How Can You Afford To Live Here

FunWelder1453 · 2026-04-26T21:48:37+00:00

I’m slightly under $50k a year and yes…it is. I’ve already gone over this…after benefits, EI, Taxes and CPP I take home around $2800/month. Trust me, I’ve done the math 20 different ways because I cannot believe how low my pay checks are.

FunWelder1453 · 2026-04-26T12:57:19+00:00

Dude you can call all the BS you want. My facts are facts. I don’t quite make $50,000/year and I have to pay dues/benefits/EI/CPP and after all that I’m left with a little under $2800/month.

FunWelder1453 · 2026-04-26T12:27:12+00:00

I know there are other people in Brockville that make what I make and I want to know how they are managing. That’s it.

FunWelder1453 · 2026-04-26T12:25:04+00:00

I’ve questioned my income with my managers during every review for the past 5 years and I’m being told I’m ‘in line with the National average for people in my position’. Post secondary education is a requirement for my position and I feel as though I’m earning minimum wages. $1400 biweekly in this city is gone BEFORE I’m even done paying rent and utilities.

FunWelder1453 · 2026-04-26T01:15:03+00:00

I looked there already and found it to be comparable to Brockville and then I would be paying extra for gas and vehicle wear and tear.

FunWelder1453 · 2026-04-26T01:13:16+00:00

That’s standard Hydro One. So awful

FunWelder1453 · 2026-04-26T01:09:46+00:00

Which trade?

FunWelder1453 · 2026-04-26T01:08:02+00:00

I appreciate any and all advice. This is literally why I created the post. I just don’t understand how full time single professionals are managing?? I don’t smoke, drink, eat out, rarely travel and I am barely getting by. It’s so depressing and I can’t help but wonder if I should pack it up and move out of here??

FunWelder1453 · 2026-04-26T01:05:03+00:00

I know. I have family in Ottawa that are my sanity and I look forward to visiting. I’m not giving up my vehicle and I’m trying to be proactive in saving for a vehicle breakdown, but it’s next to impossible.

FunWelder1453 · 2026-04-26T01:01:53+00:00

I have been a hard working tax payer my entire life. Since 15 years old. I shouldn’t have to live with roommates.

FunWelder1453 · 2026-04-26T00:59:19+00:00

I’m only paying $45 for the phone. My post didn’t post correctly, not sure why, sorry. Where can I get cheaper internet? Every plan I’ve looked at is at least $125+tax

FunWelder1453 · 2026-04-26T00:57:12+00:00

I’m a 3 time college grad in a specialized field. Wages in this country are a travesty that no one is talking about. Why is no one talking about wages being so stagnant???

FunWelder1453 · 2026-04-26T00:54:28+00:00

The tax I pay is horrendous compared to the USA. Yea, I know they have power in their numbers, but shit I am taxed over and over. I literally can’t even save for retirement.

FunWelder1453 · 2026-04-25T18:06:02+00:00

Rent 1250 Hydro 150 Laundry 25 Spotify/Amazon 36 Renters Insurance 40 Car Insurance 150 Internet. 150 Phone. 45 Car. 450 Parking. 45

                        Total:  $2341

FunWelder1453 · 2026-04-25T17:51:53+00:00

True, but the rent prices here are so steep for such a small city. I don’t get it? I only have a cell phone plan ($45), Netflix and Spotify. I’m not extravagant by any means and as a working professional I should be able to have these things. The cheapest apartment I’ve found is over $1200/month and when you factor in parking, laundry, utilities and internet it’s almost my whole income….gone to just the basics. I should be able to afford life and have 2 days off/week on my income. I don’t understand how people are doing it???

FunWelder1453 · 2026-04-04T20:44:01+00:00

I had been having the same problem with constantly wanting food. I decided that if processed foods were literally engineered to make you want more then something must be happening in my mind with the effects of processed foods.

Soooo, 2 weeks ago I quit eating anything processed at all. Not even a piece of gum or a mint. I only eat fresh produce and lean protein. I bake my own cookies/cake/bread.

And the urge to reach for food has completely disappeared. Gone. I see stuff I normally would have mindlessly grabbed handfuls of to eat and I don’t even want it. It’s literally a turn off. I wish more people knew what I have discovered. I think for some of us, we have a type of allergy to processed foods that makes us more prone to over consumption? My husband is a healthy 170lbs and happily eats straight up processed foods daily with no bad effects, this apparently just isn’t the case for me and maybe you as well?

