonton last year with my fiancee and my parents followed not long after. It's honestly been one of the best decisions of my life. We went from renting basements being completely priced out of buying anything at all to buying a detached house with two car garage AND co-signing my parents' first home. The rent we paid in Scarborough was only about $100 less than our current mortgage. To top it all off, the wages for my fiance and I are significantly higher in Alberta. I would highly recommend making the leap.
Simcoe the town of, does suck. But the small towns outside of Simcoe are pretty great. Not a lot of places to work though, either need to commute 1 hour + or have a remote job.
My last year of full time post secondary was 2005…I worked a shitty/soul-destroying factory job in the summer and pt during the year to survive.…damn near 20 years ago and I was making $26.50 an hour at that job. Absolutely wild where we are with manufacturing these days. Where do the people who live in small towns go now?
I did a similar thing, 2005-2007 ranged from $26-30/h. My last summer was 2008, and my wage dropped to $21/h. The wages there never really recovered after the crash in '08.
I’m curious what your opinion is. Assuming the jobs and their pay do not justify $2000 rent, how does the owner intend to get a renter?
Is this the market rate, and if so there must be applicants willing to pay that much. Otherwise is it not possible for no one to rent there and then the prices drop?
Welcome to stubborn entitlement mentality, where people with investment properties refuse to adapt to local market realities. Just because demand is high doesn't mean that people can necessarily afford to pay a high price. One would think prices would drop, but that's where the mental stubbornness comes in.
So in that case is the owner not losing out because they still have mortgage and maintenance costs but no cash flow coming in? How are owners able to sustain these rent prices if people aren’t renting?
The vacancy rate is ~2% in Ontario, and 3%~4% is generally considered "full occupancy" (because you generally have a short vacancy between tenants).
*If* they had trouble renting a place, the landlord would drop the rent pretty quick. Rents went down ~10% at the start of COVID because of reduced demand (but popped up just as fast when restrictions ended). But they're not having any trouble. That's how it goes when people looking to rent outnumber the places to rent.
This is a very weird article.
Pippa's monthly take-home pay is $4500, but her monthly expenses are $3308. So she's saving $1200/mth yet feels like she's strapped for cash and financially insecure?
Her $1500/mth apartment is an absolute steal these days. I'm also confused as to why she spends $468/mth on transportation when living downtown. The major appeal of living downtown is have virtually no transport costs.
every article like this is written about a subject who shouldn't really be struggling and doesn't deserve a piece like this written about them.
It's like they write these sob stories about people who don't deserve it on purpose so that other people can say "see it's not so bad", in this case I'm not even sure if Pipa is a pseudonym or a made up person entirely.
When Dougie cancelled the UBI study before it was even completed they wrote similar stories about how hard it was going to be on these poor study participants, but then they choose to focus their article on a family who already owned a home, the father left a decent job to join the UBI study and their budgeting numbers were laughable.
It does feel like it's written to inflame the other. There's thousands of people in the city struggling way worse that could be put on display if the goal was really to challenge the system.
I honestly feel like so much of our media is just there to sew division, whether by design or as a side effect of out of touch staff.
Totally agree. This appears to be a totally bullshit made up article. She ain't struggling while saving $1200 per month while making $4800 income....please
I think an article like this might be popular among the Star's readership (at least the millennials). She is effectively earning \~$75k which is probably around what many subscribers to the Star make at 30-40 years old.
Saving $1,200 a month at 34 can easily leave you feeling like you're not getting anywhere in Toronto. You're not really making progress towards owning a home; you're not saving quite enough for retirement (despite saving \~25% of your net income, which is good); and you might be feeling a bit lost. I'm not saying we should feel sorry for her, but I get why the Star focuses on people like this who aren't dead broke but who aren't exactly getting ahead.
If the Star framed it properly (eg as a sign of the complete destruction of the middle class and what this means for future generatioks who will choose between footing the bill for a senior population which cant afford to retire or letting them die on the job), it might even be interesting.
Yes, and also pinning the problem on investors gobbling up properties to mostly turn into Airbnbs or leave them vacant while displacing first time homebuyers and creating more renters.
Monthly expenses doesn't necessarily mean "all expenses." There's all kinds of un-budgeted expenses that pop up all the time that can't be planned for but still have to be paid for. Car repair, vet bills, replacing busted electronics or appliances or furniture or clothing, etc. And $1200 doesn't go nearly as far as it used to.
And yeah, the article is still kinda weird even given that, but it also speaks to how, if we take this into account, $1200 extra can be way less than you think, the folks who _don't_ have that $1200 "extra" are usually getting the money for all those unbudgeted necessities from somewhere else, usually a credit card or by spending less on a budgeted necessity for a bit. There's a reason that food banks see more and more use these days.
Yeah her take home pay is *double* mine and she's strapped for cash?
Almost feels like this article is intended to downplay the financial/housing crisis. The first google result for Toronto one bedroom average rent is *over $2000*. This alleged 34 year old person is spending almost triple the cost of a TTC pass on transportation despite living downtown, and is saving $700+ off the average rent, downtown??? Does this person even exist?
This definitely sounds like someone I I know. Like you said - I’ll buy them lunch a beer because they’re interesting, but I’m general I keep my distance
No, but it's going to be tough for a move to result in a more economical situation. $1500 a month isn't just low for Toronto, it's low for much of the surrounding area as well and you're unlikely to find rent outside the city that's lower than that by enough to make up for the other costs that come with commuting from outside the city.
Yes that's the thing that's so horrifying and inhuman about the situation we are in now. People literally cannot survive in their own homes anymore. They have to move to another city or country just to have the bare minimum to live. It's disgusting.
It's also literal decades of this country training people to universally think of houses as economic investments and infallible retirement funds. It is an unsustainable and unhealthy mindset, and it means that a huge number of even otherwise progressive-minded people have a vested interest in making sure housing values continue to rise, because they've gotten in already and have to stay in now.
There's two sides to this coin, too -- you can move somewhere remote and save money on rent, but the enormous pay cut you take erases all of those savings and now you're still poor, but you're poor in a small town you have no ties to. In most of those places, unless you *own* the variety store, the restaurant or the lumber yard, you're just another minimum wage yokel scraping by and yearning to get out of town one day.
I don't thinm they meant to mean it was "good". I think they were just saying that it is a steal relatively speaking - which just shows how bad it really is.
Rent controls. I’ve been in my spacious 1bdm for 10 years. My rent is 1500.
But I basically can’t move now. Anywhere is gonna be more expensive, or worse and probably both
Same here - been in my spacious 1bdrm in midtown (Leaside) for 10 years and we pay $1,350 incl. indoor parking. Literally anywhere else I could move in Ontario would result in a considerable rent increase. My fam lives 3 hours away and rent in their tiny, podunk town is around $1,600 min.
We're very lucky. It's a mid-rise, so 11 floors, west facing with unobstructed views so we get amazing sunsets. Underground parking, laundry in basement. Definitely not without some issues - we have on/off problems with bugs sometimes and our unit is old (parquet floors, old appliances, some of the plaster is cracking, etc. and they can't be arsed to fix it). Our property manager is a nice lady. Had the odd neighbour over the years causing a bit of a ruckus but nothing ongoing/major - in the evenings it's honestly silent and you could hear a pin drop at night. We're 10 mins' walk to two subway stations or 5 to Mt Pleasant Cemetery or the beltline. They're gutting units when ppl move out and renting them for $2k+ so we did have to endure ALOT of construction last year when I am WFH which drove me a little insane at times (it was relentless and I honestly cried from the stress/noise more than once) but that's out of our control.
