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Name, age: Babs, 41
Annual income: $68,000 from full-time job plus $6,000 from occasional job
Debt: $4,000 on credit card, $4,000 on consumer proposal (consolidated debt)
Savings: $3,000 in savings account, $40,000 in registered retirement savings plan
What she does: Video librarian, baker
Where she lives: Hamilton, Ont.
Top financial concern: “My goal is to pay off this dang consumer proposal.”
Babs, 41, worked as a video librarian at a large media company in Toronto for seven years before she was laid off in 2014, and could suddenly no longer afford the city.
She and her then-husband, who she describes as “not consistently employed,” moved to Hamilton for a cheaper lifestyle, and she fulfilled a long-time dream of opening a store, selling quirky gifts and collectible toys.
“I very quickly realized that the amount of money you need to open a retail store was monstrous and astounding,” she said. “To make the store look full, it needed a lot of money. Pretty much any money the store made went into buying more product.”
She racked up $90,000 on a line of credit before a new landlord bought the building and jacked the rent, prompting her to shut down her business in 2017.
“I was absolutely drowning in debt,” Babs said. “I was paying $1,200 a month in debt payments, and I couldn’t do it.”
She enlisted an insolvency trustee, who helped arrange a consumer proposal that consolidated her debts and brought the amount she would have to pay down to $50,000, in monthly payments of $323.
“The relief was huge,” she recalls. She will finish paying it back next year.
After her store closed, Babs found work for a cake-decorating YouTube channel, which involved significant travel to trade shows. Then her mother died.
“I quit, had a mental breakdown and started working at the bakery,” she recalled, noting the job posting said the role was good for someone who was up early in the morning – a perfect fit because she was facing serious insomnia.
“I was like, ‘Yeah I am up at 3 a.m.’ I could cry and still make money.”
Her marriage broke up around that time as well, which actually improved her financial state.
“I’ve never had a dependable partner who was like, ‘I can bring x to the table,’” she said. “This is the first time I have ever just had to take care of myself financially.”
About a year ago, Babs got her old job back in Toronto, which pays double what the bakery did, so she commutes there daily and still bakes on holidays for extra income. She’s almost done paying back her store debt, and can afford to live alone in the three-bedroom apartment she used to share with others.
As for her future: “I’m going to work on fixing my credit and really lean into saving for whatever ‘retirement’ might end up looking like for me,” she said. “I’m absolutely convinced that I’ll never be able to afford a home, or properly retire from working outright. It’s not going to stop me from enjoying life as frugally as I can.”
Her typical monthly expenses:
Investment and savings: $50
$50 to savings account. “Pathetic, I know.”
Servicing debt: $573
$250 to credit card
$323 to consumer proposal. “Debt from opening a store in 2015. It’s due to be paid off in full by 2025.”
Household and transportation: $2,847.55
$1,715 to rent. “I live alone. It is a dream come true.”
$10 to renter’s insurance.
$175 on utilities.
$160 on gas. “I drive to the Burlington GO train station every day, but sometimes I am lazy and drive all the way to work.”
$186.31 on car insurance.
$60 on car repairs. “Typically two visits per year when tires are swapped.”
$400 on transit. “I actually like the commute. I got back into reading.”
$84.75 on cell phone
$56.49 on internet
Food and drink: $395
$300 on groceries. “I am super diligent about making almost all of my meals.”
$75 on eating out. “There will maybe be two times a month where I cave and get something off Uber Eats.”
$20 on alcohol
Miscellaneous: $137.57
$20 on cannabis
$0 on going out. “I’m a huge fan of staying in.”
$18.63 on Netflix
$20 on clothing
$18.94 on gym membership
$0 on haircuts. “DIY, baby!”
$20 on cosmetics
$40 on prescription. “I’m a full-time contract employee, which means I don’t have health benefits.”
$0 on dentist. “I just pray that nothing goes wrong with my teeth.”
$0 on donations. “I am the charity at this point in time.”
Some details may have been changed to protect the privacy of the person profiled. We want to thank them for sharing their story. Are you a young Canadian who would like to participate in a paycheque profile? Send us an e-mail.
