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Originally Posted by AstulzerRZD
Is it just me, or does life seem very expensive?
Made a spreadsheet to calculate available income based on the pay plan that my employer has in Vancouver... after participating in employer matched savings plans and expenses, hobbies, rent, and a 25k car is outside of what the disposable income could afford.
I'm particularly worried for my peers - I'm graduating into a Big-N software role, meaning that unless I went into finance, my income wouldn't be able to go much. If I can't afford this, who can?
One thought that we had was that two people could probably make this work on two incomes. But at the same time, this would probably limit the dating pool.. and isn't the point of dating to explore different people and what you can learn from them?
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I've been utilizing a spreadsheet since 2003. For me, growing up lower-middle class taught me a lot and it taught me quickly how stark life is especially if you're unprepared. On the other end, when money flows, everything becomes an addiction and therein lies the dangers. Then you add in just how easy it is to obtain credit and so there lies your potholes and pitfalls. Tread carefully and keep a map with you if you're going to walk alone. Also, a man worth $1 million is poor in a room with people who are worth $5million.
As the years went on and I kept reading stories about CDN debt levels getting higher and higher and this is coupled with some of the things we pay the highest fees for in the developed world, Tack on the talk about 'how would we fare if a superbug attacked us?' articles and I knew something damaging was coming. I'm not one to get caught in hysteria but the points I was listening to were valid and well researched. There's just no exact moment in time where you set the timer and say "when the big hand reaches 12, it's happening".
But, while the timer clicks slowly between the 11 and 12, many people are already on the precipice, running in their hamster wheel as fast they can, only looking straight, trying so hard not to slow down.
It doesn't help that making money easy to obtain is another kind of epidemic thanks to lax banking regulations. Seems like not much was learned from the financial events of 2008 but hey, we are now in the world of '15 minute and forget it' syndrome. Anyone remember what was making the news 8 months ago? No? You're not the only one.
Though I was able to land a career and eventually a long term job (it was bloody tough), I still save a lot. I only buy something (i.e. a car) when I know there's enough money there that won't tip the scale into red's favour. That said, I've always lived cheap. That just comes with never forgetting my roots and my childhood dinners that consisted of salted rice with butter.
A rainy day fund is essential. It rains a lot in Vancouver.