{"id":902645,"date":"2026-11-01T23:57:28","date_gmt":"2026-11-01T23:57:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/902645\/"},"modified":"2026-11-01T23:57:28","modified_gmt":"2026-11-01T23:57:28","slug":"government-relations-worker-waffles-between-having-fun-in-his-20s-and-saving-for-a-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/902645\/","title":{"rendered":"Government relations worker waffles between having fun in his 20s and saving for a home"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

iStockPhoto \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

Name, age: Grant, 25<\/p>\n

Annual income: $75,000<\/p>\n

Debt: $17,477 student loan<\/p>\n

Savings: $5,650 in savings account, $22,000 in tax-free savings account<\/p>\n

What he does: Government relations for a utility company<\/p>\n

Where he lives: Ottawa<\/p>\n

Top financial concern: \u201cIt\u2019s hard not to say home ownership. It\u2019s this big looming thing that makes me feel if I\u2019m not doing the right things now, it will never happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

During his undergraduate degree, Grant delayed having some fun in the first few years to save money and set himself up for the future. <\/p>\n

Even though he was keen to get out into the world, he chose to attend the University of Guelph, where his dad worked, granting him free tuition. Grant lived at home for two years before getting an apartment with friends.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was one of the first financial sacrifices I think I made \u2013 giving up that residence-life experience,\u201d he said. By the time he moved to Toronto for graduate school, he felt he had a handle on his finances. <\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t feel as bad spending $40,000 on a master\u2019s degree, and paying Toronto rent and Toronto living expenses,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He got an internship in Ottawa after graduating, then landed a full-time job. He and his girlfriend live in a basement apartment downtown.<\/p>\n

Paycheque Project: Tech worker making $175,000 lives with her parents while she saves for their retirement<\/a><\/p>\n

Now in his mid-20s with a good job, Grant still wrestles with competing ideas of saving versus enjoying life while he is young.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am just fearful that in 10 to 15 years, I will look back on my 20s with regret that I didn\u2019t do enough, or the opposite, where I find myself in a difficult financial position when it comes time to think about kids, homeownership and retirement planning,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n

Grant says that pressure comes from his peers, social media and news coverage about workers being replaced by artificial intelligence. <\/p>\n

\u201cSome people I admire work really hard and have this \u2018grindset,\u2019 where they do what they have to do to get ahead,\u201d he says, adding that his generation has been fed \u201cthe idea that there are going to be no jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grant says having his savings deducted automatically from his paycheque helps him feel better about spending money on fun stuff.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy partner and I will spend 150 bucks on dinner, three or four nights a year,\u201d as a treat, he says. \u201cWe\u2019ll still go out otherwise, getting a drink or an appetizer, but not both.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Investment and savings: $1,327<\/p>\n

$527 to work pension. \u201cDefined benefit.\u201d<\/p>\n

$800 to TFSA. \u201cI still have a lot of contribution room, which in part comes from waiting to enter the workforce and choosing to go back to school.\u201d<\/p>\n

Servicing debt: $170<\/p>\n

$170 to student loan. \u201cInterest-free federal portion. Going low and slow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Household and transportation: $1,585<\/p>\n

$1,100 to rent. \u201cWe pay $2,200 monthly for a two-bed, two-bath basement apartment.\u201d<\/p>\n

$27 to renters insurance<\/p>\n

$80 to electricity. \u201cMy partner pays gas. Water is covered in our lease.\u201d<\/p>\n

$200 to gasoline<\/p>\n

$42 to car maintenance. \u201cIt is my partner\u2019s car. I help her out with the cost.\u201d<\/p>\n

$15 to transit. \u201cWe are very central and do a lot of walking.\u201d <\/p>\n

$25 to Uber. \u201cUbers are also weirdly cheap in Ottawa.\u201d<\/p>\n

$0 to cellphone. \u201cStill on the family plan. Thanks, Mom.\u201d<\/p>\n

$96 to internet<\/p>\n

Food and drink: $540<\/p>\n

$250 to groceries. \u201c$500 for our household.\u201d<\/p>\n

$30 to coffee shops<\/p>\n

$200 to restaurants<\/p>\n

$60 to alcohol. \u201cBeer when heading over to a friend\u2019s place and a cheap bottle of wine with dinner every now and then.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miscellaneous: $2,204<\/p>\n

$1,246 to payroll deductions<\/p>\n

$150 to going out. \u201cBy far, the hardest part of my budget to police.\u201d<\/p>\n

$55 to streaming services. \u201cStreaming bundle through Bell for TV shows, sharing a Sportsnet account with friends, my partner and I split the cost of DAZN to watch football.\u201d<\/p>\n

$30 to other apps. \u201cSpotify, Globe and Mail, Apple storage.\u201d<\/p>\n

$25 to electronics<\/p>\n

$50 to clothing<\/p>\n

$50 to sports. \u201cSummer rugby club and City of Ottawa pickup hockey in the winter.\u201d<\/p>\n

$60 on hobbies. \u201cCard game once a week, backpacking gear.\u201d<\/p>\n

$40 on haircuts<\/p>\n

$15 on cosmetics. \u201cShampoo, conditioner, face wash.\u201d<\/p>\n

$4 on dentist. \u201cI have pretty great coverage through work.\u201d<\/p>\n

$4 to prescriptions<\/p>\n

$333 to vacations <\/p>\n

$13 to donations <\/p>\n

$100 to gifts<\/p>\n

$16 to credit card fee. \u201cAmex Cobalt.\u201d<\/p>\n

$13 to sports betting. \u201c$25 a few times per year on FanDuel and we usually have a $25 buy-in for our fantasy football leagues.\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 or Gen Z who would like to participate in a Paycheque Project? Send us an e-mail.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: iStockPhoto \/ Getty Images Name, age: Grant, 25 Annual income: $75,000 Debt: $17,477…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":902646,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[28,169567,147,530],"class_list":["post-902645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-business","tag-paychequeproject","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=902645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902645\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/902646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=902645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=902645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=902645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}