Paycheque to Paycheque: what it’s like to live on minimum wage in Toronto
A minimum-wage job is rarely enough to make ends meet in an exceedingly expensive city
In June, Ontario’s minimum wage rose from $10.25 to $11 an hour. That’s a record in Canada, only matched by Nunavut, but still not much to live on if you work 40 hours a week. The stereotype of a minimum-wage earner is a high school student working a summer job, when in reality many people often hold those jobs for life: almost 40 per cent of minimum-wage workers are 25 or older. According to Statistics Canada data, the number of people earning at or near minimum wage has more than doubled in Ontario since 2003. The spike in low-wage workers is more proof, if you need it, of the growing disparity between the haves and have-nots. The same survey showed that the majority of low-wage earners are visible minorities, immigrants and women, which while hardly a shocker presents uncomfortable evidence of a kind of discrimination we wanted to believe was long extinct. In the following pages, we meet four Torontonians who work the jobs no one wants—the jobs many people are simply grateful to have.
I was born in Pangasinan in the Philippines. I got my nursing licence in 1996 and was hired by a hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. I had my son there in 2003—I broke up with his dad, so I’ve been a single mom from the beginning. In 2005, I left my son with my parents in the Philippines and moved to Toronto as part of the Live-in Caregiver Program. I cared for an elderly lady for three years, for about $1,200 a month. In 2007, I got my residency, and finally my son came to Canada and we were reunited.
I get placements as a personal support worker through non-profit agencies. Most of the clients are elderly and disabled, and I help them with daily tasks—washing them, brushing their teeth, light housekeeping, helping them eat. I don’t earn a lot of money, but it’s more than what I was earning before I became a resident. I also clean people’s houses for extra money.
I mostly cook and eat at home, but to treat my son occasionally, I know all the deals by heart—Monday there’s a special at Popeyes, KFC has toonie Tuesdays. I used to shop for clothing at Goodwill, but then I realized that clothing is just as inexpensive if you shop the end-of-season sales at the mall. Sometimes my son wants or needs something—a laptop for school or new running shoes—and I do splurge on that. And I’m always saving wherever I can—I’ll put $25 into my RRSPs and $25 into my son’s RESP. I also try to save to fly home to visit my family. I can only afford to go every four to six years. Our plane tickets are about $2,000, and I budget extra for the trip so I can bring presents to family. I worry my son will forget his grandparents if we don’t go back more often.
Earnings: $1,600–$2,000/month
Rent: $760
Food: $300
Phone: $100
Hydro: $50
TTC: $134
Cable/Internet: $100
Visa Payments: $50
Total Debt: $800
I moved here from Nova Scotia three years ago, planning to be an actor. I didn’t get any roles off the bat, so I took a job as a server at Medieval Times. It’s a surprisingly fun job: I get to watch horses and men in shiny tights, and there’s a falcon flying overhead. I work there Thursday through Sunday, more often when we do matinées or morning shows. Then Monday to Friday, from 6:30 to 9:30 in the morning, I babysit for a family in Forest Hill with two small kids. It’s pretty laid back. We do a lot of playing.
I share a two-bedroom apartment with a friend I know from high school. We’re on different schedules so we don’t see a lot of each other, but we still try to share expenses to keep costs low. We split Internet fees, and when we hang out we try to keep it cheap: Netflix instead of going out, or board games from second-hand stores.
I usually go home twice a year: once during the summer and once at Christmas. This year, however, I’ve been home three times already, once for a funeral and once when my mom had surgery. When I had to buy a new couch, my mom helped me with that. She paid half and I put the rest on my credit card. I tried to pay that off immediately, to keep the interest down. Then in June, my laptop died and I had to get a new one, so that was a really big expense.
I make it work by budgeting. I live for Tuesday movies at Cineplex, and I don’t drink or go to many restaurants or eat much takeout. I feel anxious sometimes about going deep into debt, but that’s life.
Earnings: $1,600/month
Rent: $465
Food: $250
Phone: $60
TTC: $134
Internet: $20
Credit Card Payments: $400
Total Debt: $1,200
Since 2006, I’ve been working full-time during the summer, and part-time during the school year, in order to pay my way through school. I already have one degree in psychology from York, and now I’m studying public health at Ryerson. At work, I’m on my feet for long hours, carrying loaded trays, lifting heavy things such as ice buckets and stacks of dishes, running in and out of hot kitchens. As I’m getting older, I’m noticing lower back pain, feeling stressed and even losing my voice from having to yell in the noisy kitchen.
