A Week In Atlantic Canada On A $99,200 Joint Income

Occupation: Researcher
Industry: Nonprofit/heritage
Age: 26
Location: Atlantic Canada
Salary: $43,200; my fiancé’s salary is $56,000.
Assets: $249,000 for my house, shared with my fiancé, G. (minus remaining mortgage); $20,000 for my car (also shared with G.); $1,068 in an investment account; $1,677.09 in my checking account; $7,632.03 in savings.
Debt: $211,298.44 in remaining mortgage (this debt is shared with G.).
Paycheck amount (biweekly): $1,177.44
Pronouns: She/her

Housing costs: $1,310.29 mortgage payment. This is the house G. and I share. We’re both on the mortgage and deed but I pay the entirety of the mortgage and G. pays our home insurance and property taxes.
Loan payments: $0
G. and I share finances but we do this by each being responsible for about half the bills by monetary value. With the exception of our property tax, they are all on a monthly autopay. I’m responsible for:
Internet and basic cable: $120.75
Netflix: $18.96
YouTube Music: $19.54
Kindle Unlimited: $11.49
G. pays for:
Electricity: $100-$600 (which includes our electric heat) for the house and the basement apartment. Varies wildly between summer and winter when we get the $600 bill.
Car insurance: $125
Home insurance: $110
Property taxes: $1,760 (not monthly but twice a year).
G. also covers gas, car repairs, all groceries, and his work provides me with health and dental insurance (which I don’t pay for).

Was there an expectation for you to attend higher education? Did you participate in any form of higher education? If yes, how did you pay for it?
There was absolutely an expectation for me to attend post-secondary education. My parents would have been fine with me learning a trade (my dad always joked I should become a plumber) but I’m not much for working with my hands so university made the most sense. It was a given that I complete my undergraduate degree at my provincial university so I could live at home and save on costs. My parents could not pay for my degree so with living at home and working part-time I was able to pay my own tuition (it was around $1,900 a semester).

Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money? Did your parent(s)/guardian(s) educate you about finances?
We had almost no conversations about money — my parents are not very financially literate. My mom recommended I get a credit card with a small limit once I turned 19 (minimum age to get a credit card in my province) and made sure I paid it off every month to build a credit score. This helped me get a mortgage when I was 25, since I had a high credit score. Beyond that, the only conversation was to avoid credit card debt. My parents have no investments and are terrible at saving money.

What was your first job and why did you get it?
I started babysitting around age 13 for family friends but my first real job was at Tim Hortons the summer I was 15. It was mostly for spending money and to give me something to do over the summer. I then got a job at The Keg [a fancy steakhouse] when I was 17 to pay for university.

Did you worry about money growing up?
Absolutely, yes. I was convinced my family was poor growing up and I’m still not sure if we were. My parents always paid for any extracurriculars I wanted to do (including expensive traveling ones) but I’m pretty sure we were always paycheck to paycheck and unexpected expenses like car problems were always a big stressor. My parents were not transparent about our finances and not knowing definitely stressed me out.

Do you worry about money now?
Yes and no. I’m quite frugal, so if I lost my job I have about a six-month emergency fund and I’m barely above minimum wage right now so I could pay my part of the bills working in fast food, for instance. But I sometimes stress that I’m not saving enough money for future house expenses and retirement. I often feel like I should get a better paying job but no luck so far.

At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself and do you have a financial safety net?
I started paying my own university tuition, food, books and transportation costs at 17, but I lived with my parents until I was 25 and I didn’t pay any rent or expenses during my undergrad and graduate degrees. My parents encouraged me to live with them until then to avoid having to get student loans and to allow me to save for a down payment. G. would cover all our bills if I were to become unemployed and we could always move in with my parents.

Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income? If yes, please explain.
My godfather gave me $2,000 during my undergraduate degree, which I used to pay for my next semester’s tuition and to have a bit of a cushion during my degree. You could also consider my parents letting me live at home rent-free until 25 as a form of financial help.