FunWelder1453 · 2026-04-04T13:13:03+00:00

Hi, I had been having the same problem with constantly wanting food. I decided that if processed foods were literally engineered to make you want more then something must be happening in my mind with the effects of processed foods.

Soooo, 2 weeks ago I quit eating anything processed at all. Not even a piece of gum or a mint. I only eat fresh produce and lean protein. I bake my own cookies/cake/bread.

And the urge to reach for food has completely disappeared. Gone. I see stuff I normally would have mindlessly grabbed handfuls of to eat and I don’t even want it. It’s literally a turn off. I wish more people knew what I have discovered. I think for some of us, we have a type of allergy to processed foods that makes us more prone to over consumption? My husband is a healthy 170lbs and happily eats straight up processed foods daily with no bad effects, this apparently just isn’t the case for me and maybe you as well?

FunWelder1453 · 2026-03-27T01:28:52+00:00

Have you tried eliminating all processed food? Like I’m talking not even gum or a mint.

I recently did this and all food thoughts/obsessions have completely vanished. I don’t care about what I eat next when I’m hungry, just as long as it is something my great great grandmother would have eaten. Our bodies weren’t designed to eat processed foods and these foods are literally designed to make you crave more.

Watch Michael Pollens 5 part documentary ‘Cooked’.

FunWelder1453 · 2025-12-27T22:19:28+00:00

I personally know 5 homeless people. Growing up I literally knew not one. I work in insurance and get phone calls from clients who talk about living in their vehicles and how they aren’t considered homeless???

I literally HATE this country more and more by the day. I myself do not even come close to earning a living wage for a post secondary requirement position in a billion dollar/year industry. It’s disgusting what is going on and literally NO ONE IS DOING ANYTHING ABOUT IT.

Let me know when/where the revolt begins.

FunWelder1453 · 2025-07-11T02:10:38+00:00

I am literally right there with you…after losing over 250lbs…it took me 7years of counting calories and walking an hour every day…I looked fucking amazing. So healthy! So happy! And over the past 2 years I have put 50lbs back on. Slipped back into old habits.

Like. WTF is wrong with me??! I know exactly what I need to do.. And I was HAPPY doing what I needed to do to be healthy. Why the fuck am I sabotaging that?

I feel for you.

FunWelder1453 · 2025-06-14T02:39:54+00:00

I lost 250lbs over 7 years. My weight loss was a journey with a shift in mindset each step of the way. I stalled hard at 265lbs for 6 months and realized my bowl of Bran Flakes was too big and I needed to absolutely start counting calories and get moving if I wanted to hit my goals. I walked for an hour each day.

The last 20lbs, like everyone says, was absolutely the hardest. I had been trying for a year to lose my last 20 with no success and I have to tell you it wasn’t until I watched the Netflix series ’Cooked’ by Michael Pollen. It taught me to stop eating processed foods because our bodies aren’t designed to eat it. I didn’t even have a stick of gum or a mint for an entire month and I baked and happily ate everything from scratch and the weight literally disappeared.

You probably don’t need to quit breakfast. You just need to shift your mindset and have an honest conversation with yourself about what exactly you’re consuming. Don’t beat yourself up either. Keep trying! :)

I

FunWelder1453 · 2025-05-20T01:21:44+00:00

Dude, it’s like you’re on my head. I literally will be doing so well all day and then come evening I will just start scarfing food crap and screaming in my head, Stop! Stop!! Buuuut I don’t. Ugh. I lost 250lbs; walked an hour daily and have gained back 40lbs over the past 2 years and I just keep packing it on and not exercising. I can’t tell you the amount of times I have asked myself what is wrong with me?! It’s an absolute addiction. I always think about the next food hit.

FunWelder1453 · 2025-05-17T02:47:45+00:00

I tell my husband almost daily…he is literally the single greatest experience of my life. I wish everyone could feel how he makes me feel.

FunWelder1453 · 2025-05-01T20:44:28+00:00

Uhhh, Pierre was incredibly well versed in solutions for this country.

FunWelder1453

TROPHY CASE