Anyone living in Toronto already knows how exorbitant rent and other expenses are in this city, but why not sift through some more data that validates our pain?
A cost of living index released by a Toronto financial rate comparison company has provided some estimates of what things like housing and transportation will cost for Torontonians in 2020, and how much residents will have to make to afford what is becoming a progressively less affordable city.
Is anyone shocked? Years ago reports came out talking about the rising cost of living. Food prices are increasing and the minimum wage is frozen at $14 which is joke. How can anyone survive on less than $25/hour??? SMH Can't wait to move...
— Jessann (@JessannReece) January 22, 2020
Homeowners paying off a standard mortgage for a house priced for the Toronto real estate market — houses in the city went for, on average, $883,520 in 2019 — can expect to pay about $4225 a month, according to the index.
For renters, living in a typical Toronto apartment will cost around $2,350 per month, though that number is ever-increasing.
Things like public transit set the typical Toronto resident back about $260 per month, while driving is quoted at three hundred dollars more, around $560 before things like parking, car maintenance and gas, which can easily at least double this number.
Just came home to a letter saying my #rent is increasing. I’ve been at my apartment for less than a year. Life in #Toronto is already extremely #unaffordable, especially for a student. Living in this city is becoming increasingly attainable to only the super-rich. (1/?)
— Willow Cabral (@willowemilyy) January 17, 2020
Cell phone and internet bills in the city average out around $155 altogether, while the index puts "entertainment costs" at just shy of $180 a month (though it would be all too easy to spend that in one weekend out in the city).
Gym memberships run at about $65 a month, though monthly rates at yoga or other types of specialty fitness studios can be well over $100.
Wake up, take a deep breath and you already spent $500 https://t.co/5xEpDM4q3G
— Timi (@DJBlakito) January 22, 2020
It is worth noting that this data doesn't take into account things like debt, costs associated with pet (or child) ownership, clothes, services like haircuts and other non-necessary but really kind of necessary baseline expenditures.
But, with the things it does take into account, the index states that renters will have to make $55,500–$61,000 pre-tax to live in Toronto depending on if they drive or take transit, while for homeowners, this number is approximately $88,000–$94,000.
These estimates, again, do not consider crucial expenses like gas, car maintenance, debt payments, and clothing and household items — but also don't account for things like income sharing with a partner or living with roommates.
As if this city needs more condos....!!! Condos that are unaffordable for more than just the average person. Toronto is becoming unliveable for the working class. A city for the rich and investors. Council must do more! Unacceptable
— AnnaBanana (@AnnaWas59994631) February 3, 2020
Basically, if you can't rely on a side hustle of selling foot pics or the bank of mom and dad (who were likely able to buy their first house in Toronto for $85,000 with stable, well-paying jobs that are unheard of nowadays), you'll probably be scrounging to make ends meet in Toronto.
But if you want to live well enough to eat more than Mr. Noodles, there are always fall-back places like the riveting Trenton or fashionable Fort McMurray.
by Becky Robertson via blogTO
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