In September, I found an apartment at Yonge and Finch—the first place I’ve had to myself. It’s hard to be up at five in the morning for work if you have a roommate who’s kept you awake the previous night.
Three years ago, my parents bought a house in Aurora, and I helped contribute to the down payment, which put me a year behind in my plans to go back to school. Since then, there have been a few times when I’ve made the mortgage payments for them or helped them with an overdue gas bill.
I plan out my budget on paper—for example, I know my rent is $500, then I’ll budget $73 for my cell phone. My main splurges are wine and eating lunches when I’m at school, because I hate carrying around lunch bags.
I hope to graduate from Ryerson in 2015 and either start a master’s in epidemiology or get a job with a public health agency. I’d love to be able to help with the current Ebola outbreak or with future potential pandemics, like the avian flu.
Earnings: $1,000-$2,500/month
Tuition: $8,000/year
Rent: $500
Food: $260
Cell Phone: $73
Car Insurance: $200
Gas: $200
Total Debt: $7,000
I have a degree in biology and psychology from Cape Breton University but haven’t been able to find any work above $12.30 an hour. I’m full-time at Home Depot now and get benefits: two weeks’ vacation, three sick days and one float day. I also get some prescriptions covered and $1,500 in dental. The job itself is mind-numbing, frustrating and physically demanding. I stock shelves, help customers, label products. To pay my bills, I also work as a server four nights a week at a small Greek restaurant on the Danforth.
No dinners out, Groupon for anything fun, no new clothes. I rent a bachelor apartment on Lake Shore West. It’s a bit expensive, but I love it—no roommates, and it’s near the water.
I’ve lost count of how many other jobs I’ve applied for over the years. I’ve submitted resumés for 20 this week alone. I once applied for EMS dispatch, and there were 900 applicants for three spots. Most job postings don’t advertise the rate of pay, so it’s only after you do two or three interviews and get offered the job that you find out it’s minimum wage or just above. My long-term goal is to join the police force, but I’m worried about not making it because I won’t have time in my 60-plus hour work week to train for the physical. I’m concerned I just might be too burnt out.
People ask me if I want to have kids, but on these wages, how could I? I thought I’d be married by now, with a family and a normal life: taking vacations, fighting about who’s going to do the dishes. Instead, I’m tired all the time and getting treated like a second-class citizen by customers.
Earnings: $1,600-$2,200/month
Rent: $850
Food: $200
Phone/Internet: $120
Car Payments: $380
Gas: $100
Parking: $140
Total Debt: $0
This made me so sad to read, but is an honest reflection of the city I live in every day.
The reality is so real in this one.
I believe in luck, i’ve seen people without education getting good jobs with high pay. Meanwhile, some with high education working in labour jobs with min wage.
it is not a big deal, it is not like there living in a shantytown in Africa
good work is often rewarded
I’m 44 years old, living in Canada as a refugee with a family of 4. Recently completed a master degree from U of T, thinking that by upgrading my education and credentials things will change for good. So naive! Now I have a 10k debt with OSAP and 10k more on my credit card, which I have been using to pay bills and food. This past Monday I received a call from a potential -but temporary- employer, thanking me for attending the interview, albeit I did not will be hired. It is so depressing to walk on the streets with your kids, unable to buy them a burger.
It’s not a liveable wage anywhere in Ontario, let alone Toronto. The only way to make it work is to get a job with tips. e.g. waitstaff or bartender.
I feel more sorry for those that have done something to further their life through education/skill training and are only making several dollars more an hour than these no/low skilled employees (not to mention lots of dollars less than these no skill union workers (ex. garbage people).
It still blows my mind that there are people who will look at a personal support worker or a person with a biology degree making barely minimum wage and think, “No, this is alright. This makes sense.” People are awful.
A B.Sc. is worthless…with science you either have to go all the way (PhD, or bare minimum of M.Sc.) or get out of the sciences. Undergrad degrees in general are pretty useless, and it is sad that masters degrees are becoming so common now that they too are not worth much.
If I ever hear my overly privileged boomer generation complain about the lazy youth of today with their sense of entitlement – when it is my generation that feels entitled – I think I will crawl in a hole and pull the hole in after me, such will be my embarrassment.
