Robin Claire McCullough, 39 saving $760 a month
McCullough lives in a co-op in Burnaby with her partner, Martin Lafontaine, and their daughter, Méroux, who’s nearly 3.
She lives frugally: McCullough drives an old car and shops at thrift stores. Having grown up poor, she took on significant student loans to finance her three post-secondary degrees — two bachelor degrees and a master’s in cultural studies and communications.
McCullough works as an occupational health and safety co-ordinator for a tree-planting company. Lafontaine owns a small business, specializing in exterior building maintenance using rope suspension.
The pregnancy was a surprise, and the couple worked hard to make ends meet after the baby was born. Lafontaine, who had been living in Alberta, moved to B.C. to be with McCullough when the baby came. He had to look for a new job.
For the first year and a half of Méroux’s life, the three of them lived in a 28-foot trailer, first on Vancouver Island and later in Surrey. Lafontaine’s job insecurity combined with McCullough’s maternity leave meant they racked up significant credit-card debt.
“I’d never run into that problem previously,” she said. “I was really shocked — I mean I know it sounds so ridiculous to say as an adult — but shocked by how quickly that happened and how hard it was to dig out.”
According to 2018 numbers from the Bank of Canada, the average household would have to use 20 months of disposable income to pay off their consumer debt. Economists say this is worrisome, but the savings from the daycare pilot program are helping some families keep finances on track.
Before Méroux’s Burnaby daycare was chosen to be part of the $10-a-day pilot, McCullough was paying $960 a month for daycare. When she heard their daycare had been chosen, McCullough was overwhelmed.
“I cried. I totally cried,” she said, explaining she is deeply grateful to the owner of the daycare, who put a huge amount of work into applying for the pilot program.
Paying less for daycare means she is paying off debt more quickly. Since she’s saving $760 a month in fees, McCullough increased her pre-authorized monthly credit card and debt repayments by $400. The remaining $360 in savings goes toward daily expenses or debt as needed.
A recent “splurge,” which she could pay for thanks to the daycare savings, was for a trip to see family in Ontario. Méroux’s aunts, cousins and grandparents haven’t seen the toddler in almost a year.
McCullough said she might have bought the tickets anyway but would have had to put them on the credit card.