
Who: Tatiana Morand, 22
What she does: Content marketing for a tech start-up
What she makes: $60,000 a year
Where she lives: A three-bedroom apartment near Yonge and College
Regular expenses: Rent and utilities: $1,075 a month. “I have two roommates. I’d prefer to move to a different area of the city, but finding an affordable place in Toronto is a nightmare.” Cell phone: $45 a month, for a 4-GB data plan with Koodo. Groceries: $300 a month. “Being a vegetarian helps with my grocery bill.” Brunch: $150 a month. “I run a brunch blog, so I end up spending a lot of my food budget to keep that going. Maha’s in Leslieville is my favourite.” Transportation: $125 a month. “Most of my money goes to Uber and Via Rail—I visit my parents in Brockville once a month.” Gym membership: $50 a month. Spotify Premium: $10 a month. Coffee: $50 a month. “I try out a new café almost every weekend.”
Recent splurges: Hair styling: $250, for a cut and colour at Hidden Gem Hair Stuff salon in the Fashion District. Skincare: $120, for face serums, face wash, moisturizer and acne gel from The Ordinary and Tula. Vitamins: $100. “I don’t know why they’re so expensive. I just want to be healthy.” Gel nails: $60. Headspace app subscription: $60. “Regular meditation helps me get through my day and sleep better at night.” Second-hand Bose headphones: $175, from Bunz. “You’re not supposed to use cash on Bunz, but I cheated.”
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Roxy Kirshenbaum is a freelance journalist based in Toronto. After graduating from Columbia University’s journalism program, she worked as a copy editor at InStyle magazine in New York and then as an editor at Surface magazine. When she returned to Toronto, she worked at Blue Ant Media and Cottage Life, and she has been a contributing writer and photographer at Toronto Life for many years.