4 Women with 4 Different Incomes: Opening up about their money and mine

I LOVED this article of 4 women and 4 incomes.

I am impressed by all of these women. They hustle, they get stuff done, and not only that, they’re not making their fortunes off divorces, inheritances or what have you; they’re working for it!

I wish more women would open up about their money publicly as these 4 did.

Commendable.

Here’s what mine would look like…

Income: Tough to tell. I guess ~$60,000 a year if you count all the years I didn’t work with $0 income averaging out.

As a benchmark, I worked full-time one year, and I earned $285,000, working my normal 40 hours a week. I rarely get to do overtime and I hate working long hours.

Location: Montréal

Occupation: Business Consultant – Freelancer

Family status: I’ve been with my partner for just under 10 years and we have a 2 year old toddler, Baby Bun.

Homeowner? Renter? We just bought a condo all in cash for $600,000 (I paid half) but had been die-hard renters until recently. Now my “rent” is cut in half so it has become a better deal.

Do you keep a budget? Yes, I have kept this one since I started working to get out of $60,000 of debt.

Nowadays, it’s a loose one, meaning I don’t freak out if I spend a lot, and I am not really glued to a specific amount. I know that by the time I burn through what I have saved in cash for living ($50,000) I will have found another contract by then to replenish the coffers. I’m being careful but not denying myself.

What’s a weekly grocery bill for you? $150 a week for regular groceries (we’re flexitarians which means we eat a lot less meat than before, only about once a week or twice), and I spend another $50 eating out here and there.

One thing you need but can’t afford: I can afford to buy anything I need.

One thing you want but can’t afford: I can afford to buy anything I want as well, and that includes that ever elusive ‘time’. I get plenty of it in between contracts.

The last thing you bought that required serious plan­ning: Our condo in cash for $600,000. I had to liquidate some investments and realize my capital gains to stump up my half of the cash.

Do you have credit cards? I have no less than 6. They all serve various purposes, one with no forex charges, one as my regular card, another for emergencies, etc. They never carry a balance.

How much debt are you carrying now? None. I used to be $60,000 in student debt but I cleared that in 18 months.

Saving for retirement? Yes. Now that is my main focus, since we paid for our place in cash, I wiped out my savings and see it as returning 4.79% (the cost of a 10-year fixed mortgage).

I am hoping to save a million in liquid assets.

At what age would you like to retire? Not really sure. I’m sort of living a semi-retired life right now. I work a few months or when I get contracts and then I chill out.

Maybe until 50? Or maybe until I save a million? I have no idea yet.

Felt the effects of the wage gap? Yes and no. I’m a young woman so a lot of the gatekeepers for contracts are older men who look down on me, and always try to negotiate me down.

This is why I don’t work as much as I should, it is partly the discrimination I feel by basically not being paid what I am worth and having to fight tooth and nail for it, to the point where I’m Queen Bitch in negotiations.

But as these two ladies have said it best:

“Bitches get stuff done.”

College plans for the kids? I started the day Baby Bun was born and I started receiving money for him.

He gets his own net worth tracked in my monthly budget roundups.

He’s at around $14,000 now, and I max out his RESP every year with $2500 (for maximum government support), and put the rest in cash in a high interest savings account.

• RESP Investments: I use Questrade and I buy ETFs, guide here. Referral key: o0soehds to get 10 free trades
• High-Interest savings: I use Tangerine. Referral key 32726976S1 to get your $50 & I get $50 too

How much money do you think you’ll be earning in ten years’ time? Same as I earn now, around $20,000 – $30,000 a month when I work. $0 when I don’t.

How happy are you on any given day, on a scale of one to ten? Nine. Some days are negative (those are Toddler Meltdown days, when I start to suffer from toddleritis), but I am generally very happy.

How often do you worry about money? I don’t, really.

I worry and wonder when I’ll get to work next, but at the same time, I also know that I am choosing not to work for cut throat rates, and if I ever need to, I can always work and make money as a freelancer or just by joining a company.

I just choose not to and would rather have the time off than go for less than what I’m worth.

Do you think your taxes are too high? No. I pay the right amount. I just wish I saw it being spent in the roads and bridges here. :\

AND HOW ABOUT YOU?