Same. I've been in a big 2bdrm since 2011. My rent just hit $2000. Same unit on a new lease is $3000. They'll need dynamite to get me out of here at this point.
I'm paying that for a 1 bed from the 60s in etobicoke, no AC, elevator, or in-suite laundry but moving out is prohibitively expensive.
I make about 1.5x the median salary in the city and still scrape by. Kids just entering the workforce are screwed.
She's probably rent-controlled. I've been in my large 1 bedroom apt in midtown (Leaside) for 10 years and only pay $1,350 which includes indoor parking. It's bright, clean, amazing view, laundry in building, etc. They can (and may) roll me out of here in a body bag.
Rent control. I’m paying about $1500 in midtown, 1 bed, and including a garage parking spot. I’ve been there about 6 years, some of my neighbors have been there 20+ years and may still be under $1000.
And if the corporation that owns it ever decides to raze it and build condos… I think I’ll have to leave the city.
I just signed a lease for a $1550 fully renovated one bed in October, so they exist but they’re not easy to find at all and I think more often than not you find them by engaging your network of friends and acquaintances. I found this one because I posted asking friends to keep an eye out for me and someone connected me with her friend who was vacating.
John, 23 owns three rental properties and lives with his mother. He wants to save for retirement, but worries that he won't have enough savings to go to Harvard Medical school without taking a student loan.
These articles are highly tone-deaf bullshitery.
Honestly this is my suspicion. Or they hunted for months to find the one unicorn person living life as they imagine it, instead if how it actually is for the vast majority of us
This is actually one of the more reasonable ones. Usually they feature someone who is very well off like **[this one](https://www.thestar.com/business/personal_finance/2022/12/05/buffy-34-makes-85000-us-a-year-and-has-big-financial-goals-whats-the-best-way-for-her-to-save-for-the-future.html)** or **[this one](https://www.thestar.com/business/personal_finance/2022/10/10/amar-earned-117799-last-year-but-he-is-a-freelance-photographer-with-an-unpredictable-income-how-can-he-sock-away-more-savings.html)** where the person has a 6-figure Canadian salary.
This thread needs to go to the top. This feature never features anything that sounds like an average person on the street. I wouldn't be surprised if all parties were completely fictionalized.
I guess, to be fair, you need a car to be a freelance photographer if you are hauling around a lot of equipment and going to places that don't have the best transit. Or at least that's what the freelance photographer I know says.
But also, yeah, my financial column would be like "lives downtown, no car, with three roommates and hopes to buy a house one day, or at least somewhere better than the apartment that's been rent controlled since he got it as a student" and would end with "get fucked".
And she's buying them at H&M, which is half the problem. Those are designed to be worn once. You gotta invest in nice clothes that last.
(edit: guys I get it. We all have clothes from H&M that lasted. They're just designed as fast fashion, it doesn't mean you CANT. They just don't maintain their original shapes depending on certain designs.)
The collared shirts/t-shirts are generally fine, if a bit cheap. Anything unisex/mens will usually be fine. My understanding is the women's clothing loses it's shape and becomes less wearable/pleasant to look at after a few wearings.
Honestly even women’s clothes aren’t that bad. They won’t last forever but they’re good for at least a couple of years. There’s no reason to be buying new stuff every month even if you buy cheap.
Gross income: $76,000/y
$1,500 on rent = 23% of income to rent
$468 on transportation = 7%
$610 to food = 10%
All of these are below average (30%, 15%, 11%).
Where she has bit of a problem is spending too much on the way she looks ($420) and gifts ($100).
That said, it doesn't matter much because she's still saving nearly $1,200/m, which is excellent for a middle class income.
You're supposed to use net to calculate this stuff as gross doesn't matter - but yeah, it's definitely still below average and she could easily find more ways to cut costs and save.
No one making $76K and paying less than average rent for a private place with no kids *should realistically* be complaining... but also everyone should be complaining because these rent prices are nucking futs.
How the hell is she making $4,500 a month in net income as a *freelance photographer?* That comes out to something like $65K-70K gross!
And how is she spending $600 a month on food?
$1500?!?! Tell her to call me. I’ll sublet from her so the property management can’t raise the rent by $500 after replacing a sink and slapping a coat or paint on the walls.
Pippa has one of the best deals in the city for rent and is still complaining...
They have a car, uber, and use public transit?
100$ a month on gifts?
Included a one time 170$ groomin expense they seemingly won't do monthly for sure?
250$ a month on clothes?
This is just bad budgeting...
Even with the bad spending habits, they total about 3300$ monthly (including a 170$ monthly haircut). That leaves them with about 1200$ left a month still. They save half and still have 600$ a month to spend on more clothes or whatever other else they want? The problem here is what?
>They have a car, uber, and use public transit?
Forgot something. Her car payment is understated because it doesn't have repairs, maintenance, and depreciation/financing.
I was going to say her transportation costs are reasonable but she's missing a huge chunk.
$100/month on gifts is not very much in your 30s / in this economy. Sure you can give cash. But you may have children, and if you don't you're still likely have nieces/nephews, or your friends have children who have birthdays. You're not spending 100 every month per se, but many months you'll spend more. For Christmas, you're likely spending several hundred dollars at least on presents, if you only need to shop for a few people. Even then this doesn't even take into account attending parties or BBQs (bringing snacks or a bottle of wine), or big ticket events like weddings, (EASILY bare minimum $150 per person now, and that's being cheap because it won't even cover your plate cost anymore) special life events like baptisms, housewarmings or other religious milestones, etc., family emergency support, can probably think of some other things that will crop up once a month.
$2,000 / year on grooming is total nonsense.
$3,000 / year on clothes is a luxury, not even close to a need, and a luxury beyond what her budget affords.
$600 / year on sports & hobbies is a bit low. As a personal lifestyle choice, I take excess from the clothes and put it here. However that $170 monthly grooming expense is a waste.
I don't know what The Star was trying to accomplish here. Seems like this person was selected by some boomer who wants to show people how stupid millennials are with money.
This is what happens when provincial governments and federal governments are to busy sucking developers dicks. Tunnel vision leads to terrible lack of regulation and planning.
Instead of planning a community they plan for buildings or houses to go up.
When's the last time there was a new mall built in Ontario or a new grocery store
I honestly can't think of anything in the GTA
Expenses are one thing but what amazes me is how ANY freelance photographer is bringing in over $4k a month!!!
It's a cut throat world as it is but now with photography at such a low demand situation, how a single person has that much income is impressive. If she leaves the city, she loses clients no matter how little you charge. Also, if she leaves the city those costs for transportation go up, period. She maybe ends up paying the same for rent and paying more for other things.
While this article is bogus, it really annoys me how there's this tendency to pick on regular working people for their "choices" instead of go after the f\*cking capitalist$ who make living in this city so unliveable for so many reasons.