8 a.m. — Wake up and get ready for work: brush my hair and teeth, get dressed, and grab my meal-prepped food. I head to work with my fiancé, G. — we carpool in the morning and he drops me off so I don’t have to find street parking at my job. Start work at 9 a.m.

10 a.m. — Take a break from work to heat up my meal-prepped steel-cut oats and add some strawberries. Get back to work organizing a community workshop.

1 p.m. — I receive a confirmation email that books I won in an auction have been shipped. I only paid USD$34 on the bid but turns out getting the books shipped from the US to Canada is going to be $67 (Canadian), plus I’m sure there will be customs. Slightly regretting bidding on them now but it’s a collection of research books owned by author Bertrice Small, including some of her research notes. I then heat up my meal-prepped lunch of bean and vegetable soup, which I eat with snow peas and hummus. I typically make a pot of soup on Sunday and take it most weekdays for lunch. $67

4:30 p.m. — I finish work 30 minutes early due to summer hours but G. is still working so I take the bus up to his workplace. I previously purchased a 10-ride bus pass ($22.50 for 10 rides) so the ride does not cost anything today. I meet G. at his office so we can go to the good burrito place close by. G. gets a chicken burrito and lime Bubly; I get a carnitas bowl ($26.88, G. pays). Head home to eat and watch Jeopardy.

7:30 p.m. — Do some housework, including a load of laundry and emptying our dehumidifier. Read a Lucy Stone mystery novel by Leslie Meier, which is okay.

10 p.m. — Head to bed.

8 a.m. — Wake up, get dressed, brush hair, and grab meal-prepped lunch. Head to work with G. and stop into Tim Hortons on the way. G. gets an extra-large coffee and I get a French vanilla ($6.27, G. pays). I don’t typically drink coffee or buy drinks in the morning so this is a nice treat.

9 a.m. — Get to work, have a new assignment finding photographs for a publication.

10:30 a.m. — Get an email saying that my driver’s license is expiring in 60 days, so I renew it online. $115

12 p.m. — Realize it’s lunchtime and I haven’t eaten my breakfast yet so I heat up my steel-cut oats and add berries. I’ll eat my soup later.

2:30 p.m. — I’m not feeling very well (not sure if it’s anxiety or something else) so I decide to eat something to feel better. I eat my meal-prepped snow peas and hummus, and leave my soup for now. I also make a strawberry kiwi hibiscus tea from David’s Tea from the teabags in my desk.

5 p.m. — Spend the rest of the afternoon working and never actually eat my soup. I leave the Tupperware in the fridge to eat tomorrow. I wait for G. to leave work and come get me.

5:30 p.m. — We get home and I fold the laundry from yesterday. I’m still not feeling great. G. cleans up the kitchen and makes roasted potatoes and chicken strips for dinner. I watch TV (Young Sheldon) and wait for dinner to be ready.

8 p.m. — Dinner is finally ready. I only pick at mine; my entire core and left arm are killing me and I feel like I can’t take a deep breath.

9 p.m. — G. and I start watching Jeopardy but we only get a few questions in before I start struggling to breathe. Paired with the pain in my chest, G. drives me to the ER.

9:30 p.m. — Get checked in at the ER for shortness of breath. My blood pressure and blood oxygen levels are normal, but I’m sent in for a chest X-ray. I give the administrators my MCP (Medical Care Plan) number, which is our provincial healthcare plan. All expenses including the X-ray will be covered by this.

10 p.m. — I’m back in the waiting room after my X-ray. Still feeling shortness of breath and I’m very hot. A nice custodian brings me a bag of ice to help cool me down. I settle in for a long night of waiting to see the doctor. In Canada, ER visits are free but we have a shortage of family doctors (I don’t have one) and hospitals have long wait times.

5 a.m. — Spent the night in the ER waiting room. At 5 a.m. I get called in to see the doctor.

5:30 a.m. — Finally get seen by a doctor. Doctor tells me my chest X-ray is clear and my blood oxygen levels are fine. He recommends I get blood work done to rule out a pulmonary embolism, if I want. Just hearing the word “embolism” makes me panic so I obviously get the blood work. The nurse then comes to take some blood and I wait for the results.

