Rising costs of living, how are you dealing with it?

[rslater]

Age: 26
Annual Income: 9K
Field of Employment: Co-Owner Beverage Industry
Where do you live: South Surrey
Single/Couple/Married: Couple
Renting/Owning: Live at home rent free
Investment: Not a single dollar in any of any of my personal bank accounts.

I live month to month taking a small portion from my businesses profit to survive. Most of it is spent on living a life with the few hours I get of free time (I take 2 Sundays off a month). Every month we put money back into our business as well to avoid taking another loan out and we have been very happy with how everything is going. I started my business 7 months ago and I sacrificed a 45k job to do so. I also spent all my savings to continue traveling for 3 more months after being away for 8 months before as I wanted to continue backpacking. I dwindled the rest away as it took 5 months to get our business going.

I have to move into Vancouver soon as my business is growing quickly and it is impractical to spend an hour in a half driving as its time I do not have to waste. While I can't afford rent in reality, it is a financial sacrifice I have to make.

[jackmeister]

Originally Posted by ForbiddenX

Age: 20
Annual income: mid 40s
Field of employment: Software Developer (mobile games and webapps)
Where do you live? South Vancouver.
Single/couple/married? Couple
Renting/own? Living at home, not paying rent
Investments: Starting my savings account

Right now I'm trying to get into the habit of saving my money. I was never a good saver and was a lot better a spending my money. I used to work part time (weekends and inbetween sems) while I went to school at BCIT. All that money usually went to was gas, video games, food, and electronics. I didn't really consider saving any of it since at the time I thought that it was impossible due to how small my income was (probably around 2-300/paycheck) but I definitely could've cut back a lot and put that money towards something else.

I'm working as a mobile developer now and I've been getting some steady income. I've started to spend a lot less and I'm thinking a bit more before just buying things. I do have a few more expenses now. I work in Port Moody and live in Vancouver so I spend about $50/week on gas. I'm paying off my car (0% interest) and also paying for the insurance.

Good thing is that I'm still living at home and my parent's aren't in a rush to kick me out. I really do want to move out though and to see how it is to make it on my own.

Even with my money going towards my car, I'm trying to put what's left over into a savings account and eventually into RRSPs. Which I'll then use to invest in the stock market.

My coworkers been telling me to invest into higher risk stocks if I were to use the RRSP since I won't be able to touch that anyways unless I'll be using it for another investment (ie: condo/house). Would this be something I should look into doing?

You're better off using your RRSP for something it was meant for, retirement savings. If you want that risky stuff, use your TFSA (if you're only deciding between the two). With a little tax planning info you read, you'll know that you should contribute to your RRSP when you project yourself to make more money since its tax deductible.

[top_dyl]

Originally Posted by Iceman-19

Many won't say because they can't legally say how they make their incomes.
Posted via RS Mobile

any other way of making the higher income is either owning any business,doctor/lawyer, or dealing. there's no other way.

99percent of professional jobs working for a company is like 100k and that is if you're management/very high up already. anymore than that is on very rare occasions.

[RabidRat]

Originally Posted by wouwou

...and the way to deal with GVRD cost of living?

I move the fuck away to Ontario.
Posted via RS Mobile

I just wanted to chime in and say this is absolutely true.

The money is a lot better down in the GTA (+$15,000 starting, in my field), with a lower cost of living. If you're willing to pick up and move across the country, this is absolutely the way to go.

Toronto is not nearly as scenic and beautiful as it is in Vancouver, but it is definitely fun. There's *always* random stuff going on downtown, and it's always packed with people. I would get bored and on a Friday night and head to Dundas Square, and there'd be a rap battle going down and everybody's having fun. At one point a caucasian lady in her late 30's jumped up on the stage and grabbed the mic, started ranting about how her son just started at college and how her precious son is probably already having sex. Then they dropped the beat and she ripped her shirt off and started rapping. And then a random homeless guy got up on stage and began grinding against her. The crowd went fucking nuts

Edit: I think I might have actually recorded a video of this on my phone. I'll try to find it =p

In general I found people to be a lot more friendly as well. A bunch of people were sorta mocking a protest rally across the street and were holding a "Free Hugs" campaign, and they were running all around randomly embracing people. This kinda thing happens all the time down there and it was kind of a culture shock coming home to Vancouver. It feels like everybody's all closed off and keeps to themselves more.