I read an article where the Bank of Canada governor recommended unpaid internships as a strategy for underemployed and educated youth to be in a position to take advantage of the career opportunities that will present themselves in a few years. My jaw bounced off the ground. I wonder, did he have to do that?
Free work = unvalued work.
Free work = increased labour supply suppressing wages.
Free work = increased debt.
Free work = being economically and socially powerless.
So how do we fix this problem?
do servers not get tips….I do not live in Toronto anymore but when I worked as a server I used to make pretty good tips…and I did not work at fancy restaurants
As soon as I finished my BA degree, I took a 9-month legal secretary program and it was the smartest thing I’ve done. I’ve never struggled to find a good job but I’ve got university friends still working as servers/bartenders/baristas. My secretarial program gave me skills and helped me build a resume that eventually lead me to a great organization that my degree allows me to move up within. It was luck and planning and the opposite of entitlement. A degree doesn’t mean much at an entry level.
the woman at the home depot only gets paid 62/month working as server at teh danforth :(
2200-(4.345238095*40*12.3) (monthly minus HD wage) if FT HD == 40hrs, even if its based on 35 thats only like 350 and change. thats pretty messed up : or is the article?
I don’t feel bad for these people at all, they put themselves in the situations that they’re in right now. Why are every one of them spending so much on cellphones? Buying overpriced lunch at school because he doesn’t like to carry around a lunch bag? and they wonder why they’re poor….
The cost of living and inflation is so grossly out of sync with not just minimum wage…but also the national average income that I want to throw-up in my mouth.
In 1988 out of high school I was making $12/hr. and those were entry level positions. Gas was.45 cents, a pack of cigarettes 2 bucks and In ’94 you could get good starter home for $150,000. Now if you wanted to work 60-80 hrs. and really bankroll something..it was doable.
Then, add on the fact that individuals such as L13 and the thousands of other people in his shoes that can’t even get a job for 11 bucks an hour with a Master degree is really is fuck’d up. Were talking about Canada and how to fix our own poverty. Minimum wage should be $15-16 period. I hardly think that would put business owners out of business.
“Coz iv’e been rich and iv’e been poor and trust me, being poor sucks”
(I forgot the name of the author)
Ironic that the same mag profiling million-dollar homes is also the same one profiling low wage earners. Wake up – this is “Toronto Life”.
Really sorry to hear about your situation. I think we need to have a chat. You may or may not know but November is Financial Literacy awareness month and I am reaching out to individuals and families to raise awareness of the need for financial literacy and highlight the programs, services and tools available to Canadians they may not be aware of, to help improve their financial knowledge, skills, confidence and their financial situations, thereby helping them reach their goals. If interested to learn more, send me an email to marshallstevensoncoop@gmail.com with your contacts and we can go from there. Cheers.
It blows my mind that people think it’s acceptable that *anyone* working a full-time job, regardless of what it is or what their education might be, does not earn enough to live decently. Something like a million Canadians a month use food banks every month, and most of those are working people. It’s indefensible.
Why are you assuming that this person is not ALREADY financially literate?
I’m not stating they aren’t financially literate. Some people are but still aren’t aware of the programs and services that can help. I’m just offering to help by raising awareness and highlight the services available to help with their situation. Isn’t that fair?
Are you posting about these services on the Toronto Life posts about multi-million dollar homes as well? Or just this one about poor people?
I haven’t seen that post. I saw the need for help on this post so I decided to write and offer the help. I assume you’ve read that other post already. If people are looking for help there, maybe you can pass on the information as well.
Dude, Toronto Life is MOSTLY posts about expensive homes, restaurants, clothes, etc. How could you miss that?
No way I would recommend taking financial management advice from someone with such poor observation skills.
A “server” can also be a barista or similar an they generally do not get tipped. Maybe their share of the tip jar, but that’s nothing.
this is my greatest fear.
I just turned 21. I work two jobs, volunteer, am on the exec committee of two clubs and go to school full time. I’m pursuing a double major in neuroscience and psychology and a minor in physiology at U of Torture. I have never worked so hard in my life, I never thought it would be normal to sleep 5 hours a night ON AVERAGE.
And even though i’m pushing myself to the limits to try and get the grades I need to continue my education because I KNOW a BSc is worthless i’m so worried that I wont get in. I wont have the right lab experience. My GPA wont be enough. I wont have the right reference letter.
