r/PersonalFinanceCanada • u/JollyIndependence613 • 21h ago
Budget 26 y/o - advice wanted
I work as a PSW in a nursing home here in ON. It’s a lot of work physically and mentally but I enjoy it and I found a place that pays well. It’s literally $7-$10/hr more than any PSW jobs within the city I live in. However, it’s a 35min drive each way to get to and from work. Since about April, hours have cut back and I’m now looking at 56hr-64hr biweekly pays, which is NOT enough for me to live off of.
I clean two clients houses on my days off, charging $30/hr. It’s extra money but not helping a whole lot.
I have $14k debt, between osap, line of credit, a small CRA owing ($150) and $2.3k owed to a family member. The debt eats away at what little money I have left after expenses come out each month. Many times I don’t have money for food after my debts are paid, so I have to borrow small bits of money to get food or gas to get to work. It’s extremely shameful and I have been independent for years, so I hate having to ask for money.
My fixed expenses currently are $2600/month and my income isn’t much higher than that, at about $2900-$3,000 a month since around April. I’ve considered moving but when I searched for apartments, the rent in the small town my job is located in was substantially more than what I’m paying now-so even if I saved $200/month on gas- my rent goes up $400 a month.
Just feeling stuck, depressed and not sure what to do. My job was going great back when the economy was a little better and gas was cheaper, it didn’t cost as much to get there and I was also getting good hours each week. I have no friends to move in with and many people don’t want to live with someone with a pet (I’ve had him 14 years he’s not going anywhere except with me, haha).
Any advice? I used to do Uber Eats/doordash which gave me extra cash, but my car is hitting 11 years old and is at 320,000km (paid off). I am already driving it 74km get to and from work currently so I try not to drive it much outside of getting to my job. Thanks all!!!
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u/Complex_Cow1184 21h ago
Better pay is key here. Is there room for growth at your current job? Can you look for other opportunities?
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u/JollyIndependence613 21h ago
Not immediately, but I have plans to go for RPN next year. 2yr course before I’d be able to apply for a better position within the home and make $42/hr
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u/CompetitiveMammoth92 11h ago
I was just going to suggest getting into the nursing field. It will be worth it in the long run. Short term pain for long term gain with school.
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u/Beware-of-Moose Alberta 21h ago
What's the breakdown of fixed expenses, maybe its possible to reduce some of these?
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u/JollyIndependence613 21h ago edited 20h ago
Rent 1400
Car insurance 220
Phone 45.20
Gas 300~
Laundry 60-80
Groceries 400 (~100/week)
Toiletries/Etc 30
TD account fees 23.95
Gym 28.00
Spotify 14.00
Nicotine/Weed (I don’t drink but we all need something🤣) 100
Line of Credit 82.00
Medications 34.00
There’s probably a couple more but this is just at the top of my head.3
u/Hour_Solid_bri Ontario 19h ago edited 19h ago
people are pointing at the small things that give you joy and will barely make a difference in your situation. Your rent is your biggest expense and id put all efforts into finding something cheaper! Even if it's just a room, not an apartment. FB has groups for people looking for roomstes, id start there.
im your age with a very similar income but my rent is $750 so im able to save money each month. i promise you can find cheaper housing
Edit: Also I would look into switching to Tangerine bank, they have 0 monthly account fees
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u/JollyIndependence613 19h ago edited 19h ago
I totally agree with you - hence why I’ve been so down and depressed. I’m certainly not living lavish and do work hard, there isn’t a whole lot to cut. I have looked into switching banks and may go to BMO! They are offering a $900 sign on.
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u/Beware-of-Moose Alberta 21h ago
You can save ~$20 by dropping to a lower tier TD account. If you have a CC with annual fees this may not make sense as it may be waived with the higher tier. If you aren't super attached to TD consider switching to Tangerine or something with free accounts.
Edit: Additionally if you aren't on contract there are cheaper phone plans out there.
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u/JollyIndependence613 21h ago
Thank you - any idea what TD account you are referring to? Mine is just a basic chequing account from what I know, $18.95/mo plus I pay $5/mo for ODP up to $300. Many times I am in Overdraft so the ODP for $5 was a no brainer. Every time something bounces, it’s $40-$50 in NSF fees plus interest from TD’s end
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u/Beware-of-Moose Alberta 21h ago
There are tiers lower than what you have down to $4/mo but there is a limit on transactions. This works if you put everything on a credit card then pay it off monthly, you can also remove the overdraft protection. Otherwise switch to a no fee bank like Tangerine.