Honestly I would have stayed down there if it hadn't been that I really started missing home. The $800 plane tickets home and the 3hr time difference didn't help. If I don't end up finding work soon though I'm going to look at the GTA again, at least for a few years.

Btw for anyone interested in moving away for work, you don't have to actually go there first. Just apply online and they will contact you for a phone interview, and take it from there. You might think "why would they choose to fly me down vs hiring locally", but it's a lot more common than you think.

[Meowjin]

The pacific northwest fucking blows.

don't listen to the dumb lazy shits in this thread who don't have jobs and live off their parents $$$

your not fooling me you rich ass lazy motherfucking kids.

[RabidRat]

Originally Posted by jegglez

Why the fuck is everyone so BALLING here

They're balling because they worked their asses off for it. From reading this thread it looks like those who are making good money work trades, and in the cases of ridiculous money, they're doing hard labor on an oil field out in the middle of no where, or fought to get themselves into a union job. Or they took on huge risk and killed themselves with honest hard work to get a business going. Or they risked it all sinking their hard-earned money into investments and it paid off for them.

I'm going to get flamed to shit for this, but it seems like a lot of people complain that they make so little and everyone else is somehow living the good life, how these rich kids must be living off their parents and life is so unfair. Well honestly, you CAN do something about it. Get into a trade. The money is there, but are you willing to work for it? Or go to university (transferring through college, if necessary), and I don't mean go there for a 4 year degree in fricking Psychology or Animal Biology or Theoretical Mathematics because unless you're a damn genius and love it enough to go through 6-10 years MORE school, you're now in crazy debt and are really no better off than you were without that piece of paper.

If you're going the university route, get a degree in something practical and [relatively] in demand like Engineering, or Computer Science, or Pharmacy, or Business, etc. These majors are kinda like trades, with a low success rate but with potential for higher payoff if you're willing to work hard and kill yourself over it. This is good for about 30-50k, starting. If you're lazy and just squeaked by pissing away the four years, there's no job at the end of the tunnel. Your paper is worthless. If you beat yourself to shit forcing yourself to study, and work through the night getting your term projects done and get yourself noticed by doing exemplary work, you might end up doing okay. And I suspect a lot of people in this thread who posted up 40-60k in their 20's went through exactly that.

Point is, if you're sitting there working retail making less than 30k and hating on this thread, you can do something about it. But are you willing to work for it, or are you comfortable with where you are now?

IMO.

[Iceman-19]

I dont work hard for a 12xxxx+ a year. Sure I have to travel to work and stay for 2 weeks at a time, but I'm BALLIN. U jelly bra?



Lol I'm kidding. Honestly though, I don't work all that hard, and I only got my GED a month ago...
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[Iceman-19]

Originally Posted by top_dyl

any other way of making the higher income is either owning any business,doctor/lawyer, or dealing. there's no other way.

99percent of professional jobs working for a company is like 100k and that is if you're management/very high up already. anymore than that is on very rare occasions.

Jesus fuck you are stupid.
Posted via RS Mobile

[SumAznGuy]

Originally Posted by asian_XL

Unless you are , it will be interesting to know and share what's your SO or total household annual income. It's sad to see girls these days can make more than guys

Don't worry. I make almost double that of what my wife makes, but then again I work longer hours than her and I also work 6 days a week. When I break it down to by the hour, I make less than her.

While I make the car payments, gas, insurance, utils, phone, tv, etc she laughs at me cause she has more in savings because she decided to take the bus for the past 15 years and I have way too many hobbies.

[asian_XL]

^ I am the other way around here. my fiance makes 50% more, owns two apartments, pay her own bills and not driving, but save about 1/5 of what I do every month. Should never date an Asian woman.

[falcon]

Originally Posted by E-40six

Its only the ballers posting in here, you won't see some guy coming out saying he's 25 and making 15-20k and live at home

I don't know man, it's not hard to lock up a job making 40k in your early 20's, even in Vancouver. If you're only making 15-20k/yr you need to pull your socks up and figure out what you're doing wrong. People always talk about how hard it is to find a good job, yet I've had no problems the last 6 years finding work that paid around $20/hr with no university.

