This piano teacher and wedding musician makes $170,000 a year. How does she spend it?
“Loblaws is ridiculously expensive. I avoid it completely”
Who: Liz Craig, 33 What she does: Piano teacher and wedding musician What she makes: $170,000 a year Where she lives: A three-bedroom, three-bathroom semi in Pickering
Regular Expenses
Mortgage: $2,150 a month. “I used to live in downtown Toronto, but I moved to Pickering in 2020 for more space. I’m lucky—this rate is comparable to what I used to pay for rent.”
Internet: $70 a month with Bell. “They offered everyone on my street a great deal, so I switched from Rogers.”
Hydro: $60 a month.
Cell: $27 a month with Virgin Plus. “I get 50 gigs of data, which is more than enough.”
Groceries: $600 a month. “Last September I became vegan, and my bill went down a bit. I shop at the nearby Pacific Fresh Food Market—it’s affordable and has an incredible variety of produce. As for Loblaws, their prices are ridiculously high. I avoid them completely.”
Car: $731 a month. “I drive to my students in Toronto and to gigs across Southern Ontario, so my car costs add up, but I can claim most of them as work expenses.”
Business expenses: $20 a month. “My lesson fees cover stuff like songbooks, but I spend this amount on teaching software.”
Subscriptions: $12 a month for YouTube Music. “This is for ad-free listening while teaching. Otherwise, I visit the library for books and stream movies and TV on Gem and Kanopy.”
Pet care: $75 a month. “My cat, Bean, is low maintenance. Her main cost is food, with the only big expense last year being a $400 vet visit.”
Wellness: $180 a month. “I go to Orangetheory Fitness about twice a week—it’s five minutes from my place. I also do yoga online twice a week, which costs $10 per class.”
Dining out: $300 a month. “I love eating at restaurants. During the winter, I go out maybe twice a month, whereas during patio season, it’s a few times a week. I like Planta in Yorkville and Hawker in Kensington.
Savings: $2,900 a month. “I max out my RRSP at roughly $1,600 a month to lower my taxable income, then I put another $1,300 into my TFSA. Long-term, I’d love to buy a place in Toronto. But, for now, I’m setting aside money for travel.”
Recent Splurges
A month in Japan: $10,000. “Last summer, I started in Tokyo and made my way southwest to Yakushima Island. The highlight was cycling the 70-kilometre Shimanami Kaido route, a trip across a series of islands connected by bridges. I can’t wait to go back in the next few years.”
Fireplace renovation: $8,000. “My old fireplace was in bad shape, so I rebuilt it with a new surround last year.”
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Ali Amad is a Palestinian-Canadian journalist based in Toronto. His work has appeared in publications including Toronto Life, Maclean’s, Vice, Reader’s Digest and the Walrus, often exploring themes of identity, social justice and the immigrant experience.