I’m in my last year of undergrad and its terrifying that something as trivial as one midterm could literally make the difference between acceptance or rejection from a post graduate program.
Wow. I’m in the US. The minimum wage here isn’t nearly as much. At least these people can afford to pay rent on their own. Here…if you make minimum wage, you’re living with your parents! :-(
From reading the article, it appears that part of the problem is that these people want to live and work in Toronto.
Have any of the people (the younger ones anyway) considered moving out West to Alberta or Saskatchewan? Kids with nothing more than high school diplomas are making $100k + up in Fort MacMurray at the oil sands. The agricultural sector is Saskatchewan is also booming.
Mind you, housing isn’t cheap anymore out west, but resource sector jobs sure pay better than minimum wage. At least you can afford to rent and put some savings aside.
It seems that those profiled (and many if the commenters) are limiting their futures just to Toronto when there are any more options available.
Do you really think that is the root of the problem here? The problem doesn’t come from “over-priced phone bills” or buying lunches instead of packing lunches every day! What would changing their phone bills save them $100-200 a year? Packing a lunch maybe the same? That extra $400(ish) dollars does not change the fact that all of these people make less than 20,000 a year! For working full time, overtime, or multiple jobs. Who makes you lunch when you work 60 hours a week?
You’re a character I see PlantinMoretus :). That’s fine. Everyone is open to their opinion. Question, What really is your role in these posts? I checked up on some of your other comments and I realize all you do is either criticize someone else’s comments or someone’s article that’s posted. Yet you provide no solution. Here’s some advice for you PlantinMoretus . You can continue to spend your day reading posts and criticizing comments or you can do something about it and either help or create the change. If you don’t have any solution or credible advice to give, then maybe you should either keep it to yourself or get some help as well. There are people out here who are serious about making a difference. Hope that helps.
I guess we can’t expect an OCAD student to do simple math. If it’s not too mentally taxing for you, try to use your little mind to read the article one more time. They are each paying $60 to $100 a month for cell phones. There are free texting apps that also offer incredibly low airtime rates. Living in Toronto, it is easy to find free wifi, so these apps are a beautiful solution for those who make such a small amount of money. Having a tiny computer to keep you hyper-connected to everyone every moment of your life (a cellphone) is NOT a basic necessity. And for f*cks sake, it costs less than a buck to make a sandwich, and another buck for some veggies and a drink. Now, try to stay with me here sweetie. I’m gonna do some math, but its okay if you can’t understand it; you can find a man to explain it to you. Ready? Here we go: Let’s say buying lunch is 8 bucks a day. To make that same lunch would cost 2 bucks a day, for a difference of 6 bucks. Now, there are 5 days in a work week, and 52 weeks in a year. 6x5x52 = $1560 a year.
So, if these minimum wage morons could get their sense of entitlement in check, by changing to a free cell phone app and making their lunches they can save around $2280 a year (assuming $60/mo cell phone).
I hope that didn’t hurt your head too much. Now go paint how you feel in Nu World Moody #3.
Thank you for being a shining vision of patriarchy.
You haven’t explained how a difference of $2280 a year makes much of a difference at all when a person is already living below the poverty line. I’m guessing you’re not particularly well acquainted with the phenomenon yourself? It’s worth becoming a little better informed- all the manly math in the world isn’t enough to make sure the poor in this city get enough to eat. Try spending some time in a food bank. It’s brutal out there. Here’s the Daily Bread Food Bank’s most recent report on hunger in the city: http://www.dailybread.ca/learning-centre/whos-hungry/
Unless, that is, you’d rather just troll nice young ladies than actually give a single fuck about people who are struggling. In which case, best of luck to you, you miserable human being.
It’s not really trolling if I am providing sound life advice. I should change my name to Dr. Phil and charge her for my words.
Also, I’m not miserable, I’m very happy!
I’m happy you’re happy! But I’m sad for you that you lack the basic capacity for logic and still think it wise and charitable to dump your pathetic excuses for insight on the innocent bystander. Because in fact you failed to solve the problem of poverty with sandwiches and texting apps. Sorry, I know you think you’re a genius, and I’m sure your mom does too. But you’re a failure at thinking, and you should be very sad.
Kate, $2280 is about 10% of their annual earnings. Regardless of how much you earn, a 10% difference in pay is definitely a noticeable change.
You are a dumb bitch. The end.
