Look at me modeling my new couch. Not awkward at all ;)
I can’t write this blog post without an excessive amount of gratitude for the privilege and luck that has put me in a position for this to even be possible. I’m a very fortunate guy… and I understand and appreciate that.
I also want to acknowledge that living in a fancy downtown condo is not everyone’s goal… but it was absolutely mine. Being a lifelong Raptors fan, I’ve always associated Union Station and the Harbourfront neighbourhood with such happiness, excitement and a certain… “coolness”.
After living here for over a year, I still feel pretty damn cool about it.
The reason I’m sharing this story with you is, whatever your financial or life goals are, they might not be as far away as you think.
Right now, I work a 9 to 5 job (actually 8:30 to 4:30… but you get it) which pays me $65K before taxes and I live in a beautiful downtown condo.
On top of that, I have no debt (details in my blog: How I Paid off $12,000 of Debt in 6 Months While Enjoying Guilt-Free Spending) and in 2019, I saved and invested over $20,000.
Here’s how I made it all work (and you’re going to want to pay special attention to number 3)…
Even our elevator is fancy.
1. My Special Lady, Ariana
The first and most important piece of the puzzle is that I get to cut almost all my expenses in half immediately.
Rent = Half
Utilities = Half
Netflix, Crave, Disney+ = Half
Ariana is a strong, badass woman who makes more than enough to support her end of our expenses. She’s got a great job in Digital Marketing (which she’s killing!) and she’s also turning into a bit of a Facebook Marketplace Wizard (witch?).
Without Ariana, could I afford to live where I live? Yes. But not if I wanted to continue to bolster my investment portfolio and long-term financial health.
Our lobby… not our living room.
2. My Side Hustle
While Resume Writing and Interview Coaching is a big part of who I am… it’s not necessarily an essential piece of the puzzle. I don’t use that income for any of my living expenses, and even without it, I’d still be putting away over $14,000 per year from my day job.
The Side Hustle income is more for piece-of-mind. Whenever I think about my expenses, I’m comforted knowing that I have that extra $1,000 - $2,000 coming in every month and that very little of it is required to actually run the business.
Most of the money I have made from writing resumes is sitting in my Business Bank Account waiting to fund my next venture (more on that to come).
What I’m saying is… if you want to make extra cash for yourself… you could start a business without quitting your day job… but you don’t have to in order to live a very comfortable lifestyle on a modest salary.
The Pool Deck
3. My Almighty Budget
Though I’m comfortable with a degree of uncertainty (I am an amateur improvisor after all), financial uncertainty makes me very antsy. I deal with the antsiness using my good friend Microsoft Excel (Wow Greg, Improv and Excel… you’re just the coolest).
When Ariana and I decided to move in together, and she was also trying to decide whether or not to take her new job, we made a budget… or rather, we made 3 budgets (a “conservative” version, a “moderate” version, and a “fun life” version).
We listed all our potential expenses:
Rent
Utilities
Renter’s Insurance
Internet
Groceries
Transit Passes
Medication / Toiletries
Vacation Fund
Clothing / Shoes
Gifts
Phone Bill
Bank Fees
Entertainment
Haircuts
Dating
Gym
Miscellaneous
Then we subtracted those costs from our income (after taxes), and then we adjusted the rent costs until we were comfortable with how much we’d have left over from our monthly paychecks (for me, I wanted to have at least $1,200 excess that I could put away).
During this process, we realized that we could afford a much nicer place in a much better location if we didn’t have to pay for parking and other car-related expenses, so Ariana accepted the job offer (which was downtown) and sold her car.
The other bonus of not owning a car (or a home… or really anything), is that we really don’t have any unexpected expenses to worry about. I’m not taking the subway car in for an oil change and then paying $2,000 to have my brakes replaced.
Thanks to the budget, we know how much we can afford for rent, how often we can go on vacation (we’re heading to Hawaii for 2 weeks in March), and how much we can put away each month.
Partial lake view, baby!
4. We Don’t Live Above Our Means
I might argue that, even though we live in a beautiful condo, we still live below our means.
We cook most of our meals at home. Ariana’s a great cook and I… am good at cooking meat for the exact right amount of time (which is super important, btw, so… I’m useful ;)... ).
We still have fun of course.
We go out for dinner a few times a month, we usually make it to a Raptors game or concert monthly. Ariana goes to a really cool gym for boxing and fitness classes, I take improv classes at Second City, and we have a whole system for saving up for vacations (I might do a blog about that soon because it’s super fun and also it really helps).
Most of our fun though is free, or very cheap.
We go skating a lot in the winter, we walk around the city or go to the island in the summer, and we spend a lot of time hanging out with friends :)
Not bad at all for a condo gym!
Closing Advice
Honestly people, the budgeting part is the key. If you know how much is coming in and how much is going out, you can make calm, confident, informed decisions, and pursue your personal and financial dreams without worry.
I developed the skill a few years ago when I decided I wanted to pay off my student loan as fast as humanly possible. If you didn’t already click on the link above, you can check out that story here: How I Paid off $12,000 of Debt in 6 Months While Enjoying Guilt-Free Spending.
If I, just a regular dude who likes Excel, can live in my dream home on a $65,000 salary, while putting away over $20,000 in savings/investments every year… you can do whatever you set your mind (and budget) to!