Winnipeg hairstylist, 37, struggling to repay $10,000 line of credit after a few emergencies | Canada Voices

Name, age: Mikayla, 37

Annual income: $67,992

Debt: $2,050 student debt, $9,252 line of credit, $5,689 car loan, $188,643 on mortgage

Savings: $12,020 in registered retirement savings plan (RRSP), $16,000 in locked-in retirement account, $4,529 in a joint guaranteed investment certificate with her partner

What she does: Hairstylist

Where she lives: Winnipeg

Top financial concern: “Our line of credit. If we have a little extra cash, we’ll plug away at it, but we’re living paycheque-to-paycheque.”

Until about a year ago, Mikayla and her partner’s only debt was their mortgage. They were living paycheque-to-paycheque, but they were making it work.

However, a series of costly events highlighted their lack of an emergency fund and they’re now struggling under the weight of a $10,000 line of credit.

“A broken-down car, a vet bill, and our stove was broken, and then suddenly – boom – there’s your debt,” says the 37-year-old Winnipeg hairstylist. She lives in a two-bedroom condo with her husband, who makes about $66,000 and is lucky enough to have a work pension.

“A year-and-a-half ago we felt invincible. All our friends had all this debt and we didn’t. It just took a few things and now we’re right in the same ballpark.

“It eats us up sometimes,” she adds. “It just sucks.”

Mikayla went to university thinking she’d be a social worker, but went back to school for hairstyling in her late 20s after a couple years working at a desk.

“It was killing me,” she says. “I thought university was what I was supposed to do, what everyone was supposed to do.

“Sometimes you have to do something to learn you don’t want to do it.”

Digital artist, 35, feels the ‘guilt of having quietly saved’ more than $1-million with his partner

She met her now-husband in 2019, just after finishing hair school. With little to spend money on during the pandemic times that followed, the couple managed to save $11,000 by 2021. The First-Time Home Buyer Incentive, a federal program that no longer exists, matched that amount to give them a $22,000 down payment.

They bought their condo for $225,000, and have $188,000 left on their mortgage. Mikayla says she was surprised by how she felt after they secured a permanent place of their own.

“I didn’t think (owning) was something that mattered to me, but there was that sign of relief,” she says. “We have something now.”

With their LOC debt and their mortgage, Mikayla says they sometimes feel overwhelmed but they try to keep things in perspective.

“I remind myself, we’re still paying less than we would have for rent for a place this size,” she says.

“My mom tells me that at our age, we’re in our era of debt and everyone goes through this. Take a beat and know one day you’ll be out of it.”

Her typical monthly expenses:

Investment and savings: $100

$100 to RRSP. “That is my retirement. I am self-employed.”

Servicing debt: $874

Up to $300 to line of credit. “We prioritize paying off the credit card first.”

$200 to student loan

$374 to car payment

Household and transportation: $2,791

$1,193 to mortgage. “1,000 square feet, two bedrooms, one bathroom and a little balcony.”

$385 to condo fees, including water bill

$35 to property insurance

$234 to property tax

$109 on utilities

$300 on gasoline

$200 on car insurance

$60 on Uber or taxis

$180 on cellphones

$95 on internet

Food and drink: $750

$500 on groceries

$50 at coffee shops

$200 at restaurants

Miscellaneous: $750

$200 on cannabis

$20 on streaming services

$200 on gym memberships

$100 on their dog. “Vets are expensive. You can shop around, but if you have a vet you like, you’re going to stay with them.”

$20 on prescription

$70 on life insurance

$20 on clothing

$20 on cosmetics

$40 on vacations

$20 on going out

$40 on gifts

Some details may be changed to protect the privacy of the person profiled. We want to thank them for sharing their story. Are you a millennial who would like to participate in a paycheque profile? Send us an e-mail.