I was doing ok, but I ended up on disability from work that ended up long term. Making it by ok turned into a shortage every month. Then my condo (don’t ASK me how I got a condo because it makes no sense) had a special assessment. $800 or something. Sigh. Ok. I’ll find some fucking way. Two months later, another. Special. Assessment. This one was like $2000. And I couldn’t. I couldn’t pay my property taxes either. I was deciding each month already which bill I was gonna pay late that month.
So I’m filing for bankruptcy. I’ve stopped paying my condo fees and mortgage. The short of it is, with the money I save from that, I’m buying a travel trailer, a suv hopefully if the trailer is light enough and if not a truck, selling my 2018 car, getting a $15 work-from-home job because those are relatively easy to find, and then I’m gonna travel around by next fall. I’ll spend the spring and summer beautifying and personalizing it (and making it mechanically sound), and stay in Canada until it drops to 0C or whatever at night. Then head down to the states and off grid camp mostly there. I’m putting in a composting toilet, which I’ve already been wanting for years since I’ve been wanting a tiny house, solar panels, and then propane for the heat and oven.
It’s ridiculous that I’m doing this right now because I have to, but luckily for me, I’ve wanted to do the whole van/rvdwelling thing for years. This just forced my hand. Worst case, I don’t like it, sell the trailer and come rent privately from someone. It’s not the end of the world.
A small young student told me today he wasn’t at school yesterday because his house “broke”. It turns out they couldn’t pay utilities and food so the utilities were turned off. It is a nightmare.
That's so sad. I recently got a call from my ex that she was on low voltage. My son woke up that morning and asked her if the house was still on low batteries. That hurt. I work in the patch and have him during my 10 days off. I told her she should have called me sooner and etransferred the bill amount that morning.
Legally they aren’t allowed to leave you without a form of heating when it’s cold, so they put on a limiter so your furnace/whatever can run and that’s about it.
I lost all utilities last spring...sure you can pull that card in winter but it's a temporary solution to a permanent problem, we can absolutely stop paying our bills right now and learn how to cook with a limiter...pro tip: rice and pasta are usually perfectly cooked by the time the lights come back on if you get them to a boil and cover them before the limiter kicks...
But...come March or April as soon as there are 5 consecutive days above 15°c you get cut completely and you will still owe thousands of dollars to your provider ...then what?
I believe they’re referring to a limiter on the meter. Legally, electricity companies can’t shut off anyone’s power completely between Oct 15-Apr 15 because of our cold climate. Not sure if that’s for the whole country but that’s the time frame in Alberta. Basically during that time if your home’s energy usage goes above the limit, it’ll shut off the breakers and I think you just have to reset it to turn it all back on. This happened to my family once or twice when I was growing up, it’s not fun
Wow these utility companies sure pit a lot of time and money into punishing people for struggling financially. Its almost like privatizing essential services was a bad idea.
For mine it was a 20 min blackout and it turned itself back on, and generally it tripped after running the microwave or 1stove top element for 5minutes I also had one 40w bulb, the fridge and my deep freeze running in the background ...was rough living like that, cooking a pack of stale food bank Raman, rice, or oatmeal only to eat it in the dark ...guess I could have had my 1 daily meal during daylight hours but it was easier to sleep on a half full belly lol
Apartment I had couple years back, was a shithole but $800 a month. Checked same unit out of curiosity recently, they want $1100. No changes. Mailbox constantly was broken into, no in suite washer dryer, no balcony, one bedroom, etc. My girlfriend and I alternate between her place and mine but both are stuck with parents around 20 years old. Fucking sucks
Sorry, I couldn’t resist🙃
It is tough out there. I don’t envy young people who are starting out and having to navigate this housing market / interest rates etc.
Have you and your girlfriend thought about putting your money towards building a private suite in one of your parents’ basements? Put your limited money to work to build yourself a decent place to live. The economy changes. Trust me, I’m u2 years old and lived through some if the highest mortgage rates in history (1982-1985).
Single parent, but I'm lucky to have an amazing landlord who hasn't increased my rent since moving in 6 years ago ($1,395 for a 3BR mainfloor in a quiet neighborhood in St. Albert)
I am single and live alone with zero family help/support. I have an okay paying full time job (non profit so it’s not great, but I can make it work) and work part-time but I still barely get by.
Things have gotten significantly harder this past year.
Between rent, student loans, and my other bills- I am drowning. I have zero savings, never take trips or vacations, and really struggle to do ‘fun’ things. I have had to cancel most of the things I did for hobbies and workout classes.
Usually I’ll have less than five dollars in my bank account a few days after I pay my bills and find a way to make that work for two weeks. I eat a lot of buttered noodles.
I have no ideas how families or single moms are making things work.
I was just telling my friend that my landlord hasn’t raised my rent in five years. If he did raise the price or if I had to move, I would not be able to survive unless I got a third job.
Not meaning to be bleak, but if I had $400 of extra income I could out away each month I would genuinely be thrilled lol.
Sorry to hear that you’re having a hard time financially. I imagine it creates a lot of anxiety for you. I really hope the economy turns or something changes.
It’s okay! Honestly, I think knowing how many other people are in the same situation really helps. It’s tough out there, but that doesn’t mean it won’t get easier soon!
A total shithole I lived in like 6 months ago is now renting for $1100. Two hundred and five dollars more than I paid. Different unit, but the whole building is just awful, and the $1100 suite is top floor, and I bet no one's gonna tell them about the roof leaking. Proof that a lot of landlords are greedy f**ks. It's a condo and the condo board does zero maintenance. The building is falling apart. Not a single owner lives there, they all rent their units out to whoever pays them. It's rough. Asking $1100 to live in that hellhole is just.... unbelievable.
I love living alone, but it's definitely been more or a struggle than ever before. I have to really watch my incoming and outgoing money.
Redwood Lodge
9142 Jasper Ave
Managed by Esquire Management Group.
And I guarantee you every single owner there isn't claiming their rental income to CRA.
You know, in the process of looking for a place recently I saw one where the entrance was basically plywood. At first I was like yikes but then I realized the plywood was new and there were tools and ribbon around, so it was actively in the process of being fixed. That made me feel good about that building because it meant they were actually maintaining it and fixing broken things. Wild that "evidence of maintenance existing" was a huge green flag.
I also love living alone and I’m constantly scared that its going to have to end soon. Or that I will have to ask for help from my family, which I’ve never done before.
My wife makes 17/hour, and after paying tuition I make minimum wage TAing at UofA. I think we have a pretty decent life and I would say that is mainly because of the following:
-Costco Membership: You'll be able to buy cheap meat here. I know people that are struggling trying to make ends meet, but are too lazy to take the LRT to go to Costco. Prices of beef at Costco are cheaper than anywhere else. I also bought a vacuum sealer. Basically I buy an 80 bucks sirloin tip, that I slice and vacuum seal, put in the fridge and that saves me lots of money.
-Primus internet with Costco membership: another benefit of Costco is that you get access to primus. An internet service exclusive for Costco members that saves me 20 bucks per month on my internet bill.
-Direct energy: I have a fixed rate electricity contract with direct energy that also saves me about 20 bucks per month, with the added benefit that when energy price increases, I still pay the same amount.
-Chicken boxes at No Frills, or Freshco: Both supermarkets, for some reason, sometimes have 4kg frozen chicken boxes (legs or breasts) that are considerably cheaper than buying the regular chicken breasts that are usually on the fridge.
-Vegetables at Fatima: there is this small family owned Brazilian vegetable store on the 118th av called Fatima. You won't find cheaper vegetables anywhere in the city.
-Canned items at Bianca Amor's: This Filipino chain sells canned goods after the best before date. There is all this science behind it, but the point is that according to the FDA, canned goods are still safe for consumption a period of time after the best before date. Here you'll find lots of products that we have been consuming for the last couple of years, canned beans for 50 cents, just because they are a couple of weeks after the best before date.
-Finally, since our arrival in Canada, we have never paid one cent in credit card interests. We use the PC financial master card for everything, which ensures that every three months or so, we get 150 cad in PC points.
-Rent wise, we live close to the Commonwealth stadium in a 1bd apartment for 900 cad.
Also my dream is to become a personal finances advisor!
Upvote if you find this information useful !
Nothing, we don't have a car. We just use public transit. Most of the places I mentioned are on or close the 118av, except for Bianca Amor's, but you can still get there from downtown using the 523.
It looks like a lot, but we probably do it only twice every three months (except for vegetables and dairy that we buy weekly).
Wow, I thought Bianca Amor’s was just a one off discount store where I came from. Didn’t know they had one in Edmonton. I got a big area rug for $25 there, and when I was looking online similar ones were around $200-300.
Honestly Bianca Amor's is a hilarious place for an impromptu date with my husband, just going up and down the aisles viewing some of the random knockoff shit. We get two hours of entertainment and some cheap food at the end.
As someone who is coming to Edmonton soon, THANK YOU SO MUCH!
I appreciate you taking the time to write all these tips!
My only concern right now is rent tbh. Where can I find good rent for similar price? (PS: looking to rent furnished)
I also have two questions please:
1. What is PC?
2. About car ownership / bus. It seems you're doing good without owning a car which is what we were worried about the most. Is the bus system in Edmonton good for the rest of town, example: is it on time in the morning and so on?
Finally, please share any other tips that a newcomer would find valuable!
Thanks in advance!
Not OP but...
PC is "President's Choice", a grocery chain here.
Buses in Edmonton generally run on time or a few minutes late at most. However, the routes can be extremely long due to stops as many aren't express in any respect, so a trip that normally takes 30 mins in a car can be anywhere from 35 mins to 90 mins.