7:15 a.m. — The nurse tells me my blood work is good, so no pulmonary embolism. Because there’s nothing wrong with my lungs and my breathing is normal, they send me home. G. and I parked in the hospital lot overnight and when we leave the gate is up, so there’s no charge for parking.

7:30 a.m. — G. and I drive home. The sun is officially up and I have not slept at all. I’m now having a minor panic attack — lack of sleep has always been a huge trigger for my anxiety. I’m feeling relieved that there’s nothing medically wrong with me, but frustrated that I have all these symptoms I can never get diagnosed or get any relief from. Also feel stupid for wasting a night in the ER. I send an email to my boss asking to WFH today, he tells me to just take the day off. G. rigs up some blankets as blackout curtains and we try to get some sleep.

12:30 p.m. — Wake up after a few hours of weird anxiety dreams. That’s probably all the sleep I’m going to get, so I lie in bed reading a different Lucy Stone mystery for an hour.

2 p.m. — I’m feeling very hungry and still a little emotionally tender. I decide to boil some eggs to make an egg salad sandwich, then take a shower. I spend the day watching the entire last season of Brooklyn Nine-Nine in one sitting.

7 p.m. — I finish the last season of Brooklyn Nine-Nine so I switch to Young Sheldon for a bit. I realize I’m at the end of the last season and (trigger warning) it ends with a medical emergency, which I’m not in the headspace for today. I realize I’ve barely eaten and go microwave one of my meal-prepped soups for dinner.

8:30 p.m. — My back is really starting to hurt. I’ve had a bad summer for back and neck problems and the recent stress and spending the night in an ER chair has not helped. I’m starting to think last night was just a panic attack and feel foolish. I get in bed for a different position and read a bit.

9 p.m. — My FIL stops by unannounced; we live out by a few big box stores that are only in our area and he was doing some shopping. He drops off some painting supplies for us to do our eaves. I stay in bed while G. chats with him by our front door. FIL is told I went to the ER for a chest infection as an easier story.

10 p.m. — I re-download the mobile game Adorable Home on my tablet. It's been a stressful time and I need something easy right now. I also finish the Lucy Stone book and go to sleep.

8 a.m. — I wake up feeling decently refreshed; I’m thinking by tonight I should almost be back on schedule, sleep-wise. My back is still very sore but my anxiety has gone down. I take an over-the-counter muscle pain pill for my back.

8:30 a.m. — G. and I decide to go to McDonald’s on the way to work. We use a coupon. I get a sausage McMuffin, a hash brown, and an apple juice. G. gets a weird breaded chicken McMuffin, two hash browns, a large coffee, and a limited-edition cup ($19.74, G. pays).

9 a.m. — Traffic is bad due to construction. The city has decided the first week back to school is a great time to rip up almost every road in the city. I drop G. off at his office because I’m taking the car today — I have a job interview at 12:30 p.m. I drive down to my office and find street parking. I’m a little bit late but still beat my boss in. Eat my McDonald’s at my desk.

12 p.m. — I have a busy morning getting stuff ready for some upcoming work events. I leave the office a bit after 12 p.m. for the job interview and just make it for 12:30 p.m.

1:15 p.m. — My interview went pretty well; the position is a call-in substitution list so I’d keep my current job. I get gas on the way back to the office ($50). Typically G. gasses up the car as he usually drives it, but we’re low so I do it. $50

2 p.m. — I check to make sure my mortgage payment went through. RBC (Royal Bank of Canada) allows me to pay extra (up to the monthly payment) and I often throw an extra $100-$250 to pay it off more quickly. I do this because I don’t really understand investing and this seems like a sensible way to invest for me (the quicker the mortgage is paid off, the quicker I won’t have our largest expense). Last month we bought a new used car to replace our old one that was in rough shape, so I don’t pay any extra on the mortgage this month to let my savings build back up.

4:30 p.m. — I finish work for the day so I drive up to G.’s work to pick him up at 5 p.m. My back is really starting to bother me.

5 p.m. — G. finishes work and we drive to a grocery store and he goes in to pick up some stuff. He gets me a six-pack of Gatorade and a pot of chrysanthemums as a gift.

