Money for One: Edition #4
Welcome to Money for One, where solo earners share their budgets with us. This edition, our solo earner, based in Eastern Canada, paid off debt and while he isn’t sure he can afford a home, he enjoys the freedom to increase weekly investments or his philanthropy.
Age: 45
Pronouns: He/him
Occupation: Mortgage Retention Administrator
Annual income: $58,206.00 Cdn
Do you have kids or not?: No kids.
Amount in RRSPs: $30,039.06 (not counting employer contributions)
Amount in TFSAs: $67,681.56
Amount in RESPs: $0.00
Amount in RDSPs: $0.00
Do you have any student loans?: No.
Do you have any credit card debt?: No. (I put purchases on it and pay them off immediately)
How much is your monthly rent?: $1,228.00
How much do you pay a month for groceries?: About $245, intermittent bulk purchases notwithstanding.
How much do you pay a month for cable/streaming services?: $0.00
How much do you pay for hydro?: My 2024 average was $36/month.
Do you pay for health insurance? How much?: Yes; it comes out of my paycheque (see next response)
How much do you pay in insurance a month? (Could be home, car, disability, critical illness, life): $25.21 (tenant), $81.88 (health-related insurance, deducted from my paycheque).
How much do you spend on travel?: Not a lot; I don’t prioritize it. I only spent $370 last year
on a round-trip train ticket back home.
What else do you spend on, monthly? (Glasses, classes, equipment, etc.): Transit pass, home internet, tithes, cellphone plan.
Do you have an employee pension? How much do you contribute to it? Do they contribute?: Yes; I contribute 12.5% of every paycheque, while my employer offers a 5%
match.
It’s payday, what three buckets are you putting money? (Could be travel, renovations, retirement, glasses, health, etc.): I don’t do buckets – instead, I follow a spending plan and tweak it as needs arise.
How do you feel about the financial freedom and challenges that come with being the sole provider for yourself? What aspects feel empowering, and what aspects feel
limiting? Apart from saving for a home being out of the question for now, I do not feel limited by my
financial situation. Stewarding 100% of my paycheque according to my wishes is especially
empowering. If I want to put extra money toward investments on a weekly basis, I can act quickly instead of going through layers of permission. If I want to engage in acts of philanthropy, I can do that. Matty Matheson once said that if you can pay your bills, you’re rich; I feel that way
about my finances. Sure, I would be happy with a higher income and more streams of it, but I am content in my current circumstances.
What does one week of spending look like? (Think Sunday to Sunday).
Groceries (I budget $80/week and use points if I go over by a significant amount)
Weekly ETF deposit ($25 total)
Other than the above, I don’t spend a lot of money on a weekly basis. Most of my fixed expenses occur on a monthly basis (rent, transit pass, home internet, cellphone) or a semi-monthly one (automated savings, tithes).
Once again, thank you for those who offered to participate. If you’re interested in participating, email me at singlebudgette@gmail.com.
This week’s readings:
Wealthsimple made a pretty significant announcement this week. Is Wealthsimple a bank? Not exactly, but it’s launching new “banking” services (MoneySense)
So important, especially for solo caregivers as I’ve mentioned before. Your company needs an eldercare policy. (HBR)
Millennials are leaving big cities (NSS Mag)
Hundreds of planned condo units cancelled: ‘Market cratered almost overnight’ (Toronto Star)
By me: Unused money in your child’s RESP? You have options (Toronto Star)
‘No buy’ sparks a rebellion against spending (Washington Post, paywall)
‘Humans need solitude’: How being alone can make you happier (BBC)