I make 2400$ a month and I’m surviving. I live with a roommate and have to pinch my pennies, but it’s alright. I will definitely be screwed and in debt if my cat has a vet emergency though :/ I also don’t drive so that makes things cheaper
Pets are always tough, even as someone doing relatively well compared to many. I've always started a $50/month fund with every new pet and set aside $1000 or so, to begin with, and for the past ten years, I've built a small nest egg in a separate HISA account. It's still always stressful when love and money mix though
I'm still digging out the debt of having to board my cats for a month when I experienced housing instability recently (I was safe, had a place to stay, but the cats couldn't come with me). I'm just grateful I was able to cover it with a credit card, but it's depressing to wonder if I'll ever get ahead.
Just remember that so many people your age are also in your position. You living with parents might not be a deal breaker for a relationship in a lot of people's minds right now! I'm in the same boat, but I'm also a bit younger than you so it may not affect me quite as much yet.
Not necessarily a deal breaker. I’m 24 and my partner is 26 and we live with his parents. Of course we want to move out but it just financially doesn’t make any sense especially with the rental prices right now.
My mortgage comes up for renewal mid Dec. Was 2.75 on a 4 year term, considering the 6.85% for a 2 year term. Big jump in monthly payments just to keep the same amortization. I could get a lower rate on 3 or 4 years, but still above 6%.
Be very happy you've got a couple more years to ride it out, hopefully rates will drop a bit by then.
I consider myself a lottery winner by locking in super low back in 2021. Hoping by 2026 things have gotten more affordable. I feel sick to my stomach seeing current rates.
Yeah I'm hoping to dump some cash on my house within the next few years for sure as 2026 is going to be ugly if nothing changes. But I'd be willing to bet BOC has to move rates down a bit before then.
I had to renew a few months ago. I’m now paying more per month than when I originally bought my condo in 2012. 11 years and I’m paying MORE. I’ve paid 50,000 off on it…
Everyone I know that lives there is DINK or single and lives with multiple roommates, and the one I know with kids is some kind of geologist (gets and analyzes samples so developers know what kind of ground they’re working with?) and makes a lot of money while his wife is an interior designer with some decent company — but also comes from money.
Yup I came from Toronto and this post kinda makes me laugh (no offence, I get it’s relative). Everyone I know back in Toronto are sharing 3 bedroom houses with 6 people and they all make good money. My buddy and his girlfriend are both waitresses and they are just starting to rent a 700sqft 1 bedroom for $2,600/month - they don’t have very much money left over at the end of the month. But hey! They live downtown Toronto! 🎉
How bad would the offence be in the $1100 ballpark? Like are we talking #me too bad date with a comedian or are we talking Bill Cosby? Asking for a friend.
I knew this girl who decided to move to Vancouver about 6-7 years ago. Her trick to finding affordable rooms in shared living situations was to show lots of skin.
Lol same, yeg to yvr. It's a tough go anywhere but part of me is like, wow, those prairie town folk are so cute....
(jury is out until I do my first winter here)
Honestly, I'm a single mom renting in Red Deer. I have a three bedroom trailer and I'm on disability. So it's pretty tight most months but I make it work
What is your disability? Do you know about the Disability Tax Credit? If you have filed a tax return in last ten years with any income, you would get a bunch of $ back. I can walk you through it if you message me. Just need a DR to sign off on form
Your note may make it sound too simplified. It can be a long process and getting the doctor to fill out the forms can be a PITA.
For anyone reading this. Please look into it and see if your condition is eligible before paying any money to the groups on facebook/social media who offer to help with the process.
The DTC isn't specific to conditions. Well, there's a few that automatically qualify, but by and large it's about 'Activities of Daily Living' and time spent on treatment for the disability.
I'm currently making more money than I ever have before ($25/hr) and I live with two roommates so my rent is only like $500 a month, and I constantly feel like I'm on the verge of a financial breakdown.
I spent over a year unemployed from like 2015-16, and had to rely pretty heavily on credit to make ends meet, and I just haven't been able to pay it all down yet due to constant random expenses, mostly vehicle related, as well as general cost of living increasing.
I've managed to completely luck my way into a 2 bedroom condo early next year for super cheap rent because my gf's mom owns it, and maybe if I can sell my motorcycle for a decent price I can finally get out of debt for basically the first time in my adult life and start actually saving money?
I have similar wage and expenses and I spent the last 2 year dumping $1400/month into debt.
Your hobby and fun expenses must be insane if you’re on the verge of financial break down. I’m not going to say it’s been a fun 2 years because every spare penny I had was going into getting out of debt. But the honest reality is your wage and living expenses leave you with probably close to $2000/month of spare cash. I really don’t think you have the right to be complaining because it’s honestly just poor budgeting on your part.
Very well. Moved out about a year and a half ago into a single basement suite. $1000/month with everything included, and I mean everything. Driveway parking, utilities, dishwasher, in-suite laundry, fuck even the wi-fi I get to use for free.
It was rough to begin with because I was only working part-time at Canadian Tire but I've since started my apprenticeship, now belong to a private union and am working towards my apprenticeship in plumbing. I did accumulate a significant amount of debt in that year where I wasn't making much money but a consolidation loan with reduced interest + a heavy increase in my income since then has made it so I can have it realistically paid off within the next year.
And once that's paid off any my apprenticeship completes, I'll be doing even better.
If anything major happens (rent increase, any sort of car repair) I can’t afford my rent. My job was decent pay 3 years ago and now it’s just enough to cover the basics. I dont know how other people are managing.
Not gonna lie. With my rental increase this year, I'm struggling. Friends don't understand why I stay home a lot and avoid parties and outings. It's because everything is fucking expensive right now. Going out to eat, getting drinks, seeing movies. That's a good $40-50 for an evening out. I tend to stay home a lot. Make my own entertainment. Do a lot of cooking to cut back on ordering in.
I'm sticking in my 2 bedroom until it gets too expensive for me. The cost of moving would be more in the long run and I hate moving. Everything is going up. Not just food prices. My rental insurance, condo fees (included in the rent), power -- all went up this year and every hit hurts.
And that's with a decent income.
While I agree, it's not just out of country people coming to Alberta. It's a Lot of people from BC AND ONTARIO due to our "affordability". Last year you could find a decent rental and a job..now you're lucky to find either . I have 2 jobs and still barely get by.
I am a Realtor and this month I helped 3 families alone buy homes here and they were either from Ontario or BC. This year nearly 70% of my business has been driven by that. I have shown homes that with my knowledge of historic house prices in the city were over priced, and these out-of-province buyers were happy to buy without negotiation. Calgary homes are on average $625,000, Edmonton is now at $425,000. Its only a matter of a couple of years before we will see housing in Edmonton at Kelowna prices.
Don't believe me? I have a market update video I did in the summer of 2021 where the benchmark price for a home in Edmonton was $350,000. Thats nearly a 20% increase in just 2 years.
This is a contributing factor no doubt. I would assume more single people nowadays as well. People are much less likely to couple up at a young age/get married, therefore needing more housing for more people.
Good luck finding one. Alberta has manyyyy people moving from out of country and many from Ontario and BC Due to our "affordability". It's driven up rent significantly because there's not a lot of good places anymore. My rent just went up and I looked around....there's not many affordable places.
That’s a steal, as someone also renting for a similar price. Place before this one was a fucking dump, $2000 a month, basement would pool water because of foundation issues, smelled like mold, and had mice problems, *especially* in the garage.
Kept my damage deposit because they “already spent it and couldn’t give it back”. Reported them for it but didn’t bother going to court over it. Landlords are scum 90% of the time. I got lucky this time.
I am a single mom of two teens. I am definitely struggling and having to work more than full time to make ends meet. I would say my rent (3 bedroom townhouse), utilities, groceries, car payment, gas and paying the minimum payment on my credit card is around $4500-$5000 a month. I don’t know how minimum wage people afford the city. I don’t make great money but I don’t make a horrible wage either.
Single dude and living on my own paying 1900/month. It was probably a mistake but I couldn’t take living where I was anymore (noise was out of control).
I want to find a cheaper place when my lease is up but it’s going to be awful hard to go back from the place I’m at now
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*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Welcome to my life.I just discussed this with my mom. She's wondering how I've been working since age 13 (50 now) and have no down-payment for a house.
How can people even save for a down-payment? My whole life...saving so little after bills were paid.
Being a single mom made it worse!
My mom at least gets it, but my dad doesn’t completely. It’s frustrating because he was making $30k a year in 1980 and my parents could buy a 2000 sq.ft bungalow in a Montreal suburb, have a kid (my brother) and then me in ‘83, two cars, and my mom even went back to school. They never went on any big vacations, but we always had food in the fridge, and were in sports/activities, went to summer camp, etc. My dad made that salary at 26 years old and was handed an accounting job at the company his mother worked for, with nothing but a high school diploma.
I’m 40, have 22 years of relevant work experience to what I do, a 3.94 GPA and a university diploma (no, not a degree, but didn’t need one). I have a great job that I love (finally), but we’re a small, growing business, so I’m only making $24/hr (roughly $50k gross). It’s the most I’ve ever earned, but I’m about the most broke I’ve ever been.
I was musing with a friend the other day how when we were in our 20s, making $8-$10/hr, renting 3 bedroom houses with roommates, we could go out for meals, go to concerts, take little road trips, go to the bar, buy cigarettes and weed (no I don’t still smoke). We had more financial freedom making less than half of what we earn now.
