I gotta admit, I'm awfully curious about this apartment...
$1400-$1600, eh? That's $1079 in American money. I realize a comparison between housing situations in two countries is not very accurate, but still we get a kind of rough sense. What does $1079 get you in America? In New York City, it might get you a basement studio in the far-flung parts of Queens. In Los Angeles, it'll get you maybe a studio in the grimier parts of Hollywood (maybe not anymore), or a one-bedroom in a flimsy strip-apartment (what we call terrace housing, but different architecture) in an edgy, Latino neighborhood.
Ottawa is not on that scale, so let's compare it to a place of similar population in the US. Seattle WA, Indianapolis IN, and Columbus OH are cities of similar size. A one-bedroom in Seattle averages $1800 US ($2500 Canadian), Indianapolis $848 ($1178 Canadian), Columbus OH $944 ($1312 Canadian)
I suppose Seattle has a worse housing crisis than Ottawa, while I would assume there is much less demand in Indianapolis and Columbus despite having similar populations. Since Ottawa is the capital city of Canada, I would assume is is closer to Seattle in cultural desirability than Indianapolis or Columbus (both state capitals), which means it is pricier and the low-end accomodations shittier.
She claims to be getting a two bedroom place, which would be pricier in other cities than the one-bedrooms that I quoted, unless it was also shittier.
So $1600 a month in a capital city in the suburbs probably would get you a decent one bedroom apartment, or a more ramshackle two bedroom apartment. It is a working class rent, usually paid by working class families. Affordable with two breadwinners in the family, and oppressive if there's only one.
So, how about the breadwinner, Peetz? Peetz makes around
$16.12 Canadian per hour. ($11.60 US) That's below minimum wage in Seattle, and modestly above it in Indianapolis and Columbus. Minimum wage in Canada is $14.00 Canadian, so Peetz is pulling two bucks more than that. If he works full time (don't know if he does; he takes Tuesday off) Peetz would be pulling in 2772.64 month before taxes, making the apartment rent about 58% of his pre-tax income, which is considered just borderline sustainable (you're supposed to keep rent at 1/4-1/3 of income, but good luck in a city).
So Peetz, on his own, could just barely afford this apartment. He would be living beyond his means really; a single car repair (if he had a car) would put him in debt.
That leaves Clotso to save the day with
her income. At last, we may get a better sense of how much AdSense pays her for her shitty videos. If Clotso brings in $1500 a month, it would bring the rent down to a burdensome but manageable 38% of pre-tax income.
So, it would appear that for Clotso and Peetz to live the fairy tale dream in their new beautiful suburban home, Clotso has to pull in a minimum of $1500.
Unfortunately, she has a nasty fast food habit that she herself claims is $1000 a month (and which I think is an underestimate, but we'll use her number). If we deduct all that food from pre-tax income, then the rent goes back up to 49% of pretax income, which is only sustainable when you're really frugal, which neither party seems to be.
So, to compensate for the cash drain for fast food, she'll need to make $2500 a month. I think this is probably about what she makes in a good month with AdSense, but I have no idea at all. (Social Blade is useless for this stuff)
So: I think what she is getting will be somewhat less than what she is making it out to be. Sounds like it will be a working class place, not new, not near the center of town. They will be making enough money that they ought to be able to just about cover all the bills, unless that Kia breaks down. Too many hauls and trips to Farm Boy and the comic book store, and they'll have to use credit and start adding to their debt, which is already a problem for Chantal.
A frugal, working couple would be fine, and would use it as a stepping stone for a better place. Peetz and Chantal are not that kind of couple, and things could get pretty tight for them.
We'll see...
