With the cost of rent, food and so many other living expenses on the rise, how much does it cost to thrive in a big city?
The answer for Toronto is $61,654 after taxes, or roughly $76,000 in gross income. If you make that much, you can cover your rent, food, transportation and entertainment costs, and save for the future.
This income estimate comes from a study by the Wellesley Institute called Thriving in the City: Single Working Age Adults – What does it cost to live a healthy life? Its purpose is to document the difference between what people have in income and what they need to thrive. The study notes that the $16.55 per hour minimum wage in Ontario would produce an after-tax income of $25,994 for someone working 35 hours per week.
Here’s how spending was broken down in the study:
- $22,342 to cover housing: Includes a one-bedroom apartment with monthly rent of $1,750.70, plus other costs like tenant insurance (the rent data comes from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.).
- $15,483 for savings and debt repayment: Includes student debt repayment, plus general and retirement savings; retirement savings were set at 20 per cent of annual expenses to account for the lack of home equity.
- $7,356 for social participation: Social outings, subscriptions, dining out, hobbies and travel.
- $5,310 for food: Includes the cost of a healthy diet.
The rest of the $61,654 goes to transportation, health and personal care and professional development, including continuing education. If you make less than that amount, the obvious place to cut back is saving.
The biggest cost of the recent inflationary surge and high housing costs just might turn out to be that people couldn’t save. Where will that leave them in the decades to come?
We want to hear from you
The Globe’s Paycheque Project is a non-judgmental look at how much young adults in Canada are earning and how they are spending that money, from housing and transportation to eating out and vacations, and finally debt repayment and savings. Here are some recent profiles
- Film and TV worker left Toronto for ‘family life’ but can’t leave her big-city income
- Single owner of Burlington condo, age 34, worries about high rates: ‘Housing is like 50 to 60 per cent of my income’
- Ontario woman, 39, moved 3,400 kilometres to northern B.C. for a government job and bought two houses: ‘It was a huge move’
If you are under 40 and are open to sharing the details of your own personal financial situation, e-mail personal finance editor Roma Luciw at rluciw@globeandmail.com.
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Rob’s personal finance reading list
Vehicle ownership costs are out of control
A look at how rising vehicle prices, high interest rates and other factors have combined to jack up the cost of owning a vehicle compared to pre-pandemic days. The focus here is on Montreal, but this is a story for all vehicle owners.
What to do if you’re affected by the Lynx Air shutdown
A how-to on getting your money back if you have a flight booked on the discount airline Lynx, which has shut down. Here’s some commentary on why low-cost airlines have trouble succeeding in the Canadian market.
The only thing worse is a renoviction notice
All about Toronto’s problems with bedbugs which are described as “blood-sucking parasites.” They’re in schools, libraries, buses – and rental apartments. Here’s a link to a Reddit discussion on how to find out if a building in your city has bedbug problems.
A moving story about pre-paid funeral plots
An Ontario couple pays more than $24,000 for a cemetery plot, and later moved to a different city. They asked for a refund and were told it wasn’t possible. If you prepay for a funeral or burial plot, always ask about the refund policy.
Ask Rob
Q: Have you tried Tangerine for high interest savings? I just called and they gave me 4.75 per cent for five months. Two days before that upcoming expiry date in July, I will call and they’ll offer me another similar rate. And so on.
A: Tangerine’s regular rate is low at 0.7 per cent. Readers have had some success rolling over bonus rate offers from Tangerine, but I suspect a lot of people are getting substandard interest when their bonuses expire. For my own savings, I prefer banks with a consistently good rate available to everyone. I don’t want to have to call in a few months to ask for another rate bonus.
Do you have a question for me? Send it my way. Sorry I can't answer every one personally. Questions and answers are edited for length and clarity.
Tools, explainers, guides and charts
A review of personal finance and budgeting apps and software specifically for Canadians.
The Money-Free Zone
A 2023 album I’m just catching up to now is Nothing’s Gonna Stand in My Way Again, by Lydia Loveless. A raunchy blend of roots, country and rock, with lyrics that bite. A good song to start with is Sex and Money – “that’s all I think about.”
On social media
A take on X about investors feeling more conservative and less risk-tolerant from someone in the investment industry
In case you missed these Globe and Mail personal finance-related stories
- New tax rules have many Canadians in a bind: It’s hard to find an accountant but risky to DIY
- How delaying retirement can significantly boost your total income
- Gen Z finance terms such as ‘doom spending’ and ‘loud budgeting’ is a rebranding of old concepts. Is there a downside?
More Rob Carrick and money coverage
Subscribe to Stress Test on Apple podcasts or Spotify. For more money stories, follow me on Instagram and Twitter, and join the discussion on my Facebook page. Millennial readers, join our Gen Y Money Facebook group.
Even more coverage from Rob Carrick:
- 🎧 Catch up on Stress Test: Why millennials and Gen Z are Alberta-bound for a more affordable life • Rising interest rates brought pain for new homeowners – and opportunity for house hunters • Why more Canadians are choosing to be childfree or delay parenthood • Love in the time of inflation: How to manage rising costs when dating • You’re not bad at money – you’re suffering from money shame • Retirement might look different for Gen Z and millennials. Here’s how to plan for it • Recession-beating tips for the job market, housing, investing and the cost of life • Is the middle class dead for millennials and Gen Z?
- ✔️ The housing file: A house isn't special. Get your head straight about the reality of home ownership • The good, the sad and the unaffordable: Saving for a home downpayment in Canada's big cities • Property taxes are popping in some cities – how worried should you be about other tax hikes? • Our other real-estate problem – people have too much wealth tied up in houses • Borrowers and savers, here's how to time the eventual rollback of interest rates
- 📈 Investing: Canada's top digital broker is TD Direct Investing, with an assist from the TD Easy Trade app • 2023 Globe and Mail ETF buyer's guide part one: Canadian equity ETFs • For the ultimate in cheap investing, check out the Freedom .08 ETF Portfolio • Yes, there is risk in Canadian bank deposits for the unwary and complacent • CDIC covers bank deposits, but who protects your investments if your broker goes bust? • Answers to your questions about the low-risk ETF paying almost 5% • Happy fifth birthday to one of the all-time best investing products for everyday people • An investing strategy that wins cleanly over the long term by outperforming in bad years like 2022
- 💰 Your money: Mortgage holders, savers and GIC investors, it’s time to change your thinking on interest rates • How much debt is each generation of Canadians carrying, and how do you compare? • For the sake of their financial futures, young people should leave Toronto and Vancouver • This practical new spin on a savings account might just peel you away from your big bank • Rental fraud grows amid rise in fake, falsified tenant applications • Are Canadians worse off financially now than in the 1980s? • From groceries to auto loans, here’s how much more it costs to live right now • When saving for retirement, should you change your asset mix over the course of your career? • Do retirement income needs always rise alongside inflation? Not necessarily • When the bank suggests you lock in your variable rate mortgage, it has an angle