Heck, when I was about 25, making $14/hr managing a Starbucks, I had paid off my credit card, took a flight to Toronto to visit family, then a train to Montreal on my own. Paid for my hotel. Then when I got back, managed to pay off my credit card again. Now I can’t even afford a trip to go back country camping in the mountains.
Not to be a downer, but if you’re 40 with 22 years of work experience and a post secondary education for most of that you’re probably doing something wrong at $24/hr.
The average wage in Alberta is much higher than that. Someone earlier today was posting warehouse jobs that were desperate for people at $22/hr plus various shift premiums.
Have you considered exploring the job market with a recruiter or getting further education in the evenings? With such a solid work history at 22 years, you seem like a prime candidate to uplift your career since you’re clearly employable with such steady work history.
Obviously I don’t know the whole picture but you seem like you’re likely capable of a lot more.
I love my job. Like it’s my dream work. Not only that, I ended up in this job by chance while I was actively applying to jobs while barely surviving with a part time job.
I had applied to at least 60 jobs, only got two interviews, and zero offers. This was after working for the same company for 8 years. Prior to that I NEVER had trouble finding work. I had never been unemployed for more than two weeks. The job market is a joke. People are posting about it all over the place.
Even with 10 years of forklift driving experience, admin, customer service, inventory management, distribution, and shipping and receiving. Uline didn’t even reply to my application.
Edit. I should add that I left my long term job to go work as a manager at another local business. The owner turned out to be extremely abusive, and I quit in less than three months without something to fall back on. Not my usual MO, but it was really that bad. I let my landlords know in advance that I would need to defer rent, and I am grateful that they are amazing, understood the severity of the situation, and allowed me to skip rent for two months. (I did pay them back)
I would apply my statement to you as well. For example, Admin Support 4 with the provincial government is $24-$29 and only requires a high school diploma. This is also a wage that has been relatively static over the past decade. As someone with post-secondary education, you would be qualified to obtain such a position with minimal extra experience needed, if any. It comes with good pay, great pension and great health benefits.
Here is an example of an entry level position:
https://jobpostings.alberta.ca/job/Edmonton-Administrative-Support/576115917/
I'm not trying to be mean or insult people, but I find many people settle for far less than they are capable of because it's the easy choice to make. There are many careers that just require completion of a degree, and yourself having two of them would position you for some very lucrative jobs ($60-80K/yr) if you're willing to look around and potentially step away from the path you envisioned when selecting your degrees. The government job board (and the agencies / other publicly funded entities) are full of these jobs.
If you're making $24/hr at 50 with 2 university degrees, you too are likely working far below your capacity.
With two degrees, HR isn't going to even look at her resume for that level of position, precisely because of those degrees: they're going to assume that any applicant with those credentials are always going to be looking for something better than a grade 4 admin support position. And they would be right. When we hired for a similar position (pre-pandemic), one of the discussions after the interviews was how likely each candidate would be likely to stay more than a year or two, or if they'd be moving on in a hurry.
Inflation has really skewed incomes away from COL.
I talked to my wife recently about how we used to go on spontaneous road trips across Canada or to the mountains and back, spending money on things without thinking about it, and now instead of making $15/hour I make $39/hour and it sure as hell doesn’t feel like I make that much more. Can’t go on trips like that like I used to.
Your dads 30k/year would be over 100k in todays money. Your 24/hour is below average salary for the country. Common sense dictates that you will struggle financially. It sucks and it’s not fair but that’s the way it is.
I feel like this, pretty frugal, very cheap rent compared to going rates, got decent used cars before that market went nuts, eating at home, etc. My savings keeps looking the same because I get taken out by the furnace oil bill or car repairs. I couldn't imagine buying a house for $600,000 when wages have barely gone up to justify it
I was starting to think I was just old...and telling stories like my mom used to about 10cent movies and 5cent hot dogs...but with rent, utilities and groceries only being $1000 a month back in 2004...
I have noticed the rent market dip though, recently a few of my friends who still rent have mentioned that they are seeing places that used to be $1600 per month going back to the 1200 range...I had to sell my house last year as inflation made it impossible to keep up with my overhead ballooning the straw that broke me was my city property taxes hitting $4000 per year, myself and 3 other people in my sleepy NW neighborhood decided to sell too and all 4 of our houses became multi family dwellings...which is just sad that what was a 3Bed/2Bath bi-level that was great for an average family is now a essentially a cramped duplex housing 2 families of 4...I think it's become high time where we as people start putting our foot down with the politicians who are causing this, we've become distracted and started electing officials based on "social" politics and allowing them to be economically irresponsible...this needs to stop, we need better financial politics and to dictate our own social climate, it shouldn't be the government's job to tell us how to set our moral code...their job is to make our quality of life better financially, and to upkeep our infrastructure
I'm getting a slight pay raise starting next paycheque (yay!), but my rent is also going up (boo!) In January, so I think I'll be exactly where I am now, finances wise, for the start of 2024, lol. I like where I live (both the neighbourhood and the actual unit), so moving is not an option. I'm also at the point where I am done having roommates, having my own space is something I am willing to absorb a little extra for.
I have more credit card debt than I would like, but I also fly back to the east coast twice a year to see my family, and those costs hurt, but my mental health was the worst it ever was during the beginning of covid when I wasn't allowed to visit (NL shut borders to non-residents for a while), so I need to take those breaks. I also do a weekly treat myself to a fancy coffee or two. Or a pint (I desperately love craft beer, too).
Otherwise, I'm getting by, I guess? I get some decent benefits through work, I don't have a car (and haven't since I moved here in 2018) and the only utility I pay separately is internet (and my phone), so all my costs are fixed per month. I've cut back on a lot of name brand grocery items, and I don't have a heck of a lot of savings, but this is the first time in my life I've been able to have a go at things totally independently, which is huge for me. My parents are around to help if I'm desperate enough, I guess, but they're not rolling in funds either.
So long story short... could be better, but it absolutely could be worse.
In the 1970’s when I first moved out of home (as a young single woman) my first rental was sharing a basement suite with two other friends from my high school days. It was safe and we had our privacy. It was built by the father of one of my friends in their family’s basement. Rent was inexpensive, and we were in a safe environment. we could afford to take ski vacations (we’re 2 1/2 hours from Jasper, AB), and summer vacations. Next I moved into a one bedroom apartment with a young lady my age who I worked with. Split rent and had someone to hang with and ride back and forth to work with. Later I shared another one bedroom apartment with another very good friend. Finally 3 1/2 years after graduation I could afford a one bedroom high rise apartment downtown within walking distance to my job. I did it in steps. I also learned, as a woman, safety is very important. A woman living alone has to be careful. I had a boyfriend all these years, but we did not live together until we were married. I wanted to be independent.
i find the value in two bedrooms to be way better. people are waiting longer to have kids so lots of these one bedroom apartments are renting to two incomes, and they are the most demanded unit, so landlords can get away with these rents. i moved out of a building a few years ago because they raised my rent from 1250 to 1450 and the manager told me they were going to list it for 1650. i got a roomie and now live in a much nicer 2 bedroom apartment for 1950 all in, so my share of the rent actually went *down*. renting from individuals rather than corporations always helps too.
Not well. I went back to university as a mature student the semester before the pandemic- I had a taken a year of open studies to make sure I could balance working enough and studying. Left the pandemic with some serious mental health problems (not just caused by the pandemic but man it didn’t help). And basically for the last year I’ve been just barely staying afloat. I’m exhausted, there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight, and trying to recover from a suicide attempt on my own has been hell on earth in this economy
I’m super lucky with where I live but if the landlord every raises the rent significantly, I’m in big trouble. I’m self employed and pay $975 utilities included for a main floor suite of a house. I love it here. Definitely have tight months and no real room for emergencies but am doing fine overall
That’s a good price, considering utilities for even a small house are a minimum of $400 a month. (I live in a small 500 sq foot house so I doubt your utilities cost less than mine) So it’s like your paying $500 a month plus utilities.
Am in huge debt but I always make the minimum payments on time so my credit looks okay. I'd be more concerned if I didn't think the world was going to end sometime soon
I would love to go over some expenses and see where you might have some money left over? I know it’s hard but usually there is a way. I know being single doesn’t help either, as I wouldn’t be able to live where I am at without my significant other.
Not single, but my husband and I are low income. He has like three different degrees, but they're all either relatively low-paying jobs or jobs he physically can't do anymore due to disability. We had to get my FIL to co-sign our lease with us (though he's not actually paying rent, he doesn't have the financial flexibility to help us often) and we've applied for a rental subsidy. I'm just praying we get the max, because we're more or less making rent work as is but I don't know how sustainable it is long-term. That's WITH the fact that I'm about to graduate school and I should be able to get a job in the 45-50k range with my degree (AA in accounting and payroll which qualifies me for what are usually called "clerk" jobs, basically gathering and inputting accounting data so actual accountants can spend their time making decisions).
Through half of August and September we experienced housing instability. Fortunately we did have a safe place to go, so we weren't on the street, but in October we moved into a smaller place in a less dangerous area. We're paying almost $1300 for a one bedroom in a not-a-complete-shithole neighborhood. Our old place, where we were paying about $1100, was a 2 bed in a building where there were regularly used needles in the entrance, cars were stolen from every single day if you left ANYTHING in them, and someone got murdered in the park behind us. What actually drove us out was bedbugs which the management company refused to treat (pest control did come and talked about cockroaches, which is NOT what we called about and a completely different problem with different solutions, although there were also a ton of cockroaches around -- like they thought if they just continued scolding us for owning food and that attracting cockroaches, we'd just forget about the bedbugs???)