You are a dumb bitch too, lesbo.
Interesting response comments1234 thank you! I can see that you are really absorbing the reality that the middle class of Toronto is disappearing!
10% is a noticeable change, yes, but it wouldn’t make a poor person rich, nor would it push their income above the poverty line, which is called a poverty line for a reason (let me spell it out: an income lower than that is not enough to live on).
But thanks for calling me a dumb bitch, that’s just swell.
haha!
Thanks xoxox
Actually — it is trolling! You went so far as to go to my personal website! For future reference — Nu World Moody 2 is a collaborative video and sound project. A video is not a painting. Thanks for your advice though!
I feel sorry for these people but they also want to live in Toronto pretty bad. I live in Calgary and am making just under 6 figures now doing engineering design work. I didn’t even finish tech. school because there is so much work here. I lived in Edmonton before moving to Calgary and there is an abundance if jobs there as well and the city is cheaper to live in. There is a shortage of employees in Alberta, not a shortage of work.
You`re a horrible person, if your mum knew how you spoke to people im sure she wouldn’t be too proud. It`s not about living cheaply to just survive. It`s about a middle class that is getting smaller, and smaller. It`s about the amount of canadians who have to struggle in a country thats wealthy enough for them not to have to. You sexiest swine.
A server working nights and weekends can easily pocket $200 CASH a week in tips alone. It is not hard to budget money and live within one’s means.
Are we supposed to feel sorry for these people? If you are making over $2000 a month, you are not poor. If you can afford to drive a car, you are not poor. If you can afford to take trips anywhere, you are not poor. If you can afford to dine out, you are not poor.
I feel for the people who can barely make ends meet, the single mothers who bring their kids to their cleaning jobs because they can’t afford daycare, the families struggling to pay rent and still put food on the table, the seniors who can’t afford to buy medication because their pension is so little.
As a recent grad, I am living this “paycheque to paycheque” life as well, but I have to agree with the general sentiment that this generation is lazy and entitled. Like really, you’re complaining that you have to carry plates and ice buckets and yell in a kitchen? Get over yourself. I do the same, and it obviously isn’t a glamorous life, but it pays my bills and I value the money I work so hard to make. You can’t have million dollar dreams with a minimum wage work ethic.
LOL – the old “search through their past posts to find something to attack them with to deflect from my own toxicity/uselessness” dodge.
And these days, even a master’s is not enough to guarantee steady employment and middle-class income. It’s really scary.
Good luck :)
“Having a tiny computer to keep you hyper-connected to everyone every moment of your life (a cellphone) is NOT a basic necessity.”
Yeah, it is. To engage in education or employment these days, you really do need good, reliable internet access. So if not a phone then a laptop or whatever.
Re: lunches, you are forgetting the time involved in buying the groceries and the prep. It’s a huge hassle when you work 60 hours a week.
Yup. And the fact remains that even doing these things won’t change the vast underlying problem. It’s easy to criticize people living in poverty for not being models of frugality. Unless, of course, you’ve had a taste of that life yourself, or have at least had some proximity to people who are struggling to make ends meet.
When we say “those stupid poor people should have had cheaper phone plans”, we’re really saying “see, they’re poor because they don’t try hard enough”. The truth is that no amount of scrimping and saving is going to make these wages liveable in this city, with this cost of living. And trying to push into the next income bracket is near impossible in this economy- I know enough people with professional and graduate degrees, not to mention years of relevant experience, to know that sometimes minimum wage is the best you can get in this economy no matter what you do.
And don’t forget that even the most frugal person is suddenly completely screwed when it comes to a dental emergency or an unexpected prescription. Living at the margins means, too frequently, falling right over the edge into the abyss. There’s a lot that needs to change, but exhausted overworked students making their own sandwiches sure as fuck won’t make a dent in the actual problem.
I agree across the board.
I can’t help but think that the “poor people shouldn’t have small luxuries” is a little too closely linked to the “it’s their own fault they are poor” attitude. Better to get distracted by too-fancy phone bills than the structural problems at the root of poverty. Better to blame people for things wildly beyond their control. That’ll show them.
The fact remains that there are untold numbers good, hardworking Canadians breaking their backs to try and get ahead who are barely scraping by, sacrificing food for medication costs, struggling for the basics. But some of us would rather say “I won’t listen to your plight because you could have picked a better phone plan”. This is the height of idiocy- to the point of malice.