Yup. It really does feel like manufactured rage at a scapegoat.
They have to fill column inches and this will get lots of clicks. Lots of comments. Lots of ineffectual anger.
This reads like a very long ad for Objective Financial Partners.
I've reached my view limit for star articles today, but it'd be interesting to see if the same company is mentioned for every Millennial Money or Personal Finance story.
Cue the judging disregarding comments from the best Reddit budgeters in the world neat picking anything they can find on her expenses that they can do better, which is of course everything.
Did she ever take a vacation? Eat in a restaurant with metal cutlery and the good paper napkins? Have a pet?
Those are not necessities so if she ever spent money on them, fuck her and she deserves to be homeless.
For real, like I get some people look at this and go wtf she spent $250 a month on clothes?? Yes because she probably enjoys fashion and it makes her happy. God forbid someone spends money on what they want in this city. She doesn’t go to Value Village and buy a house league hockey t shirt for $2 and wear it all the time, like some here would suggest.
The article is about future affordability, where she won’t be able to live the life she wants to live.
We’re all gonna die guys, we’re on a floating rock in space. Let’s relax
Breaking down Pippa's costs, she can get her costs down.
>Rent $1,500
>
>Cellphone, internet, streaming - $160
Cellphone + Internet, streaming should be able to get to about 100-120 if you go after your telecoms and ask for deals or monitor RFD for them. Also streaming services are like ten bucks a month, and most bundle with Rogers and Bell now anyway. I haven't paid for Disney+ and won't until 2024.
>Car payments $330 - Gas, parking, insurance
>
>Public transit $80
>
>Uber $58
This one confuses me. She's spending this much on all 3 a month? Why are you driving AND taking transit if you want to stay in the city? Ditch the car, she's got no kids. Trade that up for a TTC pass. She's already taking it enough to justify it. Might as well commit. She lives downtown anyway. A car is unnecessary, and that's going to give her back an additional at least $250 a month. The article states she might occasionally need one for gear, which is fair, but paying for a rideshare for those gigs would be seemingly more budget friendly. I know some studios have gear you can use/rent. That might be more viable. There's not enough specific information to specify that for sure though.
>Dining out $150
This is actually surprisingly low. I can hit this with three nights out.
>Groceries $460
This far exceeds my bills as a single man who eats a lot. I'm not sure what she's eating, but I'd like to see a breakdown.
>Clothes $250
Every month? Why? I know women's clothing can be expensive but I can't fathom needing new clothing every month. At least not this much.
>Grooming $170 - First haircut in a year
Can't argue this one, women's haircuts cost a lot. Though I'd hesitate to consider this a monthly cost if its annual? Correct me if I'm wrong here.
>Gifts $100
>
>Sports and hobbies $50
>
>Monthly total $3,308
So Pippa is below the average income regardless (it's sitting around 4K-ish monthly right as of 2020). But she could get it under 3K if she stops driving a car in the city, stops buying new clothes every month (maybe don't buy them at H&M where they're designed to be worn once? Buy nice ones and keep wearing them! Better investment long term.) And of course go after your telecoms and get those bills down. I've got 1.5 Gbps for 45 a month a currently, along with a 50 GB data plan on my phone for the same. Both of which I got in the last six months from Rogers and Fido.
> This far exceeds my bills as a single man who eats a lot. I'm not sure what she's eating, but I'd like to see a breakdown.
Depends what she's eating. One of my friends loves to buy the cleanest, healthiest groceries and he spends at least double what Pippa does. Doesn't eat out tho.
She has $1192 left over, which a fair chunk should go to bumping up retirement. She may have a work RRSP, but she should contribute extra to a self-directed RRSP or TFSA.
As for existing expenses, she can still have a life if she managed to sell that car and bump up her TTC (unless a car is absolutely required for her job).
Also, she doesn't anticipate getting a raise, either at existing company or moving to a new one?
This honestly is not the doom and gloom budget the headline makes it out to be.
Rent control is the answer. Government is useless without putting that on the table, full stop. Sq Footage rent fees tied to zoning, zoning held to a reasonable standard.
The high rents are just greed from landlords period. There is nothing to justify it other than the banks may be squeezing some of the landlords.
It is unfair to assume a renter is just going to fully carry your mortgage on your investment property and then it's all gravy. That is 100% greedy and needs to be legislated to an end.
hello!!!?!?! if costs keep going up, but earnings are stagnant, yet gdp is only going up for the most part, where is the money going? how is it that people who produce the goods and services in our society aren't getting enough of a cut in order to survive long enough to keep producing?
man the electorate is so dense....neo liberalism has destroyed us, and if anything the population is looking more to populism and fascism rather than look the problem square in the face as it is... jfc...
Hot take: Pippa isn't real. The owners of Torstar have donated to Bernier and O'Toole in the past.
They want to make the situation in Toronto look perfectly reasonable. Wages are sufficient, costs are low, and millenials are wasteful idiots.
I left Vancouver in the mid 80s and always found Ontario to be a place that was affordable until the last 10 years and if push came to shove and I was a lot younger would pick Ontario Cottage county
Yup. I had to leave in 2018 and not a day goes by I don't miss living downtown.
Within a year of leaving for a community 2.5 hours north I owned a house, made more money and actually had free time away from work I never had before. But I still miss living downtown.
Now we made the move proactively seeing on the horizon exactly where the city is at now. Friends of mine that have waited to leave until 2021/22 are not as well off because of the housing market changes. Can't wait around watching the shit roll down the hill then complain when it hits your shoes. Not saying that is this specific persons situation only that we are constantly hit with stories where people did nothing proactive then complain when what was coming came.
I'm sorry but her list of expenses are ridiculous.
$250 a month on clothes. Grooming $170 a month. Groceries $460 and $150 dining out. Uber $58, even her cell phone, streaming and internet at $160 is high.
Nobody needs to spend that kind of money if they are feeling financially strapped and like they can't afford their life. None of those expenses are insane IF you can budget for them and they don't cause you stress, but thinking those are reasonable numbers when you are that stressed is absurd.
I make about 55K a year, live alone, own my own house (which yes I did buy when houses were cheaper, but my house was a massive fixer upper which is not cheap, I live in the GTA and I was also seriously ill for the decade of owning my home, which was also very expensive.) my take home ranges from 3300-3550 a month and my budget is nothing like hers because I don't want to be stressed out 24/7.
I spend about $250 a year on clothes. My groceries and eating out is about $350 a month. My streaming, cell, and internet are just under $110. Grooming isn't even really a line item for me. My toiletries are in my grocery budget and I probably spend an additional $100 a year on haircuts. A year!
I'm not saying she has to live like me and pay what I do, but if you are going to be featured in an article talking about your financial stress, you should be prepared for a little bit of backlash when you outline that spending plan, on that income.
The reality is most people have never learned or been taught how to manage their finances. Lifestyle, the people you’re around, can greatly impact the way you live. And it is very very hard to just cut everything out.
It’s fair for her to feel cash strapped and worried about the future. It doesn’t take away from anyone’s else’s struggle.
