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Name, age: Maya, 33
Annual income: $150,000
Debt: $480,000 mortgage
Savings: $14,000 in savings account, $60,000 in tax-free savings account, $20,000 in registered retirement savings plan
What she does: Sales
Where she lives: Vancouver
Top financial concern: “Housing. I don’t want 50 per cent of my income to continue going to housing.”
Maya moved to Canada from Asia on a student visa. She says she came from an upper-middle-class family, and her parents paid the tuition for her undergraduate degree – but that was the last thing they ever covered for her.
She has worked hard since then to pay her own way, saving enough for a car, a home and tuition for the MBA program she’s currently taking.
When she first arrived, Maya’s student visa limited how many hours a week she could work off-campus, but there were no such limits with on-campus jobs, so she got three of them and worked as much as possible.
“In the summer, I did a co-op and I worked at Tim Horton’s part-time,” she said. “I did not enjoy my twenties like most 20-year-olds did. I didn’t spend money on alcohol. I didn’t spend much money on going out. I was really, really frugal because I wanted to save enough money for a down payment for my condo.”
“I lived in the crappiest apartments you could think of,” she added.
She bought a condo in Burnaby, a suburb of Vancouver, for $435,000 when she was 25. She lived there for five years, then sold it to buy a house with a friend in 2024. She owes about $485,000 on her portion of the mortgage and pays $2,600 a month.
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Recently, however, she also started paying rent at an apartment she shares with her boyfriend as the two test out living together. That adds another $900 to her monthly housing costs.
Maya says she’s been able to get ahead by avoiding unnecessary spending of all varieties, including shopping, and that getting into the housing market early made it easier for her to level up. Her salary has also jumped dramatically as she gained career experience, going from $40,000 plus commission at her first sales job to up to $200,000 a year at her current job.
She also works a side-gig serving at banquets for extra income.
Maya says she’s had to make sacrifices to get where she is. She worries about what she sees as a younger generation that isn’t willing to work menial jobs and is tricked by social media into overspending without considering the consequences.
“Parents are just really spoiling their kids with whatever they want,” she said. “The consequences are that later on in life, they don’t know how to manage their money.”
Her typical monthly expenses:
Investment and savings: $900
$900 to TFSA. “I’ve taken out of my TFSA to fund my tuition and car, so anything you take out, it’s added back to having more contribution room.”
Servicing debt: $2,600
$2,600 to mortgage. “I bought a house in Burnaby with a friend. That’s my mortgage portion.”
Household and transportation: $2,364
$900 to rent. “Boyfriend pays the rest as I still have a mortgage.”
$500 to home maintenance
$167 to home insurance
$242 to property tax. “$5,800 a year divided by two people.”
$200 to utilities
$160 to parking space
$0 to gasoline. “I have an electric car.”
$20 to transit
$50 to Uber or taxis
$45 to cell phone
$80 to internet
Food and drink: $910
$500 to groceries. “I’m not shopping at Whole Foods. I’m shopping at Costco and T&T.”
$80 to coffee shops. “This is my budget but I typically spend under my budget.”
$300 to restaurants.
$30 to alcohol
Miscellaneous: $10,878
$8,000 to payroll deductions. “The more you make, the more you get taxed.”
$200 to going out. “It wasn’t until I was earning probably $80,000 to $100,000 where I was a little bit more comfortable with going out and travelling.”
$15 to streaming services
$30 to other apps. “Fitness and music.”
$83 to clothing. “I value fitness and health a lot so I’ll spend money more on running shoes versus heels and makeup.”
$20 to gym membership
$150 to dog
$167 to hobbies
$67 to haircuts
$83 to cosmetics
$67 to personal services
$120 to house cleaner
$42 to dentist
$17 to prescription
$833 to vacations
$250 to donations
$42 to gifts
$667 to life insurance
$25 to credit card fees
Some details may be changed to protect the privacy of the person profiled. We want to thank them for sharing their story.
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