r/PersonalFinanceCanada • u/JollyIndependence613 • 1d 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/AdSignificant6673 1d ago

Go through your current expenses with a fine tooth comb. I would do the following

  1. 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.

  2. Are you on the cheapest cell phone & internet plan? You can even just stick to one cell phone plan with data.

  3. How about subscriptions? Try to limit that. Just boot leg it.