[falcon]

Originally Posted by MindBomber

How do I get by?
I don't buy into the disposable materialistic practices than seem to define our society, especially younger generations. I don't own multiple pairs of trendy $300 jeans, I've listened to the same Ipod while studying since high school, and I don't go to Starbucks everyday. I don't need to spend money to be entertained, there are countless enjoyable free activities. I also live outside Vancouver, and can say, my rent is a full $1000 less a month than the average in this thread as a result. It means I drive 45 minutes to campus, but trips into Vancouver aren't that long of a drive on weekends since there's very little traffic.

My income dropped like a stone, but I'm twice as happy now as I was then.

Sounds a lot like me, other than buying car parts.. That is my one kryptonite.

[top_dyl]

Originally Posted by Iceman-19

Jesus fuck you are stupid.
Posted via RS Mobile

ohhi forgot athletes. and most rich people don't get rich off working incomes either. so you make 100k bleh you can make100k off interest on a million dollars in the bank. heh


its mostly starting a business then you can start investing

[Iceman-19]

Excellent is excellent.
Posted via RS Mobile

[melloman]

Originally Posted by top_dyl

any other way of making the higher income is either owning any business,doctor/lawyer, or dealing. there's no other way.

99percent of professional jobs working for a company is like 100k and that is if you're management/very high up already. anymore than that is on very rare occasions.

Being a structural engineer, you can easily make 100k/year. I know senior's (15+ years work exp.) that make way more then that, and they don't own their own business.. just make sure they get their company to grab the BIG jobs.

[PJ]

Originally Posted by falcon

I don't know man, it's not hard to lock up a job making 40k in your early 20's, even in Vancouver. If you're only making 15-20k/yr you need to pull your socks up and figure out what you're doing wrong. People always talk about how hard it is to find a good job, yet I've had no problems the last 6 years finding work that paid around $20/hr with no university.

This is surprisingly true. A lot of people who complain about "no jobs" aren't trying hard enough. Checking Craigslist and firing off resumes once a week doesn't cut it.

Since graduating high school, the lowest I ever made was $17/hour at a warehouse. But at the same time, a warehouse is a dead end job.

University-gradded office drones are different situations.. There's many that start at $12-$18/hr, but move up to $30+/hr in x amount of years.

The money difference didn't make mathematical sense to me to be an office drone, so I jumped straight into BCIT engineering after high school.
At times I do get jelly of the people in my office spinning around in their cubicle chairs just hanging out.. But I just keep the salary difference in mind and go about my day.

[too_slow]

Originally Posted by top_dyl

any other way of making the higher income is either owning any business,doctor/lawyer, or dealing. there's no other way.

99percent of professional jobs working for a company is like 100k and that is if you're management/very high up already. anymore than that is on very rare occasions.

Just because you have problems with breaking the minimum wage barrier SFUDropout, it doesn't mean that others will have the same problems as you.

[RabidRat]

Originally Posted by melloman

Being a structural engineer, you can easily make 100k/year. I know senior's (15+ years work exp.) that make way more then that, and they don't own their own business.. just make sure they get their company to grab the BIG jobs.

Structural engineering, mining engineering, petroleum engineering.. there's plenty of money there =p

Electrical was a mistake but what can I do though, I happen to love it.

[IfUCare]

Age: 27
Annual income: mid 50s
Field of employment: GIS tech, making planning software
Where do you live? Richmond
Single/couple/married? Solid relationship
Renting/own? living at home, pays nominal rent
Investments: Some savings, a little bit of rrsp and stocks

Must say, i wish i started saving earlier. Earlier in my 20's hung out with guys who came from wealth. Pretty much went pay cheque to pay cheque keeping up with the joneses. Ha, still living at home paying a small token to stay there, but saving up more now. Starting more to look around for my option and investments. Hopefully will be able move out in a couple of years.

[falcon]

Originally Posted by PJ

This is surprisingly true. A lot of people who complain about "no jobs" aren't trying hard enough. Checking Craigslist and firing off resumes once a week doesn't cut it.

Since graduating high school, the lowest I ever made was $17/hour at a warehouse. But at the same time, a warehouse is a dead end job.