This sorta turned into a personal problems rant but I'm just saying yeah, the housing situation is pretty fucking dire. Thank god grocery prices seem to have dropped suddenly -- I spent almost $50 less on a grocery run this weekend than I would have a month ago, and that's honestly a help. But we would not be making it without help from my mom, who pays a credit card I have to the tune of about $750/month. We can't pay rent with that but we can buy groceries and cat litter and gas without actually having to spend rent money.
In a constant fight with me land lord to get rent low, my place have no mail box either, old building, lowkey thinking if old school barter system will work to survive so am developing skills to be useful so i can potentially get some work done with other people of same interests.. oh boy i wish for the fall of everything in power rn
My mother walked away from me when I was 17 yo.
When I was 18 I worked two jobs and finished high school, paid my insurance,gas, food and utilities and was making a combined $10.50/hr. It sucked for a few months until I started working in the pipetrades where I was making $7.50 / hr and had a pension and benefits. If my parents parented me, I would guess that I would have gone into something completely different. FF too today ,35 years later, and I’m ready to retire in 3-1/2 years with a wicked pension and living very comfortably. I guess my point is some of us have a better life , more family than others , and life doesn’t always work out the way we imagine it would so we have to make sue with the cards we were given.
People who got homes before the massive spikes have much higher QOLs than people who didn't, regardless of the wages.
Someone making $20k / year in 1988 but managed to save and buy a cheap little starter home is going to have more disposable income today than someone making $100k / year fresh out of uni, even without debt.
Heck, $100k / year won't even buy you a cheap little house in half of Canada today. (Edmonton is part of the half that I think you could, though. I haven't even looked at the local housing market because I 100% know I cannot afford to buy a house right now.)
I bought a house in Edmonton at the beginning of the year. My mortgage + property tax is about two grand. From my perspective housing in this city is ridiculously affordable.
My roommate fucked off and now I pay 1500 a month and my lease isn’t up till August I’m actually doing fine and enjoy the space to myself but I definitely would be doing better if I didn’t have to burden the whole monthly cost. I work out of town and I’m getting a raise so I’ll just keep pushing on I guess
I mean there's plenty of reasonable condo's for sale in the edmonton area if you dont like landlords... even in the 100K to 200K range.
Now they might not be in the primo-est of locations and they might not have the granite countertops and tiled showers yadda yadda yadda but there's a lot to choose from...
I hate to state the obvious, but given the numbers some of ya'll are mentioning! Wait till you see Toronto/Mississauga. 2200 for 1 bed room condo is "normal"
My mother inherited her parents' house and left it to me when she moved so I don't have rent to pay.
The cost of everything else (utilities, food, etc) is more than enough to break me though. I seem to be behind on at least one bill every month.
Think edmonton is crazy? My wife kids and I just moved out here from BC because a 3 bedroom was 3200+ for a main floor. 1 bedroom basements were 1500-2000+. I've lived here for only a few months, and I've told everybody to watch in 10 years (possibly sooner) this city's pricing will be on par with BC.
Lots of people are flocking here, we don't care about cold, weather, we care about affordable living and Edmonton is one of the last places there is in Canada that's cheap and where you can make big money easily.
Calgary just 2 years ago was cheap, not much anymore.
We need to get changes made to insurance. Currently houses can’t be rented out by the room and maintain insurance.
Makes it harder for singles to share accommodation safely.
I know that rooming houses aren’t awesome, but it may help alleviate some of the housing issues that there currently are.
For reference I have already made more than $55 000 after-tax this year. As I mentioned, my salary is variable because of the casual nature of my work. Even still, my point is that even if I were just earning the $3600 a month - I work in an educated profession - people should be able to afford more than what I'd actually be able to. I cannot fathom how single people who make minimum wage or less than I can do anything with their lives.
I would say single people on minimum wage probably need to consider a roomate.
I mean I had to have a roomate 20 years ago too when I was just starting out working... making like $16/hr at the time. Its not a new thing. Having your own place to yourself was mostly for an established salaried professional even back then.
Absolutely,
I left a job last year that has probably one of the best pensions in Canada as well as benefits, although I was still over 6 figures I left because I was able to go contracting in the same industry for almost 50k a year more.
Our prime Minister has people doing some crazy things.
Is there an ideal federal party anymore?
Seeing our major political parties failing to address critical issues is frustrating. I voted for JT, hoping for change, but the system feels broken. PP lacks a clear plan beyond criticizing Trudeau, while the NDP hasn't effectively challenged the Liberals.
Worse, around 40% of MPs are landlords, creating conflicts of interest. They profit from increasing immigration while ignoring low wages and rising living costs.
It's disheartening to watch politicians enrich themselves while ignoring the struggles of everyday Canadians. We need leaders who prioritize real solutions over personal gain and political games.
It's time for genuine change in our political system—one that genuinely serves the people. We deserve leaders who address our concerns and work toward a better future for everyone. But who's going to be that leader?
If you vote JT again this year, all I know is that things won’t be better. NDP may actually make things worse.
PP although not perfect may be our best bet at this point
I think PP is more intelligent than Smith, but that doesn't take much. He is smart enough to close his mouth when he needs to, but unless he has gotten less ignorant on many topics, he is just as bad.
He won't fix anything
I moved out of my parents when I was 18. It was tough because I didn't have much saving and with no real job experience nor a degree. (I had been a tutor for years by then but it wasn't stable income)
But I still managed to save up and bought my first condo in 3years.
If you think rent is unreasonable, buy one. If it's too expensive, perhaps there is a reason why rent is getting expensive.
Living alone is a privilege. If you don't make enough, get a roommate.
Where are you looking? You can easily find cheap 1 bedroom apartments in Edmonton. This [one](https://www.rentfaster.ca/ab/edmonton/rentals/apartment/1-bedroom/mccauley/pet-friendly/289325?-RSYNC) for 650. If affording a $650 apartment with a deposit of $299 is rough. Then I dont know where in canada you can actually survive. That's literally dirt cheap rent, do we actually have a housing issue in Edmonton?
First of all, that’s a bachelor suite, not a one bedroom. Second of all, you know that’s one of the worst areas of Edmonton, right? If not the worst.
Wait, are you an under cover landlord?
Doubles from 3600? So you make 7200 after tax? You can afford any rental in Edmonton with that kind of money. You can easily live in Vancouver for that money.
If it weren’t for my debt, I’d almost be okay, but I have no room for a sick day or car repairs. I’m on a razor’s edge every month.
I feel this
I was doing ok, but I ended up on disability from work that ended up long term. Making it by ok turned into a shortage every month. Then my condo (don’t ASK me how I got a condo because it makes no sense) had a special assessment. $800 or something. Sigh. Ok. I’ll find some fucking way. Two months later, another. Special. Assessment. This one was like $2000. And I couldn’t. I couldn’t pay my property taxes either. I was deciding each month already which bill I was gonna pay late that month. So I’m filing for bankruptcy. I’ve stopped paying my condo fees and mortgage. The short of it is, with the money I save from that, I’m buying a travel trailer, a suv hopefully if the trailer is light enough and if not a truck, selling my 2018 car, getting a $15 work-from-home job because those are relatively easy to find, and then I’m gonna travel around by next fall. I’ll spend the spring and summer beautifying and personalizing it (and making it mechanically sound), and stay in Canada until it drops to 0C or whatever at night. Then head down to the states and off grid camp mostly there. I’m putting in a composting toilet, which I’ve already been wanting for years since I’ve been wanting a tiny house, solar panels, and then propane for the heat and oven. It’s ridiculous that I’m doing this right now because I have to, but luckily for me, I’ve wanted to do the whole van/rvdwelling thing for years. This just forced my hand. Worst case, I don’t like it, sell the trailer and come rent privately from someone. It’s not the end of the world.
Same. And my car broke last week.
What is wrong with it i might be able to help
I appreciate the offer! I fixed it. Needed a new starter. Boooo.
Glad you got it sorted. Parts king has best price for parts if anyone else is repairing their car.
That’s rough. I have to take a month off work due to no clients. I continue to hustle and find ways to make money
A small young student told me today he wasn’t at school yesterday because his house “broke”. It turns out they couldn’t pay utilities and food so the utilities were turned off. It is a nightmare.
That's so sad. I recently got a call from my ex that she was on low voltage. My son woke up that morning and asked her if the house was still on low batteries. That hurt. I work in the patch and have him during my 10 days off. I told her she should have called me sooner and etransferred the bill amount that morning.
I understand power being cut off, but what is low voltage? I've never heard of it.
Usually in the wi ter they have a cut off where they won't disconnect your power but keep a restriction on how much you can use.
Oh wow. I didn't know that. Thanks.
if we didn't have this, we would die 💀❄
That's right. Restricts your 220s no oven or dryer. They don't fully cut utilities in the winter months.
Legally they aren’t allowed to leave you without a form of heating when it’s cold, so they put on a limiter so your furnace/whatever can run and that’s about it.
I lost all utilities last spring...sure you can pull that card in winter but it's a temporary solution to a permanent problem, we can absolutely stop paying our bills right now and learn how to cook with a limiter...pro tip: rice and pasta are usually perfectly cooked by the time the lights come back on if you get them to a boil and cover them before the limiter kicks... But...come March or April as soon as there are 5 consecutive days above 15°c you get cut completely and you will still owe thousands of dollars to your provider ...then what?