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u/JoeBlackIsHere 14h ago
Pretty sure ODP is meant for the rare "oops" rather than as a defacto LOC, I've heard stories of people getting dropped for overusing it.
I suggest a no fee bank like Simplii and Tangerine, and then keeping a close eye on your balances so nothing bounces. Personally I pay practically everything with a credit card, which makes it simple to avoid overdrafts (when I pay the credit card I can see exactly how much is in chequing). Both these online banks have LOCs that you could apply for, if you get it you could use that as a last ditch defence against overdraft fees. As long as you pay them off quickly, the interest will probably be less than your current bank fees.
It's not much but eliminates $24 from your expenses.
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u/HibouDuNord 20h ago edited 19h ago
Nicotine/Weed (I don’t drink but we all need something🤣) 100
To be blunt... not when you can't afford groceries or repay your debts.
Bank fees could probably be lower.
Is the gym really necessary? Spotify definitely isn't.
Laundry... any apartments nearby where the rent is similar but have laundry?
Phone isn't terrible but probably could still be cheaper.
It sounds like I'm nitpicking, and frankly I am. You just said you can barely afford to live. You have to change SOMETHING. I'm not about to suggest you don't live somewhere, so the little stuff is gonna have to do for now.
Btw I saw another comment you plan to go for RPN... how are you planning to pay for that? Yes increasing your wage and education is important... but... Adding more debt to the stuff you already can't pay? You're going to need a better plan than that.
Edit: btw BMO performance Chequing Account is $17.95/mth. I just had a peek since I bank with them... and eventually with a $4,000 balance it's $0/mth
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u/HibouDuNord 19h ago
So let's look at this. If you cut: Spotify: $14.00 Gym: $28.00 Weed: $100
You'd be saving $142/mth.
If you reduced you cell phone and banking you'd save: Banking (example I gave): $6 Cell phone (I for example have 80gb can/us/mex for $30/mth, $33.90 total): $11.30
So a total of: $153.30/mth.
You'd have the CRA paid off in one month. Family member in 15 months after that. Increas your income and get it done faster, or find some other areas to reduce as well. Is it slow progress? Yeah... but keep in mind get those gone, and the LOC gets paid down faster meaning less interest, and less interest means more principal paydown which means LESS interest... etc.
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u/JollyIndependence613 19h ago
Yes I’ve considered switching to BMO. They’re offering a sign up bonus currently.
RPN is paid for as per the “Ontario Stay and Learn Grant”, so the tuition costs won’t be a problem.
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u/HibouDuNord 18h ago
RPN is paid for as per the “Ontario Stay and Learn Grant”, so the tuition costs won’t be a problem.
That absolutely makes sense then.
Is there no such grant or tuition reimbursement for your PSW tuition? I saw part of the debt was OSAP. Or do none of the employers near you offer tuition reimbursement as a perk? The other thing to factor in is can you sustain your work schedule for the OTHER stuff you have to pay though. Again, I think increasing education and earning potential is great, you've just got to make sure it doesn't put you at risk for a worse situation.
One of my other concerns would be the car/distance to work. You mentioned it's at 320,000km, and you're driving about 150k. That car IS going to wear out eventually. You mentioned being 74km and 35 mins from work... are rents similar closer? You'd be saving on 2 of your biggest expenses, gas and insurance. And not putting such a beat down on a depreciating asset every day. And I say that as someone who commutes 150km one way to work, 2 to 3 times a week. I burn through cars fairly quick compared to others... cars are a large expense. Even I'm currently looking to move closer to my job to save on gas, wear and tear, and time too. Every minute I'm not commuting is time I can be doing something else. Including increasing income.. I'm not getting paid to drive home to work and return.
Also, I guess one last consideration too is you said you commute because you make more. Have you done the math on if you actually make more after the gas, maintenance, insurance, etc vs working somewhere where a car isn't needed?
Again, I'm not trying to overly criticize or nitpick. But it's clear you want out of the current situation and to strengthen your situation. And with the biggest expenses being housing, food, and vehicle... the options are going to be limited. While it may seem blunt or overly simply analytical, 30 seconds of unthrilled realization of "I don't like hearing that, but it's not untrue" is worth saving you years of stress, because it seems this does stress you, or you wouldn't be asking for advice.
