{"id":388969,"date":"2026-01-05T05:17:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T05:17:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/388969\/"},"modified":"2026-01-05T05:17:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T05:17:12","slug":"regina-woman-36-on-mortgage-freedom-i-am-the-least-stressed-out-i-ever-have-been","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/388969\/","title":{"rendered":"Regina woman, 36, on mortgage-freedom: \u2018I am the least stressed-out I ever have been\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: Claudia, 36<\/p>\n

Annual income: $78,500<\/p>\n

Debt: $0<\/p>\n

Savings: $3,002 in savings account, $35,586 in registered retirement savings plan <\/p>\n

What she does: Consultant for the provincial government<\/p>\n

Where she lives: Regina<\/p>\n

Top financial concern: \u201cThe cost of living keeps getting higher.\u201d<\/p>\n

Claudia grew up in Regina but moved to the Kootenays region of British Columbia in 2015, when she was in her twenties. She had a good job in the trades, and at the time, the real estate market there was still affordable. <\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to live there for the rest of my life,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Her outlook changed as she watched home prices escalate over the next decade. In 2024, she sold her house, which she\u2019d purchased at $182,000, for $480,000.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did put probably $80,000 into it,\u201d says Claudia. <\/p>\n

She then moved back to Regina, where \u201chousing had stagnated, if not gone down a little bit,\u201d she says. She had about $316,000 cash from her home sale, and bought \u201ca modest home on a tiny lot\u201d in a downtown area for $285,000, using the money left over to make some upgrades.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have always wanted to live in a walkable, urban neighbourhood,\u201d says Claudia, describing nearby amenities such as a large park, a creek with a walking trail, caf\u00e9s, restaurants and grocery stores. \u201cI am in a really nice part of town and my quality of life is really good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Claudia says that being mortgage-free has given her a sense of security she didn\u2019t realize she had been craving.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am the least stressed-out I ever have been in my life,\u201d she says. \u201cI didn\u2019t realize how much of my stress was financial.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, she avoids debt altogether, saving up for major purchases and paying the full balance of her credit card every month. But even without a mortgage, she says inflation and the cost of living are starting to encroach on her relative comfort.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe City of Regina just said they\u2019re looking at a 15-per-cent property tax increase next year,\u201d she says. \u201cThey just did a big increase last year.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI did all this to get ahead financially and it feels like all that room I created is just getting eaten up because wages don\u2019t go up,\u201d adds Claudia, who now works as a consultant for the government. She says she made a higher hourly wage in the trades before she left Saskatchewan than when she came back a decade later. \u201cWages have stagnated.\u201d <\/p>\n

Claudia loves home decor, nice clothes and good food. She has a gluten-free diet, which can be more expensive to maintain. \u201cI eat a lot of pork because pork is cheap,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

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

Investment and savings: up to $1,788 <\/p>\n

$588 to pension. \u201cDefined contribution.\u201d<\/p>\n

$200 to RRSP. \u201cStock portfolio of banks, tech, oil and food, mostly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Up to $1,000 to savings, depending on the month. \u201cAll my extra income.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Household and transportation: $1,491<\/p>\n

$193 to property insurance<\/p>\n

$371 to property tax. \u201cFor a modest home on a tiny lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

$287 to utilities<\/p>\n

$150 on home repairs. \u201cI anticipate spending more next year because I plan to renovate the bathroom and build a new doorstep.\u201d<\/p>\n

$30 on gasoline. \u201cI usually walk to work and for groceries.\u201d<\/p>\n

$95 to car insurance<\/p>\n

$190 on car maintenance. \u201cMy car is 13.5 years old.\u201d<\/p>\n

$28 on cellphone<\/p>\n

$72 on internet. \u201cA rip-off.\u201d<\/p>\n

$75 on housewares and decor. \u201cKitchen items, house plants.\u201d<\/p>\n

Food and drink: $550<\/p>\n

$410 on groceries. \u201cI\u2019m gluten-free. My brother picks up items at Costco for me when he goes. My parents give me leftovers on Sundays.\u201d<\/p>\n

$10 at coffee shops. \u201cMostly drink coffee at home because I have a very nice, expensive espresso machine.\u201d<\/p>\n

$100 at restaurants. \u201cLunch or dinner with my brother and\/or boyfriend.\u201d<\/p>\n

$30 on alcohol. \u201cI always have ingredients for negronis and daiquiris.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miscellaneous: $2,462<\/p>\n

$1,602 to income tax, Canada Pension Plan and Employment Insurance<\/p>\n

$117 to union dues<\/p>\n

$98 to long-term disability insurance. \u201cDeducted from paycheque.\u201d<\/p>\n

$14 on subscriptions. \u201cThe Globe and Mail on a promotional price, YouTube Music.\u201d<\/p>\n

$33 on electronics. \u201cI bought a cheap-ish set of speakers this year.\u201d <\/p>\n

$200 on clothing. \u201cI love buying clothes.\u201d<\/p>\n

$38 on snowboarding. \u201cMembership to local hill.\u201d<\/p>\n

$50 on pets. \u201cTwo cats.\u201d<\/p>\n

$30 on hobbies. \u201cGardening, a little bit of drawing, painting and macram\u00e9.\u201d<\/p>\n

$25 on haircuts<\/p>\n

$20 on cosmetics. \u201cWear mascara and moisturizer daily.\u201d<\/p>\n

$167 on travel. \u201cThis year, my travel was minimal.\u201d<\/p>\n

$29 on gifts<\/p>\n

$29 to life insurance<\/p>\n

$10 on clothing alterations<\/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 or Gen Z 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: Claudia,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":388970,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[1397,45,49,48,10526],"class_list":{"0":"post-388969","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-appwebview","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-canada","12":"tag-paychequeproject"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388969","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=388969"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388969\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/388970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=388969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=388969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=388969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}