5:30 p.m. — G. and I get home; my back is now in really rough shape. The refurbished computer tower G. ordered from Amazon has arrived, so we bring it inside but don’t open it. G. paid for it (it was $180). I spend the night in bed icing my back and later have a spicy chicken ramen noodle with shrimp that G. makes for me. I read a different Lucy Stone novel and take some back and muscle pills. I fall asleep around 10 p.m. I go to sleep so early because I often wake up a lot at night.

8 a.m. — I wake up and my back feels a bit better, but still decently sore. G. and I decide to do our favorite Saturday morning activity: running errands together.

9 a.m. — Stop into Tim Hortons; G. gets an extra-large coffee and buys me a Nutella croissant ($5.94, G. pays).

9:30 a.m. — Next we head downtown and I run a few errands while G. stays in the car. I go to the butcher shop and get a baseball steak, two sweet chili chicken sausages and their version of Montreal Steak Spice ($44.24 including tip). Then I run across the street to my favorite pastry bakery (I have a separate bread/bagel bakery but they are closed until next week for a staff vacation). There I get a lemon tart for G. and a sesame tahini chocolate chip cookie for myself ($13.66 including tip). Finally, I run up to the bank to deposit a $138.40 travel claim check I got from work last week (if we drive somewhere with our own car for work, they reimburse us with a check). $57.90

10:30 a.m. — G. and I drive to the public library to return my books and I grab a few that are on hold. The main entrance is closed for renovations so I have to go up through a weird back stairwell. I pick up a book of essays by D.H. Lawrence.

11 a.m. — G. tells me he’d like a chicken sandwich with crusty bread for lunch so we go to a different bakery. They do not have any bread, only more pastries and coffee, so I get a chocolate babka and a raspberry scone. $10.49 (including tip).

11:30 a.m. — We head to a different bakery/deli to try again for bread and decide to just get sandwiches there instead of making them. G. gets a breaded chicken sandwich on pretzel bread and I get a curry chicken salad sandwich and a Dr Pepper ($39.18, G. pays). G. then suggests we pop into his favorite weed dispensary, which is nearby, while I stay in the car. G. buys me some CBD gel caps with 10mg of THC for my back.

12 p.m. — We head home to eat. I decide to put the Dr Pepper in the fridge and have a Gatorade instead. We watch some season 7 Shameless while we eat (not my favorite season of the show).

1 p.m. — Two of my friends want to hang out, so I drive up to visit them at one of their houses and we chat while having iced tea and scones.

3:30 p.m. — I head out from hanging out with my friends and decide to stop in and visit my dad on the way home. My mom is out of town this weekend and my dad hasn’t driven in many years due to poor vision. He doesn’t need to run any errands but we chat for about 45 minutes. Our relationship was a bit weird when I was in junior high and high school, but not living in the same house has helped things a lot. He has some mental health issues and is trying his best and loves me, but it’s easier for us to have a relationship without the pressure of living together.

5 p.m. — Get home from my errands, and I decide to take one of the weed pills G. bought earlier for my back. I watch Young Sheldon and I check on my Adorable Home cats. Eventually I get snacky and make the baseball steak and nothing else (not my healthiest day but the sandwich earlier did have vegetables on it).

6 p.m. — I start feeling really weird, like I’m having an allergic reaction, really hot and tingly. Eventually I realize it’s the weed and I’m having a really bad trip. Apparently 10mg is WAY too much for me, especially after an already bad week. I don’t remember the full details of this night but I spend the night in bed twitching and totally out of it while G. takes care of me. Eventually I fall asleep around 10:30 p.m. when the high goes down a bit. (Note: This was an extraordinary health week for me. I don’t typically go to the ER or get too high.)

3 a.m. — Wake up and go to the bathroom. I end up awake for an hour, reading another Lucy Stone murder on my tablet, before I feel tired enough to go back to bed.

9:30 a.m. — I wake up for real, feeling like I have no energy. My muscles are sore from shivering and twitching for hours last night. It was extremely rough. I cut up the mini babka into thirds and eat a piece in bed with a Gatorade. Eventually I decide to stop lying in bed and go lie in the recliner. Eat another third of the babka and read on my tablet.