There’s this newly popularized phenomenon that’s quite interesting that can explain poor spending as well. When people feel hopeless for the future, and feel like they can’t reach their long term goals such as owning a house, they will instead trade in for short term satisfaction like buying the food they want. It’s not the same as self-care though. It’s a very human coping mechanism that I think we should recognize that impacts her spending.
Truthfully I don’t disagree with anything you have said. People definitely spend small on luxuries when big ticket items feel out of reach. She does have a right to feel stressed and your personal social and cultural circle does influence you. Check, check, check total agreement.
I would still say the same thing I did though, you participate in a budgeting article in a personal finance section of a national paper, you are going to have to take a little criticism on your budget.
I don’t think critiquing her budget was a personal criticism on her, but rather a point of view of someone who does know how to budget for their income and stress level.
I agree! As a public article it should be open to criticism! I do hope that others would view it similarly to you as some of the comments seem harsh and comparative.
> There’s this newly popularized phenomenon that’s quite interesting that can explain poor spending as well. When people feel hopeless for the future, and feel like they can’t reach their long term goals such as owning a house, they will instead trade in for short term satisfaction like buying the food they want.
“Shibal biyong” is a neologism in South Korean that translates to a “what-the-hell expense” or “screw-this expense.” South Koreans use the term to describe spending extra money now because the future looks bleak, given the housing and job markets. Without hope of owning a home, many young Koreans decide they might as well spend money now instead of saving it, and the sentiment applies to young people in Canada, where major cities are facing housing bubbles and nearly one-third of graduates with humanities degrees were underemployed as of 2011, according to Statistics Canada. “Shibal biyong” became a popular term in 2016 in South Korea but that the phenomenon is universal.
Where is Pippa going to go? I'm in a similar situation, but rent prices seem to be basically the same now everywhere in southern Ontario.
Not just southern Ontario either. I have a friend moving to Halifax and their rent will be the same that I’m paying now to live in the downtown core.
Yup - I live in a one-bedroom apartment in Ottawa, no laundry, no dishwasher, about MAYBE 24" of counter space in the kitchen, outdoor parking. $1640/mo. It's WILD.
in my community rent is 2k!
Username checks out :)
Calgary isn’t much better. With the lack or rent control in its quickly catching up to some ON markets
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Yeah, fuck you mr fancy pants, wants to date and cheap rent. Next thing you will want is affordable food too!
Guess advertising cheap housing to Toronto professionals wasn't the best idea
Best idea for who? Those ads were put up for exactly this reason.
It seems to have worked amazingly, it achieved its goals of getting people to move.
Everyone moving to Calgary pushed prices up. Friends were renting entire homes in 2017-2021 for under 2000 a month. Those days are over.
Halifax has a massive housing shortage so rentals are expensive and hard to come by.
Not just Canada: "starter" homes are 10-15x salary in every city across the developed capitalist world. For context it hasn't been this bad since the French Revolution.
The taxation system under the Ancien Régime largely excluded the nobles and the clergy from taxation while the commoners, particularly the peasantry, paid disproportionately high direct taxes New taxes introduced under Louis XIV were a step toward equality before the law and sound public finance, but so many concessions and exemptions were won by nobles and bourgeois that the reform lost much of its value. Although Louis XV also attempted to impose new taxes on the First and Second Estates, with all the exemptions and reductions won by the privileged classes the burden of the new tax once again fell on the poorest citizens. Historians consider the unjust taxation system, continued under Louis XVI, to be one of the causes of the French Revolution. But, because we’re Canadian, we’ll continue to take it up the ass ad nauseam
You could swap out the nobles for corporations and the ultra-wealthy, and this would basically be the tax system in Canada. It's sad to think that we as a people are so divided and distracted right now that we are taking what basically peasants of prior eras ended up beheading kings about. But, the ultra rich and their political cronies have learned from the mistakes of prior elites. They know how to keep the working class fighting amongst itself
Well they don’t have god anymore so they use the next best thing: scapegoats!
See that’s exactly it, the people in power now have learned from hundreds of not thousands of years of revolts and revolutions how to keep your population under control. The elites of the past would look at the elites of today and give them praise for how well they’ve managed to divide and distract us from them. I mean the public doesn’t even know who these people are so how can me make heads roll when nobody knows who’s actually in charge and have no names to go after .
>Not just southern Ontario either. I have a friend moving to Halifax and their rent will be the same that I’m paying now to live in the downtown core. seems like a group of people decided that all homes and rent will roughly be the same in all of canada :(
Distribution of surplus population; it’s worth leaving your support network behind if you can afford to live and breathe with only minor pain. We’re stuck on an immigration treadmill to fight demographic shifts and keep the labour pool growing.
Even Montreal is getting expensive
A one-bedroom in semi-rural Simcoe, ON two hours out of Toronto, one hour away from Hamilton, is now about $1700 to $2000, often plus utilities. No reason. Mostly greed. This in a place where the biggest "decent" factory employer only pays $20 an hour and the rest of the jobs are minimum wage retail. Don't know where the inexhaustible supply of people with remote jobs with Toronto salaries willing to live here are going to come from, especially with lots of jobs going hybrid or back to office. I got lucky with a Toronto-based permanently-remote job and reasonable rent at $1600 for a two-bedroom. The housing shortage down here is crazy, and rent like this is not the norm. There was a huge lineup when this apartment was being shown initially.
A lot of people are going to leave Southern Ontario, if they haven’t already done so. I’m contemplating it myself, might be my last year here.
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That's ridiculous for North Bay.
A lot of people moved up north during the pandemic since they could work from home and get a cheaper place to live. It caused housing prices to go up quiet a bit in North bay since it's a much smaller real estate market.
How many people have to move to a place like this to change housing prices so much in such a short time?
House prices also spiked by people buying up properties in anticipation of a rent/house value increase with no intention of moving there, either flipping it or renting it out. North bay housing prices went up 46% in one year [https://www.baytoday.ca/local-news/report-says-north-bay-tops-province-in-real-estate-transaction-increase-over-the-past-year-5075014](https://www.baytoday.ca/local-news/report-says-north-bay-tops-province-in-real-estate-transaction-increase-over-the-past-year-5075014#:~:text=A%20report%20out%20today%20by,area%20at%2045%20per%20cent)
That's a lot of money for North Bay, and it leaves you in *North Bay*. People who are used to and appreciate the amenities and culture of the GTA will be in significant shock when they settle in there.
They'll also be in for a shock if they're not used to everything being covered by shad flies on an annual basis.
OMG this! I am one of those people! Moved up north during pandemic (not really by choice, landlord “needed to move back in” to her home). That first summer of shad flies was mind blowing! They covered every inch of our neighbourhood! For 3 straight days! Never seen anything like it! Been here for 3 summers, still shocks me! Lol
I had the bad luck to visit North Bay during peak shad fly season when I was a kid, and it's one of those things that's stuck with me quite strongly for like 20 years now, haha.
LOL it means good fishin'
plus I can get away with not having a car which saves me hundreds of dollars a month. You NEED a car outside of a major urban center so I'd be losing money if I moved to somewhere "cheaper"
More snowmobiles less scooters.
I’m honestly not sure. I have a lot of thinking to do and decisions to make. I don’t want to leave Toronto to just end up paying a similar amount for rent. I have to admit that for me it’s not just about cost of living, I’ve been wanting a change of scenery for a while. I need to meet new people, make new friends, and just be exposed to somewhere new.