University-gradded office drones are different situations.. There's many that start at $12-$18/hr, but move up to $30+/hr in x amount of years.

The money difference didn't make mathematical sense to me to be an office drone, so I jumped straight into BCIT engineering after high school.
At times I do get jelly of the people in my office spinning around in their cubicle chairs just hanging out.. But I just keep the salary difference in mind and go about my day.

Yeah similar story for me but I started making a lot less and worked my way up. Started as a motorcycle lot attendant in 06 making $10, then $12, then $15 (raises), worked up to do sales and then finished in the field as a service advisor. Sales made the most by far but it was tiring, and service advising was around $20/hr (salary) but with OT. No uni, no certificates, nothing. I 'could' easily do this for the rest of my life and make a decent living but I have higher goals and have since left the M/C industry.

A lot of jobs have a lot to do with selling yourself and how you present yourself at the interview. If you have a good head on your shoulders (they can usually tell) and are willing to put in the work it's not hard to find a job that pays well.

[melloman]

Originally Posted by RabidRat

Structural engineering, mining engineering, petroleum engineering.. there's plenty of money there =p

Electrical was a mistake but what can I do though, I happen to love it.

I work at an Electrical Engineering firm.

[RabidRat]

Originally Posted by melloman

I work at an Electrical Engineering firm.

Just think, we could've been making twice as much right out of school. It hurts doesn't it hahaha.

Everytime this topic comes up on Reddit it's always the Petroleum Engineer new grads shoving their $120,000 USD salaries in people's faces.

[penner2k]

Originally Posted by RabidRat

I just wanted to chime in and say this is absolutely true.

The money is a lot better down in the GTA (+$15,000 starting, in my field), with a lower cost of living. If you're willing to pick up and move across the country, this is absolutely the way to go.

Toronto is not nearly as scenic and beautiful as it is in Vancouver, but it is definitely fun. There's *always* random stuff going on downtown, and it's always packed with people. I would get bored and on a Friday night and head to Dundas Square, and there'd be a rap battle going down and everybody's having fun. At one point a caucasian lady in her late 30's jumped up on the stage and grabbed the mic, started ranting about how her son just started at college and how her precious son is probably already having sex. Then they dropped the beat and she ripped her shirt off and started rapping. And then a random homeless guy got up on stage and began grinding against her. The crowd went fucking nuts

Edit: I think I might have actually recorded a video of this on my phone. I'll try to find it =p

In general I found people to be a lot more friendly as well. A bunch of people were sorta mocking a protest rally across the street and were holding a "Free Hugs" campaign, and they were running all around randomly embracing people. This kinda thing happens all the time down there and it was kind of a culture shock coming home to Vancouver. It feels like everybody's all closed off and keeps to themselves more.

Honestly I would have stayed down there if it hadn't been that I really started missing home. The $800 plane tickets home and the 3hr time difference didn't help. If I don't end up finding work soon though I'm going to look at the GTA again, at least for a few years.

Btw for anyone interested in moving away for work, you don't have to actually go there first. Just apply online and they will contact you for a phone interview, and take it from there. You might think "why would they choose to fly me down vs hiring locally", but it's a lot more common than you think.

Alberta is another option. Wages are higher then BC. Taxes are lower. Gas is about the same price here as it is in Washington. If you live in Calgary you arent that far away from the mountains and with the money you save/make out here you can actually afford to go do stuff. On top of that if you get a seat sale its only like $250 to fly back to BC (round trip)..
Also as you said people are just more friendly.
I actually suggest anyone just come visit Calgary at least once just to see how unfriendly people from Vancouver actually are.

[penner2k]

Originally Posted by top_dyl

any other way of making the higher income is either owning any business,doctor/lawyer, or dealing. there's no other way.

99percent of professional jobs working for a company is like 100k and that is if you're management/very high up already. anymore than that is on very rare occasions.

You mad that if you get out of school when you are 18 and move to Alberta you will be making $160k a year as a pipefitter in 3 years.

Or if you save up your money and put in your time you could be making $100 hr as a welder by the time you are 22.

[top_dyl]

Originally Posted by too_slow

Just because you have problems with breaking the minimum wage barrier SFUDropout, it doesn't mean that others will have the same problems as you.

i make lower than minimum wage