Industry: Non-profit
Age: 37
Location: Vancouver, BC
Salary: $170,000
Joint Income/Financial Setup: Our joint income is approx. $250,000. My salary is steady and predictable, but my husband works in film/TV, which is very unpredictable. Work was very slow during the pandemic and SAG-AFTRA/WGA strikes in the US, but he’s worked a lot more over the past year and will bring in about $80,000 this year. This also includes some very part-time graphic design work that he does on the side, and employment insurance when he’s not working. We also receive $542.50 from the government each year of Canada Child Benefit ($45.20 a month). My husband and I combine our finances. We have a joint credit card, bank accounts, and savings, which I manage, plus individual credit cards (for gifts etc.) and separate investments.
Assets:
Registered Retirement Savings Plan [RRSP]: $127,000
Tax-Free Savings Account [TFSA]: $39,200
Locked-In Retirement Account [LIRA]: $29,300
First Home Savings Account [FHSA]: $3,000
Husband’s RRSP: $74,491
Husband’s TFSA: $32,950
Joint Emergency Savings: $10,000
Joint Savings: $50,300
Debt: $0
Paycheck Amount (2x/month): $4,395
Pronouns: She/her
Monthly Expenses
Housing Costs: $3,998 for a two-bed, one-bath apartment, parking space, and storage locker.
Loan Payments: n/a
Electricity: $100
Internet: $78
Daycare: $1060 (the full price would be $1605, but the government provides a $545 subsidy).
Gym: $90
House Cleaner: $90
ChatGPT: $31.64
Phone: $218 ($68 for me, $150 for my husband)
Tenants Insurance: $26.39
Car Insurance: $157.92
Pet Insurance: $302
NYT: $2.10
Spotify Premium: $20.04
iCloud storage: $12.99
Crave: $24.64
Disney+: $15.99
Netflix: Included in internet
Apple TV: $12.99
Shudder: $8.99
Patreon: $14.97 (The Birth Hour podcast and Aja Barber)
BCAA: $20.56
Adobe Photoshop (for my husband’s work): $29.11
Dropbox (for my husband’s work): $31.35
Bank account fees: $16.95
Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP): $200
RRSP Contribution (comes from my paycheck and is matched by my employer): $708
Extended healthcare: $0 (paid for by my work)
Charitable Donations: $106 (Black Lives Matter, Binners Project, Canadian Mental Health Association, Indian Residential School Survivors Society)
Annual expenses
Credit card fees: $135
Amazon Prime: $110.88
Was there an expectation for you to attend higher education? Did you participate in any form of higher education? If yes, how did you pay for it?
Yes. I grew up in the UK, and neither of my parents went to university (although my dad later completed a degree part-time at night school), but I was expected to go to a good one. I didn’t get an offer from any of my top three schools because my predicted grades weren’t as high as I needed (even though my actual grades were top marks — the UK system is weird), but I still landed at a top-20 university. I paid for my tuition and living expenses with student loans and part-time jobs, but my parents paid for my rent until I graduated, aged 20 (it was a three-year program).
Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money? Did your parent(s) educate you about finances?
I was brought up not to ask about or share specifics on salaries or spending, as it was deemed rude (very British). I knew neither of my parents grew up with much money, but my dad eventually worked in software engineering, and we were comfortably middle-class. My dad started a few companies, and my mom was always terrified about the lack of financial stability. They’re both quite cautious, and I remember being told that saving for retirement was key and not to place my pension in any remotely risky investments. They’re now retired and living in Canada close to me, and are very worried that I don’t own a home, and likely won’t any time soon.
What was your first job and why did you get it?
I got a job working in the village shop on Saturday mornings aged 13. My parents encouraged me to learn the value of work and commitment, and I loved the extra spending money ($18 USD a week). I quit when I got a better paying job at age 16, and my younger brother took over at the shop.
Did you worry about money growing up?
Not in the day-to-day sense. Occasionally, I’d pick up some tension or uncertainty from my parents, and there were tighter times than others, but I had everything I needed for school, and we went on vacation every couple of years.
Do you worry about money now?
Yes. I have a great salary and solid savings, but rent and daycare come to 60% of my income, and my husband’s work is very unstable. Any money we do save when he’s working subsidizes our living expenses when he’s not. Saying that, we could definitely cut down on our expenses (coffees, meals out) if we really had to. Buying a place to live in Vancouver feels out of the question, so I worry about our long-term plans, especially as we need more space for my son as he gets older. I’m on the wait list for a co-op and really hope we get in within the next couple of years.
At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself and do you have a financial safety net?
Aged 20 when I graduated from university, and my parents stopped paying my rent. They’re now retired and are on a budget, but they would definitely give me a loan if I needed it (as long as I paid them back).
Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income? If yes, please explain.
My parents gave me $15,000 towards my wedding in 2017, and $25,000 in 2022 as part of my grandmother’s inheritance when she passed away. We used some of it to buy a car when our old one died, and most of it went to keeping us debt-free when I was on maternity leave and my husband had a 10-month stretch of not working.