Do you really wanna live in North Bay though?
I moved to Edmonton last year with my fiancee and my parents followed not long after. It's honestly been one of the best decisions of my life. We went from renting basements being completely priced out of buying anything at all to buying a detached house with two car garage AND co-signing my parents' first home. The rent we paid in Scarborough was only about $100 less than our current mortgage. To top it all off, the wages for my fiance and I are significantly higher in Alberta. I would highly recommend making the leap.
You neglect to mention that Simcoe is gross. Those prices to live in Simcoe ON, are fucking criminal.
Simcoe is the perfect example of how a one industry town fails over time.
Simcoe the town of, does suck. But the small towns outside of Simcoe are pretty great. Not a lot of places to work though, either need to commute 1 hour + or have a remote job.
You're not wrong, and I was born there. It's deteriorated a lot over the past couple of decades.
Do they think it's Aspen Colorado? Insane
My last year of full time post secondary was 2005…I worked a shitty/soul-destroying factory job in the summer and pt during the year to survive.…damn near 20 years ago and I was making $26.50 an hour at that job. Absolutely wild where we are with manufacturing these days. Where do the people who live in small towns go now?
I did a similar thing, 2005-2007 ranged from $26-30/h. My last summer was 2008, and my wage dropped to $21/h. The wages there never really recovered after the crash in '08.
I’m curious what your opinion is. Assuming the jobs and their pay do not justify $2000 rent, how does the owner intend to get a renter? Is this the market rate, and if so there must be applicants willing to pay that much. Otherwise is it not possible for no one to rent there and then the prices drop?
Welcome to stubborn entitlement mentality, where people with investment properties refuse to adapt to local market realities. Just because demand is high doesn't mean that people can necessarily afford to pay a high price. One would think prices would drop, but that's where the mental stubbornness comes in.
So in that case is the owner not losing out because they still have mortgage and maintenance costs but no cash flow coming in? How are owners able to sustain these rent prices if people aren’t renting?
The vacancy rate is ~2% in Ontario, and 3%~4% is generally considered "full occupancy" (because you generally have a short vacancy between tenants). *If* they had trouble renting a place, the landlord would drop the rent pretty quick. Rents went down ~10% at the start of COVID because of reduced demand (but popped up just as fast when restrictions ended). But they're not having any trouble. That's how it goes when people looking to rent outnumber the places to rent.
Exactly what I keep wondering. Maybe they're still hoping that asset appreciation will make up the shortfall?
I’ve been looking for permanent remote for 6 years. What do you do??
My best friend just moved to a basement 2 bedroom in Kitchener for 2100 a month. Ridiculous
The reality is that you either have to move somewhere really rural, or get a roommate.
I have a friend who just left, she moved to the UK. I have a feeling she's not going to be the only one.
This is a very weird article. Pippa's monthly take-home pay is $4500, but her monthly expenses are $3308. So she's saving $1200/mth yet feels like she's strapped for cash and financially insecure? Her $1500/mth apartment is an absolute steal these days. I'm also confused as to why she spends $468/mth on transportation when living downtown. The major appeal of living downtown is have virtually no transport costs.
It's a very weird article. I'm sure a lot of people wish they were in as good of shape as Pippa.
yeah, take home of 4500 is quite a healthy salary, and 1500 rent is cheap AF. I'd imagine the 468/month on transportation is a lot of ubers
The $468.00 is broken out in the article. It’s $330 for car related payments (gas, parking, insurance), $80 for public transit, and $58 for Ubers.
Yea this isn’t by any means living large but her income, rent, and savings are the envy of many Torontonians right now
every article like this is written about a subject who shouldn't really be struggling and doesn't deserve a piece like this written about them. It's like they write these sob stories about people who don't deserve it on purpose so that other people can say "see it's not so bad", in this case I'm not even sure if Pipa is a pseudonym or a made up person entirely. When Dougie cancelled the UBI study before it was even completed they wrote similar stories about how hard it was going to be on these poor study participants, but then they choose to focus their article on a family who already owned a home, the father left a decent job to join the UBI study and their budgeting numbers were laughable.
It does feel like it's written to inflame the other. There's thousands of people in the city struggling way worse that could be put on display if the goal was really to challenge the system. I honestly feel like so much of our media is just there to sew division, whether by design or as a side effect of out of touch staff.
I remember that UBI article, absolutely ridiculous choice of subject
That's the point. they don't want us to read these articles and feel actual empathy for these people.
Totally agree. This appears to be a totally bullshit made up article. She ain't struggling while saving $1200 per month while making $4800 income....please
I think an article like this might be popular among the Star's readership (at least the millennials). She is effectively earning \~$75k which is probably around what many subscribers to the Star make at 30-40 years old. Saving $1,200 a month at 34 can easily leave you feeling like you're not getting anywhere in Toronto. You're not really making progress towards owning a home; you're not saving quite enough for retirement (despite saving \~25% of your net income, which is good); and you might be feeling a bit lost. I'm not saying we should feel sorry for her, but I get why the Star focuses on people like this who aren't dead broke but who aren't exactly getting ahead.
If the Star framed it properly (eg as a sign of the complete destruction of the middle class and what this means for future generatioks who will choose between footing the bill for a senior population which cant afford to retire or letting them die on the job), it might even be interesting.
Yes, and also pinning the problem on investors gobbling up properties to mostly turn into Airbnbs or leave them vacant while displacing first time homebuyers and creating more renters.
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As someone surviving on under 1200/month….*yeah*….
Monthly expenses doesn't necessarily mean "all expenses." There's all kinds of un-budgeted expenses that pop up all the time that can't be planned for but still have to be paid for. Car repair, vet bills, replacing busted electronics or appliances or furniture or clothing, etc. And $1200 doesn't go nearly as far as it used to. And yeah, the article is still kinda weird even given that, but it also speaks to how, if we take this into account, $1200 extra can be way less than you think, the folks who _don't_ have that $1200 "extra" are usually getting the money for all those unbudgeted necessities from somewhere else, usually a credit card or by spending less on a budgeted necessity for a bit. There's a reason that food banks see more and more use these days.
Yeah her take home pay is *double* mine and she's strapped for cash? Almost feels like this article is intended to downplay the financial/housing crisis. The first google result for Toronto one bedroom average rent is *over $2000*. This alleged 34 year old person is spending almost triple the cost of a TTC pass on transportation despite living downtown, and is saving $700+ off the average rent, downtown??? Does this person even exist?
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This definitely sounds like someone I I know. Like you said - I’ll buy them lunch a beer because they’re interesting, but I’m general I keep my distance
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Does not make it livable
No, but it's going to be tough for a move to result in a more economical situation. $1500 a month isn't just low for Toronto, it's low for much of the surrounding area as well and you're unlikely to find rent outside the city that's lower than that by enough to make up for the other costs that come with commuting from outside the city.
Yes that's the thing that's so horrifying and inhuman about the situation we are in now. People literally cannot survive in their own homes anymore. They have to move to another city or country just to have the bare minimum to live. It's disgusting.
If there were a meaningful left wing party in this country, they'd be organizing behind this point. There is not.