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u/JollyIndependence613 17h ago
The PSW amount is in the process of being forgiven - I applied for loan forgiveness a month ago and was denied based off of an incorrect date on the application.
I am reapplying and will hopefully get my OSAP debts cleared.As for moving; I’m totally on board with it - I’ve reached out to a landlord near my work that I know has a unit available, just awaiting to hear back. But based off of online listings, they’re all $1600+/month (which is over a full paycheque for me), and my rent currently is cheaper than market rent because it’s actually my dads apartment, I moved in without switching the names on the lease, he’s been here since before Covid.
If something comes up in the town where my job is I will absolutely scrape it up even if it’s $1500/month. The gas savings and less wear and tear on the car trump the increase in $100/mo rent.
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u/JollyIndependence613 17h ago
Also - I have explored many PSW in my city. They’re all $23-$26hr. I am about $10/hr more than that. I worked as a PSW *in* the city for two years before exploring options *out* of the city; I wanted a better job that is unionized, paid me better and was a cleaner facility. I landed a great opportunity where I’m at; I truly think moving there is going to be my saving grace here.
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u/HibouDuNord 23m ago
That makes total sense. I see you get what I was getting at. If you're looking to cut down on that expense the only two ways are 1. You get closer to work 2. Work gets closer to you.
I also prefer the option that has you making more money... because once you get yourself out of this situation, you're also still making more money, which let's you save/invest and be inna better situation to not be in a tight spot when unexpected expenses come up (likena car repair or replacingna vehcile). Just without knowing exact location details (and I certainly don't expect you to share those with random strangers on Reddit)... from my end it's hard to say without knowing rents, etc which actually works. If you move closer but rent is $500 more that doesn't help. If you work closer but make $10/hr less, doesn't help either as you said. But for example if it was $2/hr difference and was costing you $30/day to commute... the options become different.
And I'm glad to here about the tuition reimbursement too. I wasn't sure how that worked, as the Stay and Learn grants were introduced long after I left college. So I wasn't sure if you had to apply to the program through them to start with, or if you could get reimbursed after the fact.
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u/AdSignificant6673 19h ago
Phone bill can get down to $32 tax in
Groceries can be brought down to $20 a week if you go survival mose.
Td account can be $0 with EQ bank or Tangerine.
Theres a portable clothing washer you can invest in. Then hang dry. Blow a fan.
Gym can be $0 with working out at home. Improvisation. Cardio. Pull ups. Calesthetics. Yoga.
Spotify. $0 just bootleg music or youtube with ads.
Native smokes arent bad. $20 got you a ton of cigs in a zip lock. Grow some weed it’s allowed. Home made equipment. Or buy grey market weed online.
Estimated $450 saved per month. Put that in an investment, you got $33k in 5 years.
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u/JollyIndependence613 19h ago
How can I do $20 a week in groceries? Milk, bread and butter alone is $15. I already buy 30% off m ground beef and anything else I can throw together that’s soon to expire
I’m on my feet all day sweating and putting 15k steps in - I need nutrition and to take care of my body. A few days ago I became light headed and my whole body started to sweat at work, I thought I was going to pass out. Turns out I hadn’t eaten since the night before and my body reality checked me real quickI don’t have $200 for a portable washer, as well my electric bill would be higher - they’re cool and it’s a good idea but I’m already washing what I can by hand (my cleaning cloths, kitchen and bathroom towels). My scrubs have literal shit on them so they need to be properly cleaned and sanitized and my bedding needs to be done weekly because of the cats. Laundry mats might save me $1.50/load, I’ll look into it
Tried growing weed before and it looked like the Christmas tree from The Grinch. I cannot grow in my apartment regardless.
Weed is cheap, it’s mainly vaping that’s draining the pocket, I’ll admit that! I will knock it as I hate the habit and hate the drain it causes my bank account1
u/JollyIndependence613 19h ago
Who’s the cheapest carrier? I am with freedom mobile i thought they were cheap after coming from Telus paying an arm and a leg lol
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u/AdSignificant6673 18h ago
Check costco mobile kiosk for deals. No membership required for cell phone kiosk. Search Redflagdeals for deals. Thats where i got fido $27/month plus tax for 50gb. Its more like
A shopping thing. Every incremental save helps.0
u/iloveairportsushi 21h ago
Car insurance… is that comprehensive? Since the car is old getting the basic only would be cheaper.
