{"id":10714,"date":"2025-07-20T14:59:08","date_gmt":"2025-07-20T14:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/10714\/"},"modified":"2025-07-20T14:59:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-20T14:59:08","slug":"single-woman-earning-120000-worked-hard-to-eliminate-debt-two-people-can-stomach-risk-that-i-just-cant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/10714\/","title":{"rendered":"Single woman earning $120,000 worked hard to eliminate debt: \u2018Two people can stomach risk that I just can\u2019t\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Photo illustration by the Globe and Mail\/iStockPhoto \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

Name, age: Katherine, 29<\/p>\n

Annual income: $120,000, including $10,000 performance bonus<\/p>\n

Debt: $0<\/p>\n

Savings: $4,000 in bank accounts, $36,000 in tax-free savings account (TFSA), $30,000 in registered retirement savings plan (RRSP), $12,000 in first home savings account (FHSA)<\/p>\n

What she does: Marketing for a not-for-profit<\/p>\n

Where she lives: Prince George, B.C.<\/p>\n

Top financial concern: \u201cThe feeling of being behind, which is chronic of the generation I\u2019m in. I have friends who are married or who have long-term partners who have been able to buy houses \u2026 because they have a dual-income household. Two people can stomach risk that I just can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

Katherine stayed at home in Prince George for university, graduated with about $10,000 in debt, then moved to a smaller \u2013 and cheaper \u2013 community to start her career.<\/p>\n

\u201cI resisted the urge that a lot of my fellow classmates and friends pursued, to move to Vancouver or Toronto,\u201d she says. Where she was living, rent was cheap and there wasn\u2019t much to spend money on. \u201cI didn\u2019t have these enormous expenses that some of my friends had.<\/p>\n

\u201cI paid off my student debt just over two years after I graduated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her career also benefitted from her willingness to move. Katherine says there was lots of opportunity for an ambitious young person where she lived, and she got promotions and raises faster than her peers in more competitive urban areas. <\/p>\n

Small-city lawyer, 36, uses multiple corporations to save and invest money<\/a><\/p>\n

She eventually got a good job that allowed her to relocate back to Prince George \u2013 right around the time that she had a health scare \u2013 so she moved back in with family while she went through treatment. Katherine, 29, is back on her own again now and making more than $100,000 a year working in marketing for a not-for-profit.<\/p>\n

Even still, she feels that she has to watch her money closely to be able to live well as a single person with no roommates. She avoids making major purchases, doesn\u2019t have immediate plans for home ownership and expects not to have children \u2013 all sacrifices in order to keep her finances in check.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrying to bear any kind of risk on a single income gives me a lot of nerves,\u201d says Katherine, explaining that to own a house, she would need a second unit with a tenant and she doesn\u2019t like the idea of her stability relying on whether the property is occupied and the person actually pays. <\/p>\n

She has known friends who don\u2019t make enough and depend on their partners, and some who couldn\u2019t leave a relationship for financial reasons, and never wants to find herself there.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have prioritized freedom,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Montreal dad, 45, struggling as film and television work dry up: \u2018These are anxious times\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

Katherine has been diligently saving for retirement, but her recent health scare made her realize one never knows how much time they have left.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s definitely that balance of \u2018wouldn\u2019t it be awesome if I could put an extra $200 towards retirement a month?\u2019, or I can use that money to travel to a different part of the world,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Her typical monthly expenses:<\/p>\n

Investment and savings: $1,688<\/p>\n

$150 to RRSP. \u201cWith matching from my employer.\u201d<\/p>\n

$375 to TFSA on average. \u201cAnything I have left over from the month. This can range from $150 to $600.\u201d<\/p>\n

$330 to other investments. \u201cLife insurance account that allows me to draw down from it later in life.\u201d<\/p>\n

$833 to FHSA. \u201cMax out my annual contributions by putting my bonus and tax return towards it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Servicing debt: $0<\/p>\n

Household and transportation: $1,735<\/p>\n

$1,400 to rent. \u201cI\u2019m blessed with an ethical landlord that \u2018does not understand how people are expected to get ahead in this rental market.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

$30 to renters insurance<\/p>\n

$75 on gasoline. \u201cI\u2019m lucky to work from home.\u201d<\/p>\n

$80 on car maintenance <\/p>\n

$110 for car insurance. \u201cInsurance Corporation of British Columbia monopoly prices, despite being a no-accident driver.\u201d<\/p>\n

$40 to cellphone. \u201cMy work reimburses [the rest of] my cellphone expenses\u201d<\/p>\n

Food and drink: $830<\/p>\n

$550 on groceries. \u201cIncludes other household goods.\u201d<\/p>\n

$20 at coffee shops. \u201cUnless I travel, then this is much higher.\u201d<\/p>\n

$200 at restaurants and going out. \u201cThis is my monthly budget, but I travel for work a lot and am a huge restaurant lover.\u201d <\/p>\n

$20 on alcohol. \u201cA bottle of wine here and there for cooking a special meal.\u201d<\/p>\n

$40 on cannabis. \u201cDepends on how stressed or in pain I am.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miscellaneous: $3,077<\/p>\n

$1,849 to income tax<\/p>\n

$25 on Spotify<\/p>\n

$250 on clothes and other discretionary items. \u201cI try to resist utilizing it at all and instead focus dollars towards savings.\u201d<\/p>\n

$46 on a fitness membership<\/p>\n

$300 on pets. \u201cI try to make sure they eat well and have regular appointments.\u201d<\/p>\n

$300 on hobbies. \u201cTravel, books, attending workshops.\u201d<\/p>\n

$50 on haircuts. \u201c$100 every other month.\u201d<\/p>\n

$115 on nails<\/p>\n

$100 on medical expenses. \u201cI get 80 per cent coverage through work so this is the remainder.\u201d<\/p>\n

$42 on gifts. \u201cFamily birthdays, Christmas etc.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some details may be changed to protect the privacy of the person profiled. We want to thank them for sharing their story. Are you a millennial who would like to participate in a paycheque profile? Send us an e-mail.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Photo illustration by the Globe and Mail\/iStockPhoto \/ Getty Images Name, age: Katherine,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10715,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[1397,45,49,48,133,10526,131,132],"class_list":{"0":"post-10714","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-appwebview","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-canada","12":"tag-finance","13":"tag-paychequeproject","14":"tag-personal-finance","15":"tag-personalfinance"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10714"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10714\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}