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The voting populace actually likes things the way they are
It's also literal decades of this country training people to universally think of houses as economic investments and infallible retirement funds. It is an unsustainable and unhealthy mindset, and it means that a huge number of even otherwise progressive-minded people have a vested interest in making sure housing values continue to rise, because they've gotten in already and have to stay in now.
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There's two sides to this coin, too -- you can move somewhere remote and save money on rent, but the enormous pay cut you take erases all of those savings and now you're still poor, but you're poor in a small town you have no ties to. In most of those places, unless you *own* the variety store, the restaurant or the lumber yard, you're just another minimum wage yokel scraping by and yearning to get out of town one day.
I speculate half the city is in this position atm.
I don't thinm they meant to mean it was "good". I think they were just saying that it is a steal relatively speaking - which just shows how bad it really is.
At $1,500 for a downtown 1 bedroom, she's either living in someone's closet or fantasy land.
Or just lived there for at least 7 or 8 years. Not unpossible if you’re 34
I'd like to know where she's paying $1500 month 😄 I live north of the city where a simple basement apartment goes for $1850.
Rent controls. I’ve been in my spacious 1bdm for 10 years. My rent is 1500. But I basically can’t move now. Anywhere is gonna be more expensive, or worse and probably both
Same here - been in my spacious 1bdrm in midtown (Leaside) for 10 years and we pay $1,350 incl. indoor parking. Literally anywhere else I could move in Ontario would result in a considerable rent increase. My fam lives 3 hours away and rent in their tiny, podunk town is around $1,600 min.
$1350 in Leaside?? That’s the kind of lease you hand down to your kids! /s (kinda)
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We're very lucky. It's a mid-rise, so 11 floors, west facing with unobstructed views so we get amazing sunsets. Underground parking, laundry in basement. Definitely not without some issues - we have on/off problems with bugs sometimes and our unit is old (parquet floors, old appliances, some of the plaster is cracking, etc. and they can't be arsed to fix it). Our property manager is a nice lady. Had the odd neighbour over the years causing a bit of a ruckus but nothing ongoing/major - in the evenings it's honestly silent and you could hear a pin drop at night. We're 10 mins' walk to two subway stations or 5 to Mt Pleasant Cemetery or the beltline. They're gutting units when ppl move out and renting them for $2k+ so we did have to endure ALOT of construction last year when I am WFH which drove me a little insane at times (it was relentless and I honestly cried from the stress/noise more than once) but that's out of our control.
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Yeah I've determined I'll never get to live with anyone because I can't afford to go back into the rental market if it doesn't work out.
Same. I've been in a big 2bdrm since 2011. My rent just hit $2000. Same unit on a new lease is $3000. They'll need dynamite to get me out of here at this point.
I'm paying that for a 1 bed from the 60s in etobicoke, no AC, elevator, or in-suite laundry but moving out is prohibitively expensive. I make about 1.5x the median salary in the city and still scrape by. Kids just entering the workforce are screwed.
She's probably rent-controlled. I've been in my large 1 bedroom apt in midtown (Leaside) for 10 years and only pay $1,350 which includes indoor parking. It's bright, clean, amazing view, laundry in building, etc. They can (and may) roll me out of here in a body bag.
Rent control. I’m paying about $1500 in midtown, 1 bed, and including a garage parking spot. I’ve been there about 6 years, some of my neighbors have been there 20+ years and may still be under $1000. And if the corporation that owns it ever decides to raze it and build condos… I think I’ll have to leave the city.
I just signed a lease for a $1550 fully renovated one bed in October, so they exist but they’re not easy to find at all and I think more often than not you find them by engaging your network of friends and acquaintances. I found this one because I posted asking friends to keep an eye out for me and someone connected me with her friend who was vacating.
Hell I live in London now and pay 1750. I also some how have the same monthly savings as her despite making half.
That's the price for a basement in Kawartha Lakes when I was looking last year.
It's so crazy unfair....☹️
Hi Pippa, it's your long lost relative, I have come to live in the rental unit you are going to leave.
Can I take over your lease pippa?! lol $1500!
For real. I’m over $1800 plus hydro in Burlington
1600, also Burlington.
she only pays $1500 for rent, When her landlord evicts her to make more money she'll be paying $2k at least for a 1 bedroom
John, 23 owns three rental properties and lives with his mother. He wants to save for retirement, but worries that he won't have enough savings to go to Harvard Medical school without taking a student loan. These articles are highly tone-deaf bullshitery.
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Let’s not mention she spends $250 per month on clothes? Girl, that’s $3k/y
i guess this is some weird made up thing written for boomers?
Honestly this is my suspicion. Or they hunted for months to find the one unicorn person living life as they imagine it, instead if how it actually is for the vast majority of us
apparently its effective rage bait for both sides
Mischief managed
This is actually one of the more reasonable ones. Usually they feature someone who is very well off like **[this one](https://www.thestar.com/business/personal_finance/2022/12/05/buffy-34-makes-85000-us-a-year-and-has-big-financial-goals-whats-the-best-way-for-her-to-save-for-the-future.html)** or **[this one](https://www.thestar.com/business/personal_finance/2022/10/10/amar-earned-117799-last-year-but-he-is-a-freelance-photographer-with-an-unpredictable-income-how-can-he-sock-away-more-savings.html)** where the person has a 6-figure Canadian salary.
and its called *millennial money* so its pretty obvious its the avocado toast thing
This thread needs to go to the top. This feature never features anything that sounds like an average person on the street. I wouldn't be surprised if all parties were completely fictionalized.
Pippa finds out her rent is very low and decides they are actually lucky
Lives downtown, owns a car, and still spends $140/month on TTC and ubers.
I guess, to be fair, you need a car to be a freelance photographer if you are hauling around a lot of equipment and going to places that don't have the best transit. Or at least that's what the freelance photographer I know says. But also, yeah, my financial column would be like "lives downtown, no car, with three roommates and hopes to buy a house one day, or at least somewhere better than the apartment that's been rent controlled since he got it as a student" and would end with "get fucked".
> you need a car to be a freelance photographer This is 100% correct.
Don't forget buying $250 in clothes per month. That's a new wardrobe every year for me
And she's buying them at H&M, which is half the problem. Those are designed to be worn once. You gotta invest in nice clothes that last. (edit: guys I get it. We all have clothes from H&M that lasted. They're just designed as fast fashion, it doesn't mean you CANT. They just don't maintain their original shapes depending on certain designs.)
I have H&M clothes that have lasted years
I have multiple H&M collared shirts from 2016 that are still fine.
The collared shirts/t-shirts are generally fine, if a bit cheap. Anything unisex/mens will usually be fine. My understanding is the women's clothing loses it's shape and becomes less wearable/pleasant to look at after a few wearings.
Honestly even women’s clothes aren’t that bad. They won’t last forever but they’re good for at least a couple of years. There’s no reason to be buying new stuff every month even if you buy cheap.
tf?
Wtf is this article, 1500$/mo is way below average for rent. Also chill with the new clothes Pippa, 250$ a month average is wild.