Yeah. Orwell’s Wigan Pier book is very good on the topic of poverty and he addresses the daily-latte/phone-plan criticism. When your life is a daily grind of scrimping and saving, those small daily pleasures/treats are kind of the only thing that keeps you going. (And who among us, rich or poor, doesn’t need a little pleasure every day? What are we here for?) They take on an importance that a wealthier person doesn’t understand, because the wealthier person can look forward to big pleasures like a vacation, and just isn’t that stressed to begin with.
So there’s that. Plus some people are just really mean.
to Marshall Stevenson.. that was a very classy response
Then go back.
Don’t worry, you’ll end up at Popeyes…
you can’t really get up and move when you are living paycheck to paycheck.
Of course the two attitudes are linked! If you waste money you don’t have on things you don’t need, you will have less money for the things you do need. It scares me to see what young people these days think they are entitled to, just by virtue of being Canadian…
Also, how is wasting money on eating out and expensive phone plans wildly beyond their control? Are they addicts then? Because that’s the only way I can see those things being out of their control. The good news about that is, there are TONS of free support groups for addicts!
I listened to their plight, and gave what I thought was some simple, sound advice that I myself followed when I was making minimum wage. But maybe we should all just hold hands and talk about how we love each other and how it’s horrible that the world isn’t being handed to us. Maybe the world would be a better place if everyone made the same amount of money no matter what their contribution to society is. After all, I’m sure a failed actress or someone with a psychology degree deserves the same standard of living that a carpenter or welder or engineer has… Oh, wait. No… Actually, I think those last three went out and got trained in useful skills that are actually in demand. MAYBE the entitled little shits today should realize that getting a university degree in something useless is one of the dumbest things they could do, and MAYBE they should go learn a real skill that makes them valuable to society.
Also, they could make their fucking lunches instead of buying them.
It seems you didn’t really read the article- and I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt, since it seems you spent more time on “math like a man” than on reading comprehension. I’ll take pity on you. Here’s a key point you seem to have missed: “According to Statistics Canada data, the number of people earning at or near minimum wage has more than doubled in Ontario since 2003. ” Do you have a brilliant and undoubtedly very manly explanation, then, for the number of people earning at or near minimum wage more than doubling, other than a structural problem? Did the number of exceedingly stupid and “entitled” people suddenly more than double in the last 11 years, resulting in fewer sandwiches and more psychology degrees? Remember, you can’t blame Millenials, being that 40 per cent of minimum wage earners are now 25 and older (also in the article, which you did not read).
Holding hands and being lovey is fine and dandy, and I won’t object to it- but I will object to wilful, obstinate refusal to even address the facts at hand. That’s pure ideology, and it’s not doing anyone any good. Least of all yourself, Mr. Stevenson.
Do you know what keeps me going? Ambition. Work towards some sort of goal. If you have such a negative attitude towards the world, and assume everyone is being unfair to you, you will be miserable. Instead, why don’t you try seizing the wonderful opportunities that come with living in Canada?
And for fucks sake, give me a break. Buying shit every day is not the only way to ‘keep you going’. Try going for a fucking run in the fucking park. Or read a book. Or go to the fucking library and watch funny fucking cat videos on youtube…. you don’t need the goddamn fucking overpriced latte. Also, let’s be honest here. Nobody important is calling you. You don’t need a phone.
Why are you so mean to Marshall Stevenson? What qualifications do you have to judge someone’s skill levels? Mind your own business loser.
Exactly
Or go count the paki dots at Scarborough town centre :)
Go back where, Brazilian girl and Comments1234?
yes you can, it’s the best time to do that.
I agree that the top 1% should get paid less and allow the workers to get paid more. However,
1. I’ve also also seen too many people who have financial problems make terrible decisions when it comes to budgeting. When I was making minimum wage, i did not drive, did not have data on my cell phone, and did not own a tv, let alone pay for cable. This makes me wonder whether or not knowing how to prioritize your spending reflects on the type of decisions you make in other areas in life.
2. Being an immigrant is harder because you can’t get good jobs if you lack the communication skills necessary to convey your capability.
3. “Hardworking Canadians don’t deserve minimum wage” is an entitlement. I don’t know why the word “deserve” and “don’t deserve has anything to do with this topic. People who believe they “deserve” better, usually don’t.
Now let’s talk about how things can be changed, instead of what people deserve.
