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Name, age: Tiffany, 44
Annual income: $43,200
Debt: $15,050 to consumer proposal, $3,040 to personal loan
Savings: $200 in savings account
What they do: Administration at a medical office
Where they live: Cambridge, Ont.
Top financial concern: “My debt is my biggest concern, but also not having savings… I don’t really understand how to budget properly, how to save money.”
Tiffany, 44, has been on “a job journey.” They’ve switched jobs and industries numerous times, having worked in film and television, hairdressing, the trades, manufacturing, service and car sales. In some cases, they left because the work wasn’t what they expected. In others, it was more about the culture.
“The car sales job had a lot of homophobia and heteronormativity,” Tiffany says. “In the trades – that was back around 2005 – it was hard for women to get jobs.”
They left one job, in a government testing centre, after being seriously hurt in a workplace accident and being told to continue working. They left the factory after the monotony and shift work led to depression.
It has added up to a lot of fresh starts, and a lot of expensive re-training. Tiffany has been to school for three different programs, and also paid $800 for the required accreditation to sell cars.
“I paid down my student debt fully once, then went back to school,” they said. “The next time was $15,000. Hair school was the most expensive. It was $25,000.”
They were facing “crushing” debt – $40,000 student debt, $20,000 on a credit card and $36,000 on a line of credit – when they recently entered into a consumer proposal that brought the number down to about $21,000. Now, they’re paying that amount back over five years, and are also paying a $10,000 private loan back at $160 per month.
They recently started a new job, doing administration in a medical office.
“It’s quite amazing,” they said, noting the money is better than they have made in most of their other jobs, as is the work environment. “It’s dealing with the elder population and 99.9 per cent of them are such sweet humans who really appreciate what we do. It’s the opposite of being in a hair salon where everyone hates everything.”
Tiffany says their partner “makes good money” and pays a lot of the couple’s bills. The pair lives in a two-bedroom townhouse they rent for $1,900, a reasonable price in a city where average rent for two bedrooms was about $2,350 last year.
Still, Tiffany worries about not having savings and doesn’t expect to inherit property, saying the couple is considering moving to a less expensive country when they retire.
Lately, Tiffany feels more stable financially than they have in years, but says they still struggle with managing their money.
“I have had a lot of help from the financial advisor who did the consumer proposal, but I don’t really understand budgeting. I don’t know why this isn’t a course in school.”
Their typical monthly expenses:
Investment and savings: $50
$50 to savings account. “The last two months is the first time I have had any money in my savings account for more than three weeks.”
Servicing debt: $510
$350 to consumer proposal. “Crushing debt from going to school so many times.”
$160 to private loan. “From a friend.”
Household and transportation: $1,775
$900 to rent. “The full rent is $1,900. My partner pays more than me.”
$200 to gas.
$110 to car insurance.
$450 for car repairs. “It’s a 2012 Kia Rio. It full-on broke down this year and was $5,000 in repairs.”
$115 for cellphone.
Food and drink: $660
$400 or more on groceries. “We try to do $100 each per week but we always go over.”
$20 in coffee shops. “I usually make my own.”
$100 or less at restaurants. “I try not to but I just took my dad out this past weekend.”
$140 on alcohol. “I buy for the house. We normally don’t drink out of the house much.”
Miscellaneous: $318
$125 on apps. “Most of them are mental or physical health tools. And Spotify.”
$40 on haircuts. “$120 a cut including tip. Sometimes less, depending on who is available.”
$50 on clothing. “I spent $100 last month for the new job. I need more items, just holding off a few paycheques.”
$53 on cats. “Vet, grooming and nails. Their food and litter is in our grocery budget.”
$42 on cosmetics. “Face cleaners, moisturizer and sunscreen. Otherwise just using up what I have.”
$8 on dentist. “I recently went to the dental college. It was $50 but took five visits that were more than three hours.”
Some details may be changed to protect the privacy of the person profiled. We want to thank them for sharing their story. Are you a millennial who would like to participate in a paycheque profile? Send us an e-mail.