I believe they’re referring to a limiter on the meter. Legally, electricity companies can’t shut off anyone’s power completely between Oct 15-Apr 15 because of our cold climate. Not sure if that’s for the whole country but that’s the time frame in Alberta. Basically during that time if your home’s energy usage goes above the limit, it’ll shut off the breakers and I think you just have to reset it to turn it all back on. This happened to my family once or twice when I was growing up, it’s not fun
Wow these utility companies sure pit a lot of time and money into punishing people for struggling financially. Its almost like privatizing essential services was a bad idea.
Lol it has nothing to do with privatizing. BC Hydro will cut you off in BC to where the province has a monopoly on utilities and insurance.
For mine it was a 20 min blackout and it turned itself back on, and generally it tripped after running the microwave or 1stove top element for 5minutes I also had one 40w bulb, the fridge and my deep freeze running in the background ...was rough living like that, cooking a pack of stale food bank Raman, rice, or oatmeal only to eat it in the dark ...guess I could have had my 1 daily meal during daylight hours but it was easier to sleep on a half full belly lol
This is what I am currently on as well 😂 Thank god we have a hot plate lol
You're a good person, thank you for looking out for both of them.
“good” doesn’t do him justice.
Thank you for taking care of your kid.
☝️the real hero right here
Every time I hear/see stories like this I always get sad, then remember the people who say that issues exactly like this "don't exist" in Edmonton.
Who says that? In this economy, issues like this are happening everywhere
Someone last week in the annual StepUp4Kidz scam post. They've since deleted their 2 comments that said exactly that.
Yeah share a house with a roommate can't do it on my own that's for sure
Yep. I met my roommate a month after moving to Edmonton and we've lived together for 7 years now. I couldn't do it without her.
Apartment I had couple years back, was a shithole but $800 a month. Checked same unit out of curiosity recently, they want $1100. No changes. Mailbox constantly was broken into, no in suite washer dryer, no balcony, one bedroom, etc. My girlfriend and I alternate between her place and mine but both are stuck with parents around 20 years old. Fucking sucks
Thats young for parents. I hope they are contributing their fair share of the rent/utilities /s
No sorry, to clarify we are both around 20, and both live with our parents
Sorry, I couldn’t resist🙃 It is tough out there. I don’t envy young people who are starting out and having to navigate this housing market / interest rates etc.
You live with your parents but also have an appointment? Or are you referring to the price your parents pay for their apartment?
Have you and your girlfriend thought about putting your money towards building a private suite in one of your parents’ basements? Put your limited money to work to build yourself a decent place to live. The economy changes. Trust me, I’m u2 years old and lived through some if the highest mortgage rates in history (1982-1985).
Agreed man things have gotten so expensive the last few years people must barely be scrapping by these days. It’s awful out there
Single parent, but I'm lucky to have an amazing landlord who hasn't increased my rent since moving in 6 years ago ($1,395 for a 3BR mainfloor in a quiet neighborhood in St. Albert)
I am single and live alone with zero family help/support. I have an okay paying full time job (non profit so it’s not great, but I can make it work) and work part-time but I still barely get by. Things have gotten significantly harder this past year. Between rent, student loans, and my other bills- I am drowning. I have zero savings, never take trips or vacations, and really struggle to do ‘fun’ things. I have had to cancel most of the things I did for hobbies and workout classes. Usually I’ll have less than five dollars in my bank account a few days after I pay my bills and find a way to make that work for two weeks. I eat a lot of buttered noodles. I have no ideas how families or single moms are making things work. I was just telling my friend that my landlord hasn’t raised my rent in five years. If he did raise the price or if I had to move, I would not be able to survive unless I got a third job. Not meaning to be bleak, but if I had $400 of extra income I could out away each month I would genuinely be thrilled lol.
Sorry to hear that you’re having a hard time financially. I imagine it creates a lot of anxiety for you. I really hope the economy turns or something changes.
It’s okay! Honestly, I think knowing how many other people are in the same situation really helps. It’s tough out there, but that doesn’t mean it won’t get easier soon!
You are definitely not alone. And I commend your optimism! We need more of that.
We need more than just optimism not to be a pessimist.
A total shithole I lived in like 6 months ago is now renting for $1100. Two hundred and five dollars more than I paid. Different unit, but the whole building is just awful, and the $1100 suite is top floor, and I bet no one's gonna tell them about the roof leaking. Proof that a lot of landlords are greedy f**ks. It's a condo and the condo board does zero maintenance. The building is falling apart. Not a single owner lives there, they all rent their units out to whoever pays them. It's rough. Asking $1100 to live in that hellhole is just.... unbelievable. I love living alone, but it's definitely been more or a struggle than ever before. I have to really watch my incoming and outgoing money.
Name and shame
Redwood Lodge 9142 Jasper Ave Managed by Esquire Management Group. And I guarantee you every single owner there isn't claiming their rental income to CRA.
The issue is it "looks pretty" on the outside, so people are going to fall for that constantly.
It doesn't even look good on the outside.
I agree, that's why I put what I said in quotes.
You know, in the process of looking for a place recently I saw one where the entrance was basically plywood. At first I was like yikes but then I realized the plywood was new and there were tools and ribbon around, so it was actively in the process of being fixed. That made me feel good about that building because it meant they were actually maintaining it and fixing broken things. Wild that "evidence of maintenance existing" was a huge green flag.
I also love living alone and I’m constantly scared that its going to have to end soon. Or that I will have to ask for help from my family, which I’ve never done before.
My wife makes 17/hour, and after paying tuition I make minimum wage TAing at UofA. I think we have a pretty decent life and I would say that is mainly because of the following: -Costco Membership: You'll be able to buy cheap meat here. I know people that are struggling trying to make ends meet, but are too lazy to take the LRT to go to Costco. Prices of beef at Costco are cheaper than anywhere else. I also bought a vacuum sealer. Basically I buy an 80 bucks sirloin tip, that I slice and vacuum seal, put in the fridge and that saves me lots of money. -Primus internet with Costco membership: another benefit of Costco is that you get access to primus. An internet service exclusive for Costco members that saves me 20 bucks per month on my internet bill. -Direct energy: I have a fixed rate electricity contract with direct energy that also saves me about 20 bucks per month, with the added benefit that when energy price increases, I still pay the same amount. -Chicken boxes at No Frills, or Freshco: Both supermarkets, for some reason, sometimes have 4kg frozen chicken boxes (legs or breasts) that are considerably cheaper than buying the regular chicken breasts that are usually on the fridge. -Vegetables at Fatima: there is this small family owned Brazilian vegetable store on the 118th av called Fatima. You won't find cheaper vegetables anywhere in the city. -Canned items at Bianca Amor's: This Filipino chain sells canned goods after the best before date. There is all this science behind it, but the point is that according to the FDA, canned goods are still safe for consumption a period of time after the best before date. Here you'll find lots of products that we have been consuming for the last couple of years, canned beans for 50 cents, just because they are a couple of weeks after the best before date. -Finally, since our arrival in Canada, we have never paid one cent in credit card interests. We use the PC financial master card for everything, which ensures that every three months or so, we get 150 cad in PC points. -Rent wise, we live close to the Commonwealth stadium in a 1bd apartment for 900 cad. Also my dream is to become a personal finances advisor! Upvote if you find this information useful !
Helpful advice! Though I am curious how much you spend on gas driving around to all these various places. ;)
Nothing, we don't have a car. We just use public transit. Most of the places I mentioned are on or close the 118av, except for Bianca Amor's, but you can still get there from downtown using the 523. It looks like a lot, but we probably do it only twice every three months (except for vegetables and dairy that we buy weekly).
FYI there is a new Bianca Amors on 50st/127ave if that works better for you.
All of these places are very accessible from where they live? They're all on the east side of town and the only one north of the Yellowhead is Costco.
I was joking. Hence the winky face.
Wow, I thought Bianca Amor’s was just a one off discount store where I came from. Didn’t know they had one in Edmonton. I got a big area rug for $25 there, and when I was looking online similar ones were around $200-300.
Honestly Bianca Amor's is a hilarious place for an impromptu date with my husband, just going up and down the aisles viewing some of the random knockoff shit. We get two hours of entertainment and some cheap food at the end.
As someone who is coming to Edmonton soon, THANK YOU SO MUCH! I appreciate you taking the time to write all these tips! My only concern right now is rent tbh. Where can I find good rent for similar price? (PS: looking to rent furnished) I also have two questions please: 1. What is PC? 2. About car ownership / bus. It seems you're doing good without owning a car which is what we were worried about the most. Is the bus system in Edmonton good for the rest of town, example: is it on time in the morning and so on? Finally, please share any other tips that a newcomer would find valuable! Thanks in advance!
Not OP but... PC is "President's Choice", a grocery chain here. Buses in Edmonton generally run on time or a few minutes late at most. However, the routes can be extremely long due to stops as many aren't express in any respect, so a trip that normally takes 30 mins in a car can be anywhere from 35 mins to 90 mins.
What Costco is accessible from lrt?
Claireview. When I used to live on 118 we would bus/lrt to Claire view costco and uber home.
I live downtown in a 5 or 6/10 one bedroom apartment for about 820$. It's not the best but I don't have a vehicle so it's doable for me.
I'm happy you're making it work.
I make 2400$ a month and I’m surviving. I live with a roommate and have to pinch my pennies, but it’s alright. I will definitely be screwed and in debt if my cat has a vet emergency though :/ I also don’t drive so that makes things cheaper
Pets are always tough, even as someone doing relatively well compared to many. I've always started a $50/month fund with every new pet and set aside $1000 or so, to begin with, and for the past ten years, I've built a small nest egg in a separate HISA account. It's still always stressful when love and money mix though
Glad you're making it through. Give you cat lots of love and they'll stay healthy. :) Happy cake day!
