I like Victoria. The weather is great, life is chill, the pace is slow, the people rock. But I have one very big beef about living here — it is fucking ridiculously expensive. Seriously, it is practically unliveable for most people. It seems the only people who can really make a decent go of it here are those who are older and already well-established in a career or those who have money in their family. If you’re young and trying to get a start on life, you might as well move to Manitoba because it isn’t going to happen in Victoria. I know a small handful of people my age who own their own places and either their parents put up a significant portion of the downpayment, their monthly mortgage payments are astronomical, and/or they live in tiny little shoebox-sized condos. Most of the rest of us rent, and rent is almost unaffordable.
Now granted, I am a student and students are expected to live meagerly. But I’m also working on a Ph.D., for which I have a fellowship from the University, and I work as many hours as I possibly can in my department for a really good hourly wage. I worked so many hours this past year that my supervisor gave me a hard time for taking on too much and sacrificing my study time. So why am I broke? I haven’t been going out hardly at all, I haven’t bought anything new in ages, I haven’t been eating out, I haven’t been drinking, I live with roommates, and I don’t even have enough money left this month to buy any more groceries. When I say I can’t go out because I’m broke people say things like ‘it won’t be that expensive’ or ‘it’s only going to be a few dollars to get in’. What they don’t get is I don’t have any money at all. It’s not that I shouldn’t be spending, it’s that there is quite literally nothing to spend. I guess I have done a few small things of late — I went to a show last week (which was only $20 and for which I bought the ticket a month previously), I went to a couple of film fest movies the week before ($9 each), I went for dinner the other night with my sister while she was visiting (another $20), and that’s really about it. Oh yes, I went snowboarding on the weekend, which cost me $100. There may have been a few other small things here or there but, when you break it down, that’s really all I’ve done this month. On the flipside, if I hadn’t spent that two-hundred or so dollars on activities in the past month, I’d be going stir-crazy. I guess that’s what I have to do — not just less, but nothing at all.
The only way that living in this city is affordable for me is if I live at my parents’ house, as I did for the 6 months in between moving out of my last place and moving into my current one. But I’m 30 years old. I’ve lived on my own since I was 19. Living with my family again was fine at first, but it started to drive me completely insane. Last summer and fall I went through some tough times and only by moving back into my own space did I begin to feel like I was actually getting my life back on track and finding some stability. I guess that’s the toss-up: either I can afford to eat and occasionally go out, or I can live away from home. My point here though is that shouldn’t be the choice.
February 22, 2008 at 11:36 am |
Yo yo. When are you at your current place until? I’m leaving end of April to go back to Calgary… another ruinously expensive place… don’t know what kind of rent you’re looking to pay but mine seems reasonable to me… of course, Ryan works full time, but I have no fellowship this term and it still seems not too bad… let me know if you want more info.
February 22, 2008 at 11:54 am |
I think most of us have limited cash flow, honestly. And hell, you’ve been travelling a lot in the past year, which can take a mean toll on the pocketbook. I’ve found that we can’t really afford to go to Vancouver more than once every few months because the seemingly small costs (ferry, parking, meals) add up fast.
February 22, 2008 at 12:02 pm |
Gabby, thanks for the offer! I’ll be staying in this place for awhile probably. I’m hoping to not have to move again before I graduate cause this is a pretty ideal location, with good roommates and a nice space. If I were to move out by myself it would only be more expensive anyway.
Treava, I hear ya, little things do add up. And travelling has definitely taken its toll. I also feel like I can’t even afford to go to Vancouver now. And I certainly won’t be leaving the country again for a good long time. I suppose the benefit of living at my parents’ place for a bit was that I could afford to go away for a bit this winter since I wasn’t paying rent or anything. But it didn’t do any favours for my mounting Visa bill. Meh. I guess that’s just how it goes.
Good thing I have a cappuccino maker — so I can have my friends over for coffee rather than going out! And thank goodness for the internet otherwise I’d almost never see movies anymore. There are definitely free or inexpensive ways to entertain ourselves — I just need to find more of them.
February 22, 2008 at 2:13 pm |
Wanna learn to crochet? Ha. I have a great pattern for fingerless gloves! And if we buy sweaters at Value Village and frog them the cost is ridiculously low.
February 22, 2008 at 5:36 pm |
i love your cappuccino maker. if you put a little jar next to it i will throw change into it when i visit you for coffee.
i will definitely remember this period of my life as the absolute poorest. almost half of my pay goes to my rent. this is one of many reasons why montreal sounds like a much better place to live. beautiful one bedroom apartments for under $500.
the struggle of single parents and low income families must be heartbreaking. i have a full time job and don’t do much and i spend at least one full week a month with literally zero money, usually two periods of four or five days… i feel guilty enough when i have to ration my cat’s food. imagine rationing your child’s food?
alright. let’s start a commune. help me raise children.
the wonderful thing is that healthy food is cheap.. lentils, brown rice, barley, beans.. most food, however, is unreasonably expensive out west. dining out is also far more expensive.
February 25, 2008 at 4:02 pm |
i often think about that. one of the many reasons (though not the primary one) that i don’t want kids is because i don’t know how i’d ever afford it! and there isn’t nearly enough governmental support for single parents and low-income families. it really is heartbreaking.
and only some healthy food is cheap, sadly. i was just having a conversation with a friend this weekend about how painfully expensive it is to buy fresh, organic food. honestly, if i were fine with living off of mcdonald’s and packaged, processed food, i’d be in a better position financially. my friend and i decided that fresh, organic food should be subsidized or something. or it should be tax deductible. if the government wants me to be healthy and fit, and to not draw unnecessarily on public health care, then the government should make sure that kind of lifestyle is affordable in the first place!
margs, if you want to grow a vegetable garden together, i’m down! as for raising kids, well, let’s talk about that in another few years — we’ll see if i’m grown up enough then!
treava, i would love to learn how to crochet. for the time being i’ve got a knitting project i want to get moving on so we should have a little stitch and bitch every now and again.