Quote:
Originally Posted by elkhunter11
I don't know anyone that turned down their heat, and
very few that changed their driving habits. The low
income people that I know live in apartments, so they
don't pay for heat, their landlords just increase the rent,
because they pay the carbon tax. And the low income people that I know, either no longer drive, or they drove very little anyways, so it really didn't change how they live. However, everyone pays more for clothing, groceries, and everything else, because of the carbon tax, and the low income people can least afford the extra cost.
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Well, now you do. We have cut down on our heat by an average of 2 degrees C during the day and 5 at night. We wear hoodies and sweaters and cover up with a blanket when we watch tv or read a book.
I'm almost 69 and my wife is approaching 67. We are both on 'