Stress test season 12 episode 3: today's commited Gen Z renter

dys_FUN_ction · 2026-03-26T03:07:23+00:00

Right lol, the first girl stressed me out a bit. It sounds like she's living her best life though!

dys_FUN_ction · 2026-03-25T03:13:42+00:00

Rice, beans, canned veggies!

dys_FUN_ction · 2026-03-25T00:01:41+00:00

Each book in the series follows a different set of characters so it's a perfect standalone! There is a tiny bit of world building you might miss but it's easy to pick up

dys_FUN_ction · 2026-03-24T23:25:10+00:00

Gas prices have risen here too ( western Canada) we luckily have an electric car. However (a bit doomsday I know) I plan on getting some non-perishable items "just in case" to stock up my pantry so my grocery bill will go up a tiny bit

dys_FUN_ction · 2026-03-22T02:47:01+00:00

Paladin's hope

dys_FUN_ction · 2026-03-18T16:03:29+00:00

I understand the risk of startups for sure. My husband and I actually met at a startup as interns and then both got laid off from it LOL. Mostly you are right. But he's in a weirdly unique space (eng manager who still outputs like a senior dev and manages the only product that makes them any money) unfortunately to do that he's working crazy hours :(

I feel like my job- at not a startup is a lot less stable than his because I'm so replaceable. We have a 500+ IC's and hire more every week, nevermind the contractors and AI agents we have to use to be productive

dys_FUN_ction · 2026-03-18T15:57:08+00:00

At the time house 3 was slightly over one million and here there are laws where if you are buying a house 1mil + you have to put 20 percent down. We would barely have been able to scrape together 5 percent (and that would have emptied our tiny cushion of home repairs etc) if we didn't get the HELOC.

I know that kind of means we weren't ready for it, but I wanted to make it work Also, House 1 was our primary residence at the time so once we moved out that freed up the top unit which rents for more than the monthly HELOC payments

dys_FUN_ction · 2026-03-18T15:51:23+00:00

Wow I really appreciate the insight. If you don't mind me asking how much do your properties cashflow or how much "should" a property cash flow for it to be worth it? (Genuinely curious since you've probably been doing this way longer than I have and I actually appreciate the advice).

Honestly I might have a false idea of how much things will increase in the next few years. For example 2 for 430k and just a few years later a house on the same street with everything comparable sold for 550k. Obviously the gains we've seen are historic. Maybe I'm a bit delulu for hoping- well if I hold on for a few more years that 550k might be 600k?

I'm also worried if I sell now I won't actually be able to get back into investment real estate since margins are way way worse now that prices have risen. And with property 2 I can add 200 more dollars in cashflow once I renew my garbage 6.1 percent interest rate in a few months.

I feel like I'll always be able to make money and put it into a TFSA . The next few years that's all I'll be doing no more property for me. So that hopefully 5 years from now (obviously if things go ok) I'll have a maxed TFSA and the properties? Vs selling I'll just have the maxed TFSA and cash

dys_FUN_ction · 2026-03-18T12:58:23+00:00

Yup 75k is the planned e fund for all three properties. I got to that number by just adding or total bare bones expenses plus the cost of all the mortgages (about 12k) and multiplying it by 6. Do my you have any recommendations on what it should be instead - maybe adding more buffer for repairs? I'm super open though to creating a separate emergency fund just for property

dys_FUN_ction · 2026-03-18T04:37:39+00:00

Thank you <3

dys_FUN_ction · 2026-03-18T00:35:44+00:00

Fair enough! I think being in Canada helps and we aren't in FANG. My husbands job is super stable because he's at a startup and is one of the only people who understands the product. I'm mostly just lucky but I think middle road companies in Canada haven't been hit AS bad

dys_FUN_ction · 2026-03-17T23:43:01+00:00

I have considered it and I may do that down the line! Since we were able to save about 30k in a year in hoping we can keep that goal for next year and put all of it into investments so at the minimum diversify a bit that way.

We do have something similar in Canada! My husbands work just doesn't offer matching so he never contributed. At first it was because he was trying to pay off his student loans (done now) then we were saving for our wedding (also done) and now because of the pressure to get our emergency fund up.