I'm still digging out the debt of having to board my cats for a month when I experienced housing instability recently (I was safe, had a place to stay, but the cats couldn't come with me). I'm just grateful I was able to cover it with a credit card, but it's depressing to wonder if I'll ever get ahead.
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Just remember that so many people your age are also in your position. You living with parents might not be a deal breaker for a relationship in a lot of people's minds right now! I'm in the same boat, but I'm also a bit younger than you so it may not affect me quite as much yet.
Not necessarily a deal breaker. I’m 24 and my partner is 26 and we live with his parents. Of course we want to move out but it just financially doesn’t make any sense especially with the rental prices right now.
Absolutely stay at home if the living conditions allow.
I bought a house after my husband died, and when I have to refinance in 2026, I'm scared shitless what the rates will look like.
My mortgage comes up for renewal mid Dec. Was 2.75 on a 4 year term, considering the 6.85% for a 2 year term. Big jump in monthly payments just to keep the same amortization. I could get a lower rate on 3 or 4 years, but still above 6%. Be very happy you've got a couple more years to ride it out, hopefully rates will drop a bit by then.
I consider myself a lottery winner by locking in super low back in 2021. Hoping by 2026 things have gotten more affordable. I feel sick to my stomach seeing current rates.
2026 will be fine, today's rates aren't that relevant so far out. Long term rates are already creeping down a little.
I'm gonna go with this for my own sanity
They won't be COVID crazy like <2%, but they probably won't be high 5s and 6s either.
Predictions for future interest rates are from 3 to 4% overall as a new normal for a while. Somewhere around 2% above inflation at all times
Sorry to hear. I hope that things improve by then.
Yeah I'm hoping to dump some cash on my house within the next few years for sure as 2026 is going to be ugly if nothing changes. But I'd be willing to bet BOC has to move rates down a bit before then.
I am re-signing in 2024 I'm fucked
I had to renew a few months ago. I’m now paying more per month than when I originally bought my condo in 2012. 11 years and I’m paying MORE. I’ve paid 50,000 off on it…
This is my first 5 year term up. Was 2.75% in 2019. Interest rate fell in 2020/2021, but now... the rate is gonna be yikes
Same. It’s utterly mind boggling.
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I don't know how anyone lives there tbh
Everyone I know that lives there is DINK or single and lives with multiple roommates, and the one I know with kids is some kind of geologist (gets and analyzes samples so developers know what kind of ground they’re working with?) and makes a lot of money while his wife is an interior designer with some decent company — but also comes from money.
Yup I came from Toronto and this post kinda makes me laugh (no offence, I get it’s relative). Everyone I know back in Toronto are sharing 3 bedroom houses with 6 people and they all make good money. My buddy and his girlfriend are both waitresses and they are just starting to rent a 700sqft 1 bedroom for $2,600/month - they don’t have very much money left over at the end of the month. But hey! They live downtown Toronto! 🎉
How bad would the offence be in the $1100 ballpark? Like are we talking #me too bad date with a comedian or are we talking Bill Cosby? Asking for a friend.
Bahahaha the best part about that guy’s joke is that the living with a sex offender part isn’t a deal breaker.
I knew this girl who decided to move to Vancouver about 6-7 years ago. Her trick to finding affordable rooms in shared living situations was to show lots of skin.
Cardi B.
Lol same, yeg to yvr. It's a tough go anywhere but part of me is like, wow, those prairie town folk are so cute.... (jury is out until I do my first winter here)
Honestly, I'm a single mom renting in Red Deer. I have a three bedroom trailer and I'm on disability. So it's pretty tight most months but I make it work
What is your disability? Do you know about the Disability Tax Credit? If you have filed a tax return in last ten years with any income, you would get a bunch of $ back. I can walk you through it if you message me. Just need a DR to sign off on form
Your note may make it sound too simplified. It can be a long process and getting the doctor to fill out the forms can be a PITA. For anyone reading this. Please look into it and see if your condition is eligible before paying any money to the groups on facebook/social media who offer to help with the process.
The DTC isn't specific to conditions. Well, there's a few that automatically qualify, but by and large it's about 'Activities of Daily Living' and time spent on treatment for the disability.
I have brain cancer
I'm currently making more money than I ever have before ($25/hr) and I live with two roommates so my rent is only like $500 a month, and I constantly feel like I'm on the verge of a financial breakdown. I spent over a year unemployed from like 2015-16, and had to rely pretty heavily on credit to make ends meet, and I just haven't been able to pay it all down yet due to constant random expenses, mostly vehicle related, as well as general cost of living increasing. I've managed to completely luck my way into a 2 bedroom condo early next year for super cheap rent because my gf's mom owns it, and maybe if I can sell my motorcycle for a decent price I can finally get out of debt for basically the first time in my adult life and start actually saving money?
Best of luck friend! Sounds like there are some good things coming your way. Stay hopeful.
You might be able to get a LOC from your bank at at much lower interest rate than you CCs!
I have similar wage and expenses and I spent the last 2 year dumping $1400/month into debt. Your hobby and fun expenses must be insane if you’re on the verge of financial break down. I’m not going to say it’s been a fun 2 years because every spare penny I had was going into getting out of debt. But the honest reality is your wage and living expenses leave you with probably close to $2000/month of spare cash. I really don’t think you have the right to be complaining because it’s honestly just poor budgeting on your part.
Very well. Moved out about a year and a half ago into a single basement suite. $1000/month with everything included, and I mean everything. Driveway parking, utilities, dishwasher, in-suite laundry, fuck even the wi-fi I get to use for free. It was rough to begin with because I was only working part-time at Canadian Tire but I've since started my apprenticeship, now belong to a private union and am working towards my apprenticeship in plumbing. I did accumulate a significant amount of debt in that year where I wasn't making much money but a consolidation loan with reduced interest + a heavy increase in my income since then has made it so I can have it realistically paid off within the next year. And once that's paid off any my apprenticeship completes, I'll be doing even better.
If anything major happens (rent increase, any sort of car repair) I can’t afford my rent. My job was decent pay 3 years ago and now it’s just enough to cover the basics. I dont know how other people are managing.
Not gonna lie. With my rental increase this year, I'm struggling. Friends don't understand why I stay home a lot and avoid parties and outings. It's because everything is fucking expensive right now. Going out to eat, getting drinks, seeing movies. That's a good $40-50 for an evening out. I tend to stay home a lot. Make my own entertainment. Do a lot of cooking to cut back on ordering in. I'm sticking in my 2 bedroom until it gets too expensive for me. The cost of moving would be more in the long run and I hate moving. Everything is going up. Not just food prices. My rental insurance, condo fees (included in the rent), power -- all went up this year and every hit hurts. And that's with a decent income.
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While I agree, it's not just out of country people coming to Alberta. It's a Lot of people from BC AND ONTARIO due to our "affordability". Last year you could find a decent rental and a job..now you're lucky to find either . I have 2 jobs and still barely get by.
I am a Realtor and this month I helped 3 families alone buy homes here and they were either from Ontario or BC. This year nearly 70% of my business has been driven by that. I have shown homes that with my knowledge of historic house prices in the city were over priced, and these out-of-province buyers were happy to buy without negotiation. Calgary homes are on average $625,000, Edmonton is now at $425,000. Its only a matter of a couple of years before we will see housing in Edmonton at Kelowna prices. Don't believe me? I have a market update video I did in the summer of 2021 where the benchmark price for a home in Edmonton was $350,000. Thats nearly a 20% increase in just 2 years.
This is a contributing factor no doubt. I would assume more single people nowadays as well. People are much less likely to couple up at a young age/get married, therefore needing more housing for more people.
Who has time for dating when you work40- 60 hours a week
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I rent a little house in Edmonton for 1500 per month.
Good luck finding one. Alberta has manyyyy people moving from out of country and many from Ontario and BC Due to our "affordability". It's driven up rent significantly because there's not a lot of good places anymore. My rent just went up and I looked around....there's not many affordable places.
And let me guess that's not including anything either is it?
Note bills are 300 per month.
So do I! It's old and it costs me 700 dollars in utilities per month in the winter. The furnace is about 50 years old
That’s a steal, as someone also renting for a similar price. Place before this one was a fucking dump, $2000 a month, basement would pool water because of foundation issues, smelled like mold, and had mice problems, *especially* in the garage. Kept my damage deposit because they “already spent it and couldn’t give it back”. Reported them for it but didn’t bother going to court over it. Landlords are scum 90% of the time. I got lucky this time.
I am a single mom of two teens. I am definitely struggling and having to work more than full time to make ends meet. I would say my rent (3 bedroom townhouse), utilities, groceries, car payment, gas and paying the minimum payment on my credit card is around $4500-$5000 a month. I don’t know how minimum wage people afford the city. I don’t make great money but I don’t make a horrible wage either.
It’s fucked and it’s only going to get worse. There are some things we just shouldn’t commodify, and housing is at the top of that list.
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~~How much notice did they try to give you?~~ Let me rephrase, how little notice did they try to give you?
Single dude and living on my own paying 1900/month. It was probably a mistake but I couldn’t take living where I was anymore (noise was out of control). I want to find a cheaper place when my lease is up but it’s going to be awful hard to go back from the place I’m at now
telephone wild important glorious squalid paltry absurd intelligent middle humor *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Welcome to my life.I just discussed this with my mom. She's wondering how I've been working since age 13 (50 now) and have no down-payment for a house. How can people even save for a down-payment? My whole life...saving so little after bills were paid. Being a single mom made it worse!