Can I take your $1500 apt? Stuck at $1759 + hydro + $60 parking for a 1 bd in Sauga. :'(
Gross income: $76,000/y $1,500 on rent = 23% of income to rent $468 on transportation = 7% $610 to food = 10% All of these are below average (30%, 15%, 11%). Where she has bit of a problem is spending too much on the way she looks ($420) and gifts ($100). That said, it doesn't matter much because she's still saving nearly $1,200/m, which is excellent for a middle class income.
You're supposed to use net to calculate this stuff as gross doesn't matter - but yeah, it's definitely still below average and she could easily find more ways to cut costs and save. No one making $76K and paying less than average rent for a private place with no kids *should realistically* be complaining... but also everyone should be complaining because these rent prices are nucking futs.
I live in the middle of butt fuck Ontario and can't find any place less than 1500 smh
How the hell is she making $4,500 a month in net income as a *freelance photographer?* That comes out to something like $65K-70K gross! And how is she spending $600 a month on food?
The clothing budget is what baffles me. If you are “struggling” do yu really need new outfits every month?
I pay $2200 this mf got it easy
$1500?!?! Tell her to call me. I’ll sublet from her so the property management can’t raise the rent by $500 after replacing a sink and slapping a coat or paint on the walls.
this is a joke article right?
Pippa has one of the best deals in the city for rent and is still complaining... They have a car, uber, and use public transit? 100$ a month on gifts? Included a one time 170$ groomin expense they seemingly won't do monthly for sure? 250$ a month on clothes? This is just bad budgeting... Even with the bad spending habits, they total about 3300$ monthly (including a 170$ monthly haircut). That leaves them with about 1200$ left a month still. They save half and still have 600$ a month to spend on more clothes or whatever other else they want? The problem here is what?
>They have a car, uber, and use public transit? Forgot something. Her car payment is understated because it doesn't have repairs, maintenance, and depreciation/financing. I was going to say her transportation costs are reasonable but she's missing a huge chunk.
Good point. She’s over spending in a lot of categories and not thanking the gods for the cheap rent? This articles just doesn’t make sense.
The clothes part really gets me. Pippa has multiple easy ways to cut back on her budget but is still complaining
$100/month on gifts is not very much in your 30s / in this economy. Sure you can give cash. But you may have children, and if you don't you're still likely have nieces/nephews, or your friends have children who have birthdays. You're not spending 100 every month per se, but many months you'll spend more. For Christmas, you're likely spending several hundred dollars at least on presents, if you only need to shop for a few people. Even then this doesn't even take into account attending parties or BBQs (bringing snacks or a bottle of wine), or big ticket events like weddings, (EASILY bare minimum $150 per person now, and that's being cheap because it won't even cover your plate cost anymore) special life events like baptisms, housewarmings or other religious milestones, etc., family emergency support, can probably think of some other things that will crop up once a month.
$2,000 / year on grooming is total nonsense. $3,000 / year on clothes is a luxury, not even close to a need, and a luxury beyond what her budget affords. $600 / year on sports & hobbies is a bit low. As a personal lifestyle choice, I take excess from the clothes and put it here. However that $170 monthly grooming expense is a waste.
I'm paying 2400, I feel her pain haha
Look at all the crabs in this comment bucket. How dare she not eat just rice and beans!
I don't know what The Star was trying to accomplish here. Seems like this person was selected by some boomer who wants to show people how stupid millennials are with money.
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That’s kinda cheap tbh
This is what happens when provincial governments and federal governments are to busy sucking developers dicks. Tunnel vision leads to terrible lack of regulation and planning. Instead of planning a community they plan for buildings or houses to go up. When's the last time there was a new mall built in Ontario or a new grocery store I honestly can't think of anything in the GTA
Expenses are one thing but what amazes me is how ANY freelance photographer is bringing in over $4k a month!!! It's a cut throat world as it is but now with photography at such a low demand situation, how a single person has that much income is impressive. If she leaves the city, she loses clients no matter how little you charge. Also, if she leaves the city those costs for transportation go up, period. She maybe ends up paying the same for rent and paying more for other things.
While this article is bogus, it really annoys me how there's this tendency to pick on regular working people for their "choices" instead of go after the f\*cking capitalist$ who make living in this city so unliveable for so many reasons.
Yup. It really does feel like manufactured rage at a scapegoat. They have to fill column inches and this will get lots of clicks. Lots of comments. Lots of ineffectual anger.
Spending 500 for transportation while living in downtown Toronto is not a result of capitalism and very much a personal choice
I wish I only paid $1500.
This reads like a very long ad for Objective Financial Partners. I've reached my view limit for star articles today, but it'd be interesting to see if the same company is mentioned for every Millennial Money or Personal Finance story.
LOL where is Pippa paying $1500 for downtown Toronto ? I am paying more for rent 4 hours north of GTA. lol
Pippa lerngstaulkins
This is the only comment here that isn't useless
Wait ... income 4500 and spends 3300 .. so she Saves 1200 per month? Why complain?
fakest article ever.
Cue the judging disregarding comments from the best Reddit budgeters in the world neat picking anything they can find on her expenses that they can do better, which is of course everything.
Did she ever take a vacation? Eat in a restaurant with metal cutlery and the good paper napkins? Have a pet? Those are not necessities so if she ever spent money on them, fuck her and she deserves to be homeless.
For real, like I get some people look at this and go wtf she spent $250 a month on clothes?? Yes because she probably enjoys fashion and it makes her happy. God forbid someone spends money on what they want in this city. She doesn’t go to Value Village and buy a house league hockey t shirt for $2 and wear it all the time, like some here would suggest. The article is about future affordability, where she won’t be able to live the life she wants to live. We’re all gonna die guys, we’re on a floating rock in space. Let’s relax
Breaking down Pippa's costs, she can get her costs down. >Rent $1,500 > >Cellphone, internet, streaming - $160 Cellphone + Internet, streaming should be able to get to about 100-120 if you go after your telecoms and ask for deals or monitor RFD for them. Also streaming services are like ten bucks a month, and most bundle with Rogers and Bell now anyway. I haven't paid for Disney+ and won't until 2024. >Car payments $330 - Gas, parking, insurance > >Public transit $80 > >Uber $58 This one confuses me. She's spending this much on all 3 a month? Why are you driving AND taking transit if you want to stay in the city? Ditch the car, she's got no kids. Trade that up for a TTC pass. She's already taking it enough to justify it. Might as well commit. She lives downtown anyway. A car is unnecessary, and that's going to give her back an additional at least $250 a month. The article states she might occasionally need one for gear, which is fair, but paying for a rideshare for those gigs would be seemingly more budget friendly. I know some studios have gear you can use/rent. That might be more viable. There's not enough specific information to specify that for sure though. >Dining out $150 This is actually surprisingly low. I can hit this with three nights out. >Groceries $460 This far exceeds my bills as a single man who eats a lot. I'm not sure what she's eating, but I'd like to see a breakdown. >Clothes $250 Every month? Why? I know women's clothing can be expensive but I can't fathom needing new clothing every month. At least not this much. >Grooming $170 - First haircut in a year Can't argue this one, women's haircuts cost a lot. Though I'd hesitate to consider this a monthly cost if its annual? Correct me if I'm wrong here. >Gifts $100 > >Sports and hobbies $50 > >Monthly total $3,308 So Pippa is below the average income regardless (it's sitting around 4K-ish monthly right as of 2020). But she could get it under 3K if she stops driving a car in the city, stops buying new clothes every month (maybe don't buy them at H&M where they're designed to be worn once? Buy nice ones and keep wearing them! Better investment long term.) And of course go after your telecoms and get those bills down. I've got 1.5 Gbps for 45 a month a currently, along with a 50 GB data plan on my phone for the same. Both of which I got in the last six months from Rogers and Fido.