12 p.m. — G. heats up the final piece of the babka and the scone from yesterday, which we split. I continue lying in the recliner while he goes to the grocery store to get ingredients for chicken chili. We already have white beans, the chicken sausage I bought yesterday, and onions, so he buys canned corn, tomatillo salsa, and chicken broth.

2 p.m. — I make ramen with shrimp for lunch, then G. starts making the chili. I spend the afternoon reading and playing with my cats in Adorable Home — I don’t think this is going to be a very productive day for me.

4 p.m. — The chili is ready so I have a mug with some Doritos. I watch Young Sheldon while eating. I then go take a shower because I’m pretty sore and sweaty from yesterday. G. sets up the refurbished computer tower. We already had a monitor, keyboard and mouse, so we just needed the tower. We both only have crappy laptops and we’d like to be able to play our Steam games again and I’d like to get back into writing.

5:30 p.m. — I decide it’s a good idea to go bounce on my exercise ball (which I’m not supposed to do). Since I was a child, my favorite stress release is to listen to music while sitting on a large exercise ball and bouncing. Recently it has been causing me a lot of muscle and joint pain, plus I tend to get really hot and dizzy, but I do it anyway.

6 p.m. — Exercise ball was definitely a mistake. My muscles are all tense, plus now I feel really hot. My mom calls me to talk about her weekend retreat and her job. I lie on the floor with an ice pack and feel terrible. I haven’t told her about my health issues because it’ll worry her; only G. really knows what’s going on. I say my back is a bit sore but I don’t mention the ER, panic attacks, or weed. After an hour we get off the phone and I end up spending some time in the bathroom with an upset stomach. Anxiety often causes me to get stomach issues.

7:30 p.m. — I’m feeling a bit better now so I go back to the recliner and watch more Young Sheldon on Netflix and play Adorable Home. G. has finished setting up the computer and is now playing The Binding of Isaac.

11 p.m. — I wake up in the recliner; I fell asleep while watching TV. I turn off the TV and lights and go to bed.

7:20 a.m. — It’s Monday and I have an 8 a.m. dental appointment for a filling. The dentist usually makes me pretty anxious (and I’m having a pretty high anxiety week) but it’s too late to cancel and I don’t want to let my anxiety overwhelm me. I get ready for work and G. drops me off at my dentist, which is right by our house.

8 a.m. — Dentist time. I have to get two small fillings and dentally it goes very well, but I’m a little stressed. I’m not anxious about the drilling or needles but I get incredibly claustrophobic during procedures. But everything gets done and I don’t have a panic attack. I go out and pay the receptionist. The total is $549.40 but after G.’s insurance picks up 80%, I pay $109.88. In Canada, after living together for 12 months we’re considered common-law and I can be added to his health and dental insurance. $109.88

8:40 a.m. — After the dentist, G. comes back to pick me up. I offered to take a bus to work but I think he was worried about me. He drives me down to my office and drops me off right before 9 a.m., so I guess he’s going to be a little bit late today. I packed a yogurt and leftover chili for breakfast/lunch, but my mouth is still numb so I start work and wait to eat.

12:30 p.m. — Start to feel a bit hungry so I microwave the leftover chili. My face is still a bit numb from the dental work but I manage to not spill any.

5:15 p.m. — Finish work for the day and I head outside to wait for G. Neither of us is feeling up to cooking so we stop into Wendy’s on the way home. I get a spicy chicken meal with a Sprite (G. pays). I decide while we’re waiting for our food to get a large Chocolate Frosty, which I pay for. $4.36

6 p.m. — I go outside to check on my garden. I planted several gladiolus bulbs in the spring and they are not doing well — the flowers keep tipping over. But my Chinese lantern bulbs are starting to turn orange and look very fall-ish. I spend the evening reading a trashy romance novel (Private Pleasures by Bertrice Small). I put Young Sheldon on in the background and I fall asleep around 9:30 p.m. in the living room. At 10 p.m. I go to bed.