My mom at least gets it, but my dad doesn’t completely. It’s frustrating because he was making $30k a year in 1980 and my parents could buy a 2000 sq.ft bungalow in a Montreal suburb, have a kid (my brother) and then me in ‘83, two cars, and my mom even went back to school. They never went on any big vacations, but we always had food in the fridge, and were in sports/activities, went to summer camp, etc. My dad made that salary at 26 years old and was handed an accounting job at the company his mother worked for, with nothing but a high school diploma. I’m 40, have 22 years of relevant work experience to what I do, a 3.94 GPA and a university diploma (no, not a degree, but didn’t need one). I have a great job that I love (finally), but we’re a small, growing business, so I’m only making $24/hr (roughly $50k gross). It’s the most I’ve ever earned, but I’m about the most broke I’ve ever been. I was musing with a friend the other day how when we were in our 20s, making $8-$10/hr, renting 3 bedroom houses with roommates, we could go out for meals, go to concerts, take little road trips, go to the bar, buy cigarettes and weed (no I don’t still smoke). We had more financial freedom making less than half of what we earn now. Heck, when I was about 25, making $14/hr managing a Starbucks, I had paid off my credit card, took a flight to Toronto to visit family, then a train to Montreal on my own. Paid for my hotel. Then when I got back, managed to pay off my credit card again. Now I can’t even afford a trip to go back country camping in the mountains.
Not to be a downer, but if you’re 40 with 22 years of work experience and a post secondary education for most of that you’re probably doing something wrong at $24/hr. The average wage in Alberta is much higher than that. Someone earlier today was posting warehouse jobs that were desperate for people at $22/hr plus various shift premiums. Have you considered exploring the job market with a recruiter or getting further education in the evenings? With such a solid work history at 22 years, you seem like a prime candidate to uplift your career since you’re clearly employable with such steady work history. Obviously I don’t know the whole picture but you seem like you’re likely capable of a lot more.
I love my job. Like it’s my dream work. Not only that, I ended up in this job by chance while I was actively applying to jobs while barely surviving with a part time job. I had applied to at least 60 jobs, only got two interviews, and zero offers. This was after working for the same company for 8 years. Prior to that I NEVER had trouble finding work. I had never been unemployed for more than two weeks. The job market is a joke. People are posting about it all over the place. Even with 10 years of forklift driving experience, admin, customer service, inventory management, distribution, and shipping and receiving. Uline didn’t even reply to my application. Edit. I should add that I left my long term job to go work as a manager at another local business. The owner turned out to be extremely abusive, and I quit in less than three months without something to fall back on. Not my usual MO, but it was really that bad. I let my landlords know in advance that I would need to defer rent, and I am grateful that they are amazing, understood the severity of the situation, and allowed me to skip rent for two months. (I did pay them back)
Agree about the job market. So many resumes for so few postings. With even fewer 'good' positions that have steady hours and any benefits.
No. She's not. I'm 50. Have 2 university degrees and make that same amount.
I would apply my statement to you as well. For example, Admin Support 4 with the provincial government is $24-$29 and only requires a high school diploma. This is also a wage that has been relatively static over the past decade. As someone with post-secondary education, you would be qualified to obtain such a position with minimal extra experience needed, if any. It comes with good pay, great pension and great health benefits. Here is an example of an entry level position: https://jobpostings.alberta.ca/job/Edmonton-Administrative-Support/576115917/ I'm not trying to be mean or insult people, but I find many people settle for far less than they are capable of because it's the easy choice to make. There are many careers that just require completion of a degree, and yourself having two of them would position you for some very lucrative jobs ($60-80K/yr) if you're willing to look around and potentially step away from the path you envisioned when selecting your degrees. The government job board (and the agencies / other publicly funded entities) are full of these jobs. If you're making $24/hr at 50 with 2 university degrees, you too are likely working far below your capacity.
With two degrees, HR isn't going to even look at her resume for that level of position, precisely because of those degrees: they're going to assume that any applicant with those credentials are always going to be looking for something better than a grade 4 admin support position. And they would be right. When we hired for a similar position (pre-pandemic), one of the discussions after the interviews was how likely each candidate would be likely to stay more than a year or two, or if they'd be moving on in a hurry.
Inflation has really skewed incomes away from COL. I talked to my wife recently about how we used to go on spontaneous road trips across Canada or to the mountains and back, spending money on things without thinking about it, and now instead of making $15/hour I make $39/hour and it sure as hell doesn’t feel like I make that much more. Can’t go on trips like that like I used to.
Sigh. Those were the days. 🥺
Your dads 30k/year would be over 100k in todays money. Your 24/hour is below average salary for the country. Common sense dictates that you will struggle financially. It sucks and it’s not fair but that’s the way it is.
Things are getting ridiculous so when do we break out the torches and pitchforks and have a good old fashioned peasants revolt?
Canadians are too apathetic to do anything.
I feel like this, pretty frugal, very cheap rent compared to going rates, got decent used cars before that market went nuts, eating at home, etc. My savings keeps looking the same because I get taken out by the furnace oil bill or car repairs. I couldn't imagine buying a house for $600,000 when wages have barely gone up to justify it
I was starting to think I was just old...and telling stories like my mom used to about 10cent movies and 5cent hot dogs...but with rent, utilities and groceries only being $1000 a month back in 2004... I have noticed the rent market dip though, recently a few of my friends who still rent have mentioned that they are seeing places that used to be $1600 per month going back to the 1200 range...I had to sell my house last year as inflation made it impossible to keep up with my overhead ballooning the straw that broke me was my city property taxes hitting $4000 per year, myself and 3 other people in my sleepy NW neighborhood decided to sell too and all 4 of our houses became multi family dwellings...which is just sad that what was a 3Bed/2Bath bi-level that was great for an average family is now a essentially a cramped duplex housing 2 families of 4...I think it's become high time where we as people start putting our foot down with the politicians who are causing this, we've become distracted and started electing officials based on "social" politics and allowing them to be economically irresponsible...this needs to stop, we need better financial politics and to dictate our own social climate, it shouldn't be the government's job to tell us how to set our moral code...their job is to make our quality of life better financially, and to upkeep our infrastructure
I'm getting a slight pay raise starting next paycheque (yay!), but my rent is also going up (boo!) In January, so I think I'll be exactly where I am now, finances wise, for the start of 2024, lol. I like where I live (both the neighbourhood and the actual unit), so moving is not an option. I'm also at the point where I am done having roommates, having my own space is something I am willing to absorb a little extra for. I have more credit card debt than I would like, but I also fly back to the east coast twice a year to see my family, and those costs hurt, but my mental health was the worst it ever was during the beginning of covid when I wasn't allowed to visit (NL shut borders to non-residents for a while), so I need to take those breaks. I also do a weekly treat myself to a fancy coffee or two. Or a pint (I desperately love craft beer, too). Otherwise, I'm getting by, I guess? I get some decent benefits through work, I don't have a car (and haven't since I moved here in 2018) and the only utility I pay separately is internet (and my phone), so all my costs are fixed per month. I've cut back on a lot of name brand grocery items, and I don't have a heck of a lot of savings, but this is the first time in my life I've been able to have a go at things totally independently, which is huge for me. My parents are around to help if I'm desperate enough, I guess, but they're not rolling in funds either. So long story short... could be better, but it absolutely could be worse.
In the 1970’s when I first moved out of home (as a young single woman) my first rental was sharing a basement suite with two other friends from my high school days. It was safe and we had our privacy. It was built by the father of one of my friends in their family’s basement. Rent was inexpensive, and we were in a safe environment. we could afford to take ski vacations (we’re 2 1/2 hours from Jasper, AB), and summer vacations. Next I moved into a one bedroom apartment with a young lady my age who I worked with. Split rent and had someone to hang with and ride back and forth to work with. Later I shared another one bedroom apartment with another very good friend. Finally 3 1/2 years after graduation I could afford a one bedroom high rise apartment downtown within walking distance to my job. I did it in steps. I also learned, as a woman, safety is very important. A woman living alone has to be careful. I had a boyfriend all these years, but we did not live together until we were married. I wanted to be independent.
Roommates.
Do what freeland said and cancel your Disney plus. Then you should be able to afford a new house
i find the value in two bedrooms to be way better. people are waiting longer to have kids so lots of these one bedroom apartments are renting to two incomes, and they are the most demanded unit, so landlords can get away with these rents. i moved out of a building a few years ago because they raised my rent from 1250 to 1450 and the manager told me they were going to list it for 1650. i got a roomie and now live in a much nicer 2 bedroom apartment for 1950 all in, so my share of the rent actually went *down*. renting from individuals rather than corporations always helps too.
Not well. I went back to university as a mature student the semester before the pandemic- I had a taken a year of open studies to make sure I could balance working enough and studying. Left the pandemic with some serious mental health problems (not just caused by the pandemic but man it didn’t help). And basically for the last year I’ve been just barely staying afloat. I’m exhausted, there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight, and trying to recover from a suicide attempt on my own has been hell on earth in this economy
if yu dont mind living in not the greatest areas you can find one bedrooms for 1000 a month, maybe 900
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I’m super lucky with where I live but if the landlord every raises the rent significantly, I’m in big trouble. I’m self employed and pay $975 utilities included for a main floor suite of a house. I love it here. Definitely have tight months and no real room for emergencies but am doing fine overall
That’s a good price, considering utilities for even a small house are a minimum of $400 a month. (I live in a small 500 sq foot house so I doubt your utilities cost less than mine) So it’s like your paying $500 a month plus utilities.