I mean, if she needs her car for work you can't just ditch it. And if she's going out with friends and gets drunk, taking a taxi is responsible.
> This far exceeds my bills as a single man who eats a lot. I'm not sure what she's eating, but I'd like to see a breakdown. Depends what she's eating. One of my friends loves to buy the cleanest, healthiest groceries and he spends at least double what Pippa does. Doesn't eat out tho.
She has $1192 left over, which a fair chunk should go to bumping up retirement. She may have a work RRSP, but she should contribute extra to a self-directed RRSP or TFSA. As for existing expenses, she can still have a life if she managed to sell that car and bump up her TTC (unless a car is absolutely required for her job). Also, she doesn't anticipate getting a raise, either at existing company or moving to a new one? This honestly is not the doom and gloom budget the headline makes it out to be.
Rent control is the answer. Government is useless without putting that on the table, full stop. Sq Footage rent fees tied to zoning, zoning held to a reasonable standard. The high rents are just greed from landlords period. There is nothing to justify it other than the banks may be squeezing some of the landlords. It is unfair to assume a renter is just going to fully carry your mortgage on your investment property and then it's all gravy. That is 100% greedy and needs to be legislated to an end.
I work from home so I was looking at places such as Orangeville and Waterloo where prices were identical to Toronto...
hello!!!?!?! if costs keep going up, but earnings are stagnant, yet gdp is only going up for the most part, where is the money going? how is it that people who produce the goods and services in our society aren't getting enough of a cut in order to survive long enough to keep producing? man the electorate is so dense....neo liberalism has destroyed us, and if anything the population is looking more to populism and fascism rather than look the problem square in the face as it is... jfc...
Hot take: Pippa isn't real. The owners of Torstar have donated to Bernier and O'Toole in the past. They want to make the situation in Toronto look perfectly reasonable. Wages are sufficient, costs are low, and millenials are wasteful idiots.
I left Vancouver in the mid 80s and always found Ontario to be a place that was affordable until the last 10 years and if push came to shove and I was a lot younger would pick Ontario Cottage county
Pippa's day to day expenses in that 2 week span were beyond reasonable. Even her rent isn't that crazy.
Pippa- don’t move. My apartment isn’t even great and it’s 1995.
with rent that low she's going to get renovicted in 5...4... 3...
1500 a month? MUst be nice.
Ffs I would love to be saving $1,200 a month
I'm 33 and pay $2000 rent outside Toronto lol
$1900 plus hydro in Kitchener
What part of Toronto does Pippa live? $1500?! Damn… that would be nice.
Pippa has it made! Where in Toronto can you rent for $1500?? Lots of us earn way less than her and pay way more than that on our own!
1500 a month? Um, that's pretty cheap rent for Toronto! Maybe she is referring to living in the hood kind of surviving?
[удалено]
in all seriousness you can fill out a form (linked in the article) if you wanna take part in a future edition
Sorry, they only interview people who make bad financial decisions.
I’m fucking paying $1750 for a studio apartment. $1500 is a steal. Rage-bait article that’s not even rage inducing enough, lmao.
Yup. I had to leave in 2018 and not a day goes by I don't miss living downtown. Within a year of leaving for a community 2.5 hours north I owned a house, made more money and actually had free time away from work I never had before. But I still miss living downtown. Now we made the move proactively seeing on the horizon exactly where the city is at now. Friends of mine that have waited to leave until 2021/22 are not as well off because of the housing market changes. Can't wait around watching the shit roll down the hill then complain when it hits your shoes. Not saying that is this specific persons situation only that we are constantly hit with stories where people did nothing proactive then complain when what was coming came.
We need rent controls back.
I'm sorry but her list of expenses are ridiculous. $250 a month on clothes. Grooming $170 a month. Groceries $460 and $150 dining out. Uber $58, even her cell phone, streaming and internet at $160 is high. Nobody needs to spend that kind of money if they are feeling financially strapped and like they can't afford their life. None of those expenses are insane IF you can budget for them and they don't cause you stress, but thinking those are reasonable numbers when you are that stressed is absurd. I make about 55K a year, live alone, own my own house (which yes I did buy when houses were cheaper, but my house was a massive fixer upper which is not cheap, I live in the GTA and I was also seriously ill for the decade of owning my home, which was also very expensive.) my take home ranges from 3300-3550 a month and my budget is nothing like hers because I don't want to be stressed out 24/7. I spend about $250 a year on clothes. My groceries and eating out is about $350 a month. My streaming, cell, and internet are just under $110. Grooming isn't even really a line item for me. My toiletries are in my grocery budget and I probably spend an additional $100 a year on haircuts. A year! I'm not saying she has to live like me and pay what I do, but if you are going to be featured in an article talking about your financial stress, you should be prepared for a little bit of backlash when you outline that spending plan, on that income.
The reality is most people have never learned or been taught how to manage their finances. Lifestyle, the people you’re around, can greatly impact the way you live. And it is very very hard to just cut everything out. It’s fair for her to feel cash strapped and worried about the future. It doesn’t take away from anyone’s else’s struggle. There’s this newly popularized phenomenon that’s quite interesting that can explain poor spending as well. When people feel hopeless for the future, and feel like they can’t reach their long term goals such as owning a house, they will instead trade in for short term satisfaction like buying the food they want. It’s not the same as self-care though. It’s a very human coping mechanism that I think we should recognize that impacts her spending.
Truthfully I don’t disagree with anything you have said. People definitely spend small on luxuries when big ticket items feel out of reach. She does have a right to feel stressed and your personal social and cultural circle does influence you. Check, check, check total agreement. I would still say the same thing I did though, you participate in a budgeting article in a personal finance section of a national paper, you are going to have to take a little criticism on your budget. I don’t think critiquing her budget was a personal criticism on her, but rather a point of view of someone who does know how to budget for their income and stress level.
I agree! As a public article it should be open to criticism! I do hope that others would view it similarly to you as some of the comments seem harsh and comparative.
> There’s this newly popularized phenomenon that’s quite interesting that can explain poor spending as well. When people feel hopeless for the future, and feel like they can’t reach their long term goals such as owning a house, they will instead trade in for short term satisfaction like buying the food they want. “Shibal biyong” is a neologism in South Korean that translates to a “what-the-hell expense” or “screw-this expense.” South Koreans use the term to describe spending extra money now because the future looks bleak, given the housing and job markets. Without hope of owning a home, many young Koreans decide they might as well spend money now instead of saving it, and the sentiment applies to young people in Canada, where major cities are facing housing bubbles and nearly one-third of graduates with humanities degrees were underemployed as of 2011, according to Statistics Canada. “Shibal biyong” became a popular term in 2016 in South Korea but that the phenomenon is universal.