Back to the shithole you came from
Oh Bill and numbered reader, thanks for the invitation to visit your places!
Because he’s a clueless classist pinhead.
Go back to playing with your Ayn Rand action figures.
pointyouwhoosh.gif
Can you please explain how when you are living paycheck to paycheck?
Sorry Sonya to break the bad news, but even a graduate school degree does not guarantee employment. Many of us with graduate degrees end us working minimum wage or going back to school because there are too many people graduating to too few jobs. Worse off, employers are looking for work experience which if you go straight from Bachelor’s to Master’s is hard to get. Graduate school is becoming a holding station that keeps the unemployment rate underestimated as people who would normally seek employment gain more education to make themselves marketable. We need to fix the system so you can get experience within your field before you go to a post-graduate program.
Hate to say this, but we’re ****ed either way. I am 27, finally finished long years of school and now making barely over 100k a year. I have over 150k in student loans with 5.5% prime interest kicking in meaning I have about 700-800 bucks going towards interest payment per month. Approximately 37k goes back to federal taxes, CPP and EI. Because my job involves liability risks, I need to buy malpractice insurance which is anywhere from 1000-1200 a year. I have no girlfriend because I’ve been too busy trying to minimize my loans while studying rigorously. Resorted to plentyoffish or okcupid trying to search poor souls like myself and going out on random dates. Rent is like 800 a month, have no car because I dont want to pay for insurance/maintenance, food is like 800-900 a month too because I have no time to cook. The inflation is so insane, eating out mostly at pizza pizza and maybe buying a small salad with chicken at dominions for dinner. Coffee costs me 200 a month because I need to drink up to stay concentrated. Because of so much coffee throughout the day, I get GERD and have to stock up on tecta which wont be covered for me because I “make” too much money and it ends up costing me a thousand a year. I havent even talked about phone bill (to Patrick Kim btw, he could switch to WIND and save like 30 bucks a month with a better plan), internet, electricity, and other random crap.
So after taxes, I make about 5k a month but after all the shit, I save up about 2k a month, which half of it goes towards paying my loans back. So I am gonna be 34 or so when I have paid off my debt. Am I thankful? yes. Am I happy? Not really.
My advice to everyone is go to a trade school or technology institutions and quickly master a skill that is in demand. You can be out of school by 22, and making decent wages and enjoying life.
I rarely go ape shit online, but this post has to be one of the most condescending replies I’ve ever read. As someone who was raised in a low-income household. Who has worked hard enough that I was afforded scholarships, to only struggle to maintain a high enough G.P.A in order to keep said scholarships, and work full time for little pay…
So no, I did not have enough time to make a sandwich(s). And when I did make them they lacked any sort of nutrients for me to survive throughout the day. So I loaded up on cheap coffee to keep me going that I premade at home. I also brought tea bags with me to school and went to Starbucks and got free hot water when I needed something different.
Hi and bonjour, my name is food insecurity and I affect people who don’t have access to fresh and nutritious food. Welcome to my struggle.
I often went hungry to class in order to stretch my dollar. Buying an 80 cent apple was a treat for me. I had a phone with no cell phone service. So I was constantly hopping from Tim Hortons to Tim Hortons trying to connect with people and peers. Or staying super late hours at school so people would be none the wiser to my financial short-coming’s. I didn’t want my peers to feel like I was burden if I couldn’t be reached or couldn’t contribute monetary funds on projects as my program required. Luckily, I was afforded another scholarship which cover the costs for me when I was required to pull in my weight financially on a school assignment.
How the fuck am I suppose to save any money when I don’t have any to begin with. At some point I had to swallow my pride and take OSAP and sign up for a food bank in order to survive because I was struggling. The thought of moving backgrounds and returning to the system I grew up in was terrifying and depressing.
By no means am I saying it is impossible but give people a break. It’s hard out here.
I think Catherine Bueno is really attractive.
And Patrick Kim–you are a very, very good guy to help out your parents like that. If I was an employer I would give you a job.
I was making about $1800/month when I moved from Ontario to Alberta. I saved up money for the deposit on a basement apartment, sight unseen, and sent my partner out West to get settled and look for work. He landed with one suitcase and some money for a bedframe and mattress from Ikea. I shipped him some of our smaller belongings in boxes. Meanwhile, I moved in with my parents to cut my expenses so I could support my partner in Alberta. After three months, I packed up and joined him. We got rid of all of our furniture and about 90% of everything else we owned. By the time I flew out, we only had enough money to pay for the next 6 weeks of expenses; luckily we both found work. It CAN be done, but you need to be smart and use every resource you’ve got. And it’s still a big risk.