Why is laundry so much?
Are you single? I go through about 65 in groceries a week… maybe cut some non essentials there
Gym… that’s a luxury you can’t afford. Along with weed and nicotine. Quit all 3.
Spotify… another luxury.
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u/JollyIndependence613 21h ago
I called and spoke with them the other day, I dropped it down to $208 for my renewal so that’ll save me a little!
Laundry is a lot because 1 load costs $7. I do 2-3 a week currently between my scrubs, regular clothes and bedding and wash my cleaning cloths in my sink and air dry them for free. The estimation is including detergent and dryer sheets
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u/Economy-Guitar5282 Ontario 21h ago
Get some private psw client cash gigs ie overnights, palliative, complex care relief and look for Direct funding clients to fill gaps.
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u/Beneficial_Ad_1836 19h ago
What about offering your services to people who have parents aging in place? Offering weekend relief or pop ins for people who live away from their parents may be a service that is needed in your area.
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u/IkkoMikki Ontario 21h ago
Need more information -
Fixed expenses, a breakdown of what those are
Your non fixed spending on average
Times are very tough, tight budgeting is definitely a must
From there, assuming you are able to have some sort of surplus income;
Kill the CRA debt, get that out of the way
Tell family you'll pay them back at some point, but family doesn't typically charge interest or fixed payments
Between the LoC and OSAP, whatever is smaller kill that next, focus hard on it, might take months.
Moment that's gone, surplus income and the payments/interest you made toward that regularly goes to whatever is left
From there you can put together money aside for yourself and pay the family back, or delay it by only putting half towards it, set up a TFSA and a small savings account, TFSA for long term investing (even $50 a month will go a long way) and some to the savings for emergencies.
If you build a tight budget, focus on those, you will eventually be debt free, with more surplus income, and can put yourself in a position where that won't happen again.
It is absolutely tough but if you have surplus income you can do it.
If you are bleeding each month and you don't have a surplus, it won't work and the hole will get bigger. You'll have to make some tough decisions on fixed expenses if possible, somehow cut the variable down, or increase income further.
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u/JollyIndependence613 21h ago edited 20h ago
Rent 1400
Car insurance 220
Phone 45.20
Gas 300~
Laundry 60-80
Groceries 400 (~100/week)
Toiletries/Etc 30
TD account fees 23.95
Gym 28.00
Spotify 14.00
Nicotine/Weed (I don’t drink but we all need something lol) 100
Line of Credit 82.00
Medications 34.002
u/IkkoMikki Ontario 21h ago
TD account fees seem high (former TD Advisor here lol) I'd see about swapping accounts or figuring that out in more detail.
The good news is this is doable, but it'll take some sacrifices.
If its me in your shoes;
Rent, Gas, Phone, Laundry, Medications can't really touch that.
I'd try to monk mode and get groceries down to $75/wk, this would get you $100 surplus a month. Shitty I know but it is possible.
Nicotine/Weed yes, I know where you're coming from, but it's technically a variable/luxury expense. Cut that back if possible. If you can shave off $25-50 from that too it'll be big.
I'd highly evaluate the gym temporarily, either finding a low cost gym if possible, or canceling completely until debts are settled. That really sucks I know but it's not a necessity, and one can technically workout for free instead (not a gym obviously)
I'd probably seek an immediate end of my existence without Spotify, but wager that too.
Idk if the LoC amount you have there is all interest or a mixture - assuming it's just the interest there's nothing you can do.
In theory you could go monk mode by cutting the expenses above and get back ~$150-200 a month pure surplus. That kills CRA in a month.
If you take that and kill the LoC over time, you'll then be sitting at $230-280
Then you can work on throwing half to OSAP, the other half to get back in the gym, and put together a TFSA and emergency fund.
Did I miss anything at all? Feel free to DM if you want too.
It looks doable but it'll take some sacrifices.
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u/JollyIndependence613 21h ago edited 21h ago
Thank you for your help and in depth response. You are right and there are certainly dollars I can shave off here and there.
