Cost of Living

What Torontonians make and how they spend it

What he spenDs In a month

Rent $1,275 a month, including utilities. “Living in Mississauga, my girlfriend and I are both closer to work than we would be living in the city.” GRoceRies $0. His girlfriend pays for food and household items while he covers the rent. “That adds up to about half the cost of rent, but I earn double what she does, so we figured it was a good split.” Gas $250 a month, for a 2011 Dodge Charger. caR insuRance $183 a month. RenteR’s insuRance $23 a month. Debt payments $0. “I paid off all my student loans as soon as I could.” savinGs $2,000 a month. “I’m saving for the near-impossible task of buying a house.” cable anD inteRnet $74 a month, including a Netflix subscription. cellphone $40 a month, for a six-gig plan that his employer subsidizes. DininG out $250 a month, at restaurants like Snug Harbour and Colossus Greek Taverna. “Every couple of weeks, my girlfriend and I go into Port Credit for a nice dinner.”

Recent spluRges

hockey $350, for a season in a rec league. WiReless inteRnet RouteR $120. blue Jays Game $130. music festival $180, for tickets and drinks at Burlington’s Sound of Music. motoRcycle $1,750, for a used Suzuki GSX600F Katana that he found on Kijiji. “I used to ride dirt bikes. When my younger brother recently bought a motorcycle, I thought, ‘Okay, now I need one, too.’ ”