It’s not that “most of these people feel entitled”…. It’s just normal to have higher expectations when you are investing so much money into your education .. Of course the single mother, seniors and those that can’t feed their family are the first priority to feel sorry for because they are in the worst situation…
I understand that that yes…. People living pay check to pay-check are luckily to have a job that pays their bills and especially those that have $0 in debt…
It not the million dollar dreams with a minimum wage work ethic that the problem… big dreams are good it keeps people alive!! … I’m sure they work really hard as well…
The main problem is that these young people are just not choosing their education wisely which is not resulting in very good career choices.. and secondly their location… For example the girl who wanted to become an actor and chose to come to Toronto… or the lady with a Bs. in Biology and Psychology ….. There is just not much you can do with those degrees if you do not plan to pursue a Masters or Ph.D. An acting Degree or Arts Degree is almost worthless …..
Also the girl who goes to U of T (Torture) She is not need to go to such an expensive university…. especially for undergrad…… there are other (cheaper) options… Now colleges offer undergraduate degrees 4 year degrees… With paid Co-op positions which help you get your foot in the door and secure job positions … A few of my cousins did that and they have decent paying jobs in their fields. Also you do not need to get a masters…. If you done you post grade from a university you can do a 1 year post grad program at a college with paid co-op position that lets you get your foot in the door and give you the right hands on skills which will allow you to get a job in the field…
This is what I have been doing …. going to college close to home ( so I don’t need to spend money of TTC)…. not buying any new clothes for almost 4 years…
Buying cheap textbooks .. working at local restaurants and bars near home and campus jobs … I get my social time in class with friends during the lunch break and see my other friends during the winter and summer break… the rest of the time there is google hangouts and skype chats to keep it cheap…..
I have also looked into professional development courses to beef up my resume which landed me higher than min wage jobs the past summer despite still being a student ….
You need to be smart about life to make it in this world…… Go to university only for the stuff that you actually needs university education ( Engineer, Doctor, Lawyer, Professor)… If you want to be a teacher for example… you do not need to take 4 years of uni… you can take a general 3 year bach degree and 1 year or teachers college … Also once you get a teachers college education … why would you stay in Toronto where there are almost not jobs…. Take the risk and Work in Saudi Arabia,,, Canadian, America, British teachers make a high salary their and are able to pay off all there student loans in a year or two,,, plus sometimes accommodations are included for free with the teaching contract…
People just need to use their heads a little bit more …. Get out of the comfort zone… if Toronto is not working out so much why stay… go out West .. leave the country for a while to build up your work experience and come back in a few years when you’ve got more connections and qualifications to secure a higher stable employment !!!
Don’t dream big and stay in min wage employment… Get up and get going …
Bill,
I might be tempted to pay some attention to your math calculations, if you hadn’t decided to turn your comments into a personal attack on Diana.
You could have quite easily made the same points about saving money without insulting her or the people in the article.
You may not agree with her comments but that does not give you the right to insult her. ( I noticed she didn’t insult the previous commentor – she just stated her opinion).
How is that ironic?
Degrees do not equal job skills. Research what you want to do that pays a good wage, then focus on completing any qualifications to do that. Try to find office work during university even if part time because you will have good administrative experience when you are done school that can parlay into something else.
Take a degree that gives you lift skills or teaches you critical thinking.
Problem is schools have to stop being isolated from reality and steer people into course streams that will result in a marketable skill. Until the loony left grip on education is removed this production of financially burdened , educated ,but unneeded people won’t stop.
I sympathize with these people with their challenges. Who
thought? Employment in the “be-all-end all” city of Toronto, there might be
employment issues!
Take note that none of these people have any notable debt. I
commend them for that.
Just a note, education is becoming less of a contributor to a comfortable $ living,
however, skills are in demand and will pay as such.
For example: to become a heavy equipment operator, you need a high school diploma and some training, then over time you gain the skill. I know many that make $20/hr – $40/hr. Somewhat higher wages than the people interviewed.
So…don’t think that a higher education is the path to wealth because you could get very disappointed. Higher Ed has to be coupled with marketable skills,…period!