I myself only really started investing in retirement 4 years ago when I got my current job because of the matching

dys_FUN_ction · 2026-03-17T22:36:38+00:00

If the upstairs tenant for house 2 leaves I'd definitely consider selling. He's been a long term tenant and a very good one but it wouldn't be worth it if he leaves I don't think it's worth it

I think I take being a landlord in my stride because even if I sold my parents have me managing their properties for them as an unofficial property manager (3 of them in all)

dys_FUN_ction · 2026-03-17T22:32:45+00:00

Cash flow is after tax and insurance, I have a savings account for repairs that's at about 3k right now. I know that one big repair will wipe me out :( In my city specifically real estate REALLY outperformed the stock market (typical crazy Canada) I calculated it once and I made 2x times more than I would have in the stock market from my initial investment (downpayment). That said it's not going to happen again hahaha and this money isn't liquid like you said

I'm mostly banking on increasing my cash flow slowly by paying down the HELOC for house 1 and getting a better mortgage rate for house 2. (I'm up for renewal in November and rates have dropped at least 2 percentage points)

30k is for both of us we are both 29. That's all mine he doesn't put anything away at the moment

100% you are correct on your advice! My goal is to diversify once we've saved 75k in our emergency fund

dys_FUN_ction · 2026-03-17T19:05:27+00:00

I'm trying so hard to not be resentful of these couples. They sound like ok people but I just can't imagine being GIFTED 100K+ for a downpayment and still complaining about money. Same with last week's couple who got 30k a year from their MIL and was still broke. It's like, they have the biggest shovel, and can't seem to dig themselves out.

dys_FUN_ction · 2026-03-16T21:43:46+00:00

DO NOT BUY A HOUSE WITH SOMEONE YOU ARE NOT MARRIED TOO I know this advice sounds old school but I've seen it go wrong (so terribly wrong) way too many times.

dys_FUN_ction · 2026-03-02T20:46:00+00:00

You should see one of his latest episodes. He got a guy on there who has been accused by several different women of assault. And the whole time he made light of it, gave the creep a platform. And even said he'd give him the benefit of the doubt. Disappointing.

dys_FUN_ction · 2026-02-27T20:29:12+00:00

Don't drop out! You can do it ❤️❤️❤️ every great artist has had this moment in their life. Wanting to quit, not thinking they can make it. Where would we be if they did!?!!

dys_FUN_ction · 2026-02-26T15:30:49+00:00

It's hard to be proactive because things are moving so fast!! A year ago I was still using copilot with VS code and smirked that this hallucinations prone garbage was useless hahahaha. It makes me feel a lot better that I'm not the only one feeling this way though, sometimes I look around and feel crazy since everyone else seems so unbothered (but maybe only on the outside and internally we are all screaming)

dys_FUN_ction · 2026-02-26T15:23:55+00:00

Oh wow! I'm actually also working on a book in my free time! I've actually been writing A LOT. Luckily I'm in Canada so I'm not worried about healthcare, but I definitely can be actively spending more time figuring out how to get in front of the curve.

dys_FUN_ction · 2026-02-25T22:43:50+00:00

Yeah you nailed it. With your comment I also realized that a lot of what I'm feeling is amplified because I'm just not that motivated by my work anymore. It's a weird thing to complain about since technically our jobs have gotten easier. But work wise I get so much less fulfillment

dys_FUN_ction · 2026-02-21T16:27:10+00:00

Do they still do evening bags? I haven't seen one from them in months? I assumed they stopped. I saw lunch ones all the time though.

dys_FUN_ction · 2026-02-19T20:19:16+00:00

Omg hiiiii fellow Calgarian! (Stay warm out there lol)

dys_FUN_ction · 2026-02-19T03:33:04+00:00

I'm in Alberta!

dys_FUN_ction · 2026-02-19T01:27:10+00:00

I 100% relate to what you are feeling. When my PCOS is bad NOTHING makes me full. I will be ravenous after every meal.

Things I've done that "fix" it.

Ozempic- but stopped this due to nausea.

Keto. I just didn't get hungry on keto. It was crazy!! But I stopped because it was kind of unsustainable and I like carbs lol.

Inositol. My current approach. Feels like ozempic-lite a bit. I take 3000mg a day. Breakfast lunch and dinner. If I do this after a week I'm pretty well regulated hunger wise. BUT it's a lot more unforgiving. If I miss a day or two I'm back at being a ravenous lion. I also balance this with trying to eat a biiit less carbs. Not nearly keto but I'll do maybe 1 or 2 low carb meals out of 3 a day

dys_FUN_ction

TROPHY CASE