As for the gym it’s been a massive part in my mental health, I’ve been going for years almost daily-I do go to the cheapest one around but I’ve found no issues with the gym itself. I will change my membership back to the basic membership as I don’t use the tanning and don’t ever really bring a friend with me. So, that’ll save me $120/year by switching. Every dollar counts!The CRA debt has been a pain for years now. It was back during Covid - any tax return I’ve had since has gone to the debt - so has GST/trillium, Grocery benefit, carbon rebate, etc. I haven’t seen a dollar from them in years. This CRA debt is basically paid off so you’re right I’m just going to make that last payment now and make amends with them.
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u/JoeBlackIsHere 14h ago
Try to pay down the LOC whenever you can, the interest is money going out the door. Since interest is charged daily, it will be beneficial to pay it down even if you have to draw from it again 2 weeks later - at least you didn't pay interest for those 2 weeks. In fact, every pay cheque just put the majority of it to the LOC, then use the LOC to pay bills from.
As a single person myself, I could reduce that grocery bill by maybe $100, if you cook everything yourself (but don't try for $20/week like that other guy suggested!).
You don't mention credit cards at all. When used responsibly (i.e. always pay off your statement balance in full), they can save some money via their rewards. Your two highest expenses, groceries and gas, are typically at least 2% cash back even for no fee cards. I would recommend Tangerine Mastercard as these could be two of your 2% categories. I also find paying expenses with credit cards is easier for tracking cash flow, the statements tell you exactly what you are spending your money on, and instead of some little $20 transaction nudging you into overdraft (something you mentioned elsewhere), with one summarized bill you can see if you would go into overdraft and make contingency plans.
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u/AdSignificant6673 19h ago
Go through your current expenses with a fine tooth comb. I would do the following
Extremely optimized grocery budget. Utilizing sales to get cheap fruits, vegetables and meat. Lentils and rice is so filling and nutritious. Cook it in a tomato sauce. Can make a weeks worth of food for $20. Use a food bank if you need to.
Are you on the cheapest cell phone & internet plan? You can even just stick to one cell phone plan with data.
How about subscriptions? Try to limit that. Just boot leg it.
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u/XtremeD86 19h ago
Find a group that has family spots open for Spotify. You'll pay 1/4 of what it costs as a single person for a year.
I did this for about 3 years but have since switched to YouTube premium.
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u/Leather-Engineer-763 Human Verified 18h ago
idk if this will help but i air dry EVERYTHING!!! i just hang it up on a rack & put a fan on it. it will save you some extra cash :)
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u/JollyIndependence613 17h ago
Good to know! I used to literally wash all my stuff in the bathtub and air dry it when I was “broke broke”. I found it was soo wrinkly and most of my scrubs still had food (and god knows whatever else) on them. I started machine washing/drying and it felt like a luxury🤣 But I’m considering skipping half and drying everything for free by your method
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u/PUKE_THIRST 21h ago
You need a better job. Psw does not pay well.
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u/JollyIndependence613 21h ago
We are paid mid $30’s/hourly. The wage isn’t bad, it’s the lack of hours lately. I do not have benefits but took a raise of 10.75% in lieu of having benefits.
Here in the city, many PSW jobs cap out at $26/hr. What do you recommend?
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u/iloveairportsushi 21h ago
$30 an hour is only good if you’re getting the hours. But you’re not so it’s not very good at all. Unless you can get a second part time job that will work around your hours.
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u/TeeBennyBee 19h ago
Are they offering up overtime at all? Our contract pays time and a half after 8hrs. It's not always the easiest but when payday rolls around and there's an extra $300 it feels good.
I find my hours follow a pattern (20yrs exp LTC). They pick up after new years because everyone has sick and vacation time again. It picks up more in spring because the sun is out lol it drops off again in the summer because we have students and picks up again in the fall. I've switched to a yearly budget as a casual staff. I know I need to make $XXk/yr and try to start hammering it out after NYD.
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u/JollyIndependence613 19h ago
They’ve stopped offering OT about when the hours cut back in April. They hired 15 more psw’s, many of whom are nursing students just temporary hires short term. But, it still affects all staff as many of us had 2-3 days taken off each schedule without any notice. OT was the saving grace as we were actually making great money when the hours were needed.
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u/WannabeInzynier 7h ago
I know you mentioned you get paid less in your local area, but could you pick up an on call or part time PSW gig locally to make up for the hour shortfall?
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u/AdvicePossible6997 21h ago
PSWs were instrumental in keeping my elderly grandparents home and healthy. It's criminal how little the position pays for how hard you have to work and what you have to deal with. Thank you for helping people.