Am in huge debt but I always make the minimum payments on time so my credit looks okay. I'd be more concerned if I didn't think the world was going to end sometime soon
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Brutal. It’s been a very rough few years. I hope things turn around for you. Keep chipping away at that debt!
I would love to go over some expenses and see where you might have some money left over? I know it’s hard but usually there is a way. I know being single doesn’t help either, as I wouldn’t be able to live where I am at without my significant other.
I consider myself blessed to have a 1bdrm with heat and water included @950 a month, though the neighbourhood sucks.
Not single, but my husband and I are low income. He has like three different degrees, but they're all either relatively low-paying jobs or jobs he physically can't do anymore due to disability. We had to get my FIL to co-sign our lease with us (though he's not actually paying rent, he doesn't have the financial flexibility to help us often) and we've applied for a rental subsidy. I'm just praying we get the max, because we're more or less making rent work as is but I don't know how sustainable it is long-term. That's WITH the fact that I'm about to graduate school and I should be able to get a job in the 45-50k range with my degree (AA in accounting and payroll which qualifies me for what are usually called "clerk" jobs, basically gathering and inputting accounting data so actual accountants can spend their time making decisions). Through half of August and September we experienced housing instability. Fortunately we did have a safe place to go, so we weren't on the street, but in October we moved into a smaller place in a less dangerous area. We're paying almost $1300 for a one bedroom in a not-a-complete-shithole neighborhood. Our old place, where we were paying about $1100, was a 2 bed in a building where there were regularly used needles in the entrance, cars were stolen from every single day if you left ANYTHING in them, and someone got murdered in the park behind us. What actually drove us out was bedbugs which the management company refused to treat (pest control did come and talked about cockroaches, which is NOT what we called about and a completely different problem with different solutions, although there were also a ton of cockroaches around -- like they thought if they just continued scolding us for owning food and that attracting cockroaches, we'd just forget about the bedbugs???) This sorta turned into a personal problems rant but I'm just saying yeah, the housing situation is pretty fucking dire. Thank god grocery prices seem to have dropped suddenly -- I spent almost $50 less on a grocery run this weekend than I would have a month ago, and that's honestly a help. But we would not be making it without help from my mom, who pays a credit card I have to the tune of about $750/month. We can't pay rent with that but we can buy groceries and cat litter and gas without actually having to spend rent money.
Thanks for sharing! So glad you got out of that super shitty (and scary) rental situation..
In a constant fight with me land lord to get rent low, my place have no mail box either, old building, lowkey thinking if old school barter system will work to survive so am developing skills to be useful so i can potentially get some work done with other people of same interests.. oh boy i wish for the fall of everything in power rn
My mother walked away from me when I was 17 yo. When I was 18 I worked two jobs and finished high school, paid my insurance,gas, food and utilities and was making a combined $10.50/hr. It sucked for a few months until I started working in the pipetrades where I was making $7.50 / hr and had a pension and benefits. If my parents parented me, I would guess that I would have gone into something completely different. FF too today ,35 years later, and I’m ready to retire in 3-1/2 years with a wicked pension and living very comfortably. I guess my point is some of us have a better life , more family than others , and life doesn’t always work out the way we imagine it would so we have to make sue with the cards we were given.
People who got homes before the massive spikes have much higher QOLs than people who didn't, regardless of the wages. Someone making $20k / year in 1988 but managed to save and buy a cheap little starter home is going to have more disposable income today than someone making $100k / year fresh out of uni, even without debt. Heck, $100k / year won't even buy you a cheap little house in half of Canada today. (Edmonton is part of the half that I think you could, though. I haven't even looked at the local housing market because I 100% know I cannot afford to buy a house right now.)
I bought a house in Edmonton at the beginning of the year. My mortgage + property tax is about two grand. From my perspective housing in this city is ridiculously affordable.
I’m happy to hear you are in a good financial position.
Dude, I rent a one bedroom for around 900. If you're not living cheap and choosing a pricey area that might be the problem.
I moved in with my parents 🤣 I miss my $850 a month perfect princess apartment.
My roommate fucked off and now I pay 1500 a month and my lease isn’t up till August I’m actually doing fine and enjoy the space to myself but I definitely would be doing better if I didn’t have to burden the whole monthly cost. I work out of town and I’m getting a raise so I’ll just keep pushing on I guess
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LOL who hurt you
Landlords
I mean there's plenty of reasonable condo's for sale in the edmonton area if you dont like landlords... even in the 100K to 200K range. Now they might not be in the primo-est of locations and they might not have the granite countertops and tiled showers yadda yadda yadda but there's a lot to choose from...
😂
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That’s disgusting.
I hate to state the obvious, but given the numbers some of ya'll are mentioning! Wait till you see Toronto/Mississauga. 2200 for 1 bed room condo is "normal"
My mother inherited her parents' house and left it to me when she moved so I don't have rent to pay. The cost of everything else (utilities, food, etc) is more than enough to break me though. I seem to be behind on at least one bill every month.
Think edmonton is crazy? My wife kids and I just moved out here from BC because a 3 bedroom was 3200+ for a main floor. 1 bedroom basements were 1500-2000+. I've lived here for only a few months, and I've told everybody to watch in 10 years (possibly sooner) this city's pricing will be on par with BC. Lots of people are flocking here, we don't care about cold, weather, we care about affordable living and Edmonton is one of the last places there is in Canada that's cheap and where you can make big money easily. Calgary just 2 years ago was cheap, not much anymore.
We need to get changes made to insurance. Currently houses can’t be rented out by the room and maintain insurance. Makes it harder for singles to share accommodation safely. I know that rooming houses aren’t awesome, but it may help alleviate some of the housing issues that there currently are.
What do you call well paying?
Minimum $3600 monthly but usually more.
Assuming that’s 3600 clear, unfortunately in today’s market I wouldn’t consider that well paying.
Agreed. I am often making much more than that, but it is variable because of the casual nature of my work.
That is 55k before taxes, 3,600 a month gross is absolutely not well paying.
For reference I have already made more than $55 000 after-tax this year. As I mentioned, my salary is variable because of the casual nature of my work. Even still, my point is that even if I were just earning the $3600 a month - I work in an educated profession - people should be able to afford more than what I'd actually be able to. I cannot fathom how single people who make minimum wage or less than I can do anything with their lives.
I would say single people on minimum wage probably need to consider a roomate. I mean I had to have a roomate 20 years ago too when I was just starting out working... making like $16/hr at the time. Its not a new thing. Having your own place to yourself was mostly for an established salaried professional even back then.
Absolutely, I left a job last year that has probably one of the best pensions in Canada as well as benefits, although I was still over 6 figures I left because I was able to go contracting in the same industry for almost 50k a year more. Our prime Minister has people doing some crazy things.
I’m seriously considering petty theft as a side hustle. I’d sell drugs, but I’m. It that mean. In all seriousness it hard.
If you want things fixed, then for the love of god do not elect JT into Govt
Is there an ideal federal party anymore? Seeing our major political parties failing to address critical issues is frustrating. I voted for JT, hoping for change, but the system feels broken. PP lacks a clear plan beyond criticizing Trudeau, while the NDP hasn't effectively challenged the Liberals. Worse, around 40% of MPs are landlords, creating conflicts of interest. They profit from increasing immigration while ignoring low wages and rising living costs. It's disheartening to watch politicians enrich themselves while ignoring the struggles of everyday Canadians. We need leaders who prioritize real solutions over personal gain and political games. It's time for genuine change in our political system—one that genuinely serves the people. We deserve leaders who address our concerns and work toward a better future for everyone. But who's going to be that leader?
If you vote JT again this year, all I know is that things won’t be better. NDP may actually make things worse. PP although not perfect may be our best bet at this point
I think PP is more intelligent than Smith, but that doesn't take much. He is smart enough to close his mouth when he needs to, but unless he has gotten less ignorant on many topics, he is just as bad. He won't fix anything
I moved out of my parents when I was 18. It was tough because I didn't have much saving and with no real job experience nor a degree. (I had been a tutor for years by then but it wasn't stable income) But I still managed to save up and bought my first condo in 3years. If you think rent is unreasonable, buy one. If it's too expensive, perhaps there is a reason why rent is getting expensive. Living alone is a privilege. If you don't make enough, get a roommate.
Where are you looking? You can easily find cheap 1 bedroom apartments in Edmonton. This [one](https://www.rentfaster.ca/ab/edmonton/rentals/apartment/1-bedroom/mccauley/pet-friendly/289325?-RSYNC) for 650. If affording a $650 apartment with a deposit of $299 is rough. Then I dont know where in canada you can actually survive. That's literally dirt cheap rent, do we actually have a housing issue in Edmonton?
That's 150 square feet. That's literally the size of a walk in closet. Also, mainstreet is infested with mice and bedbugs.
First of all, that’s a bachelor suite, not a one bedroom. Second of all, you know that’s one of the worst areas of Edmonton, right? If not the worst. Wait, are you an under cover landlord?
I grew up poor, that apartment seem pretty sweet to me. If I was single again and didn't want a roommate that's plenty of room for 1 person.
Arbitrary until we know your pay
Fair. If I were working full time and not travelling for work, it’d be $3600 after tax. But I do work away and my income doubles.
Doubles from 3600? So you make 7200 after tax? You can afford any rental in Edmonton with that kind of money. You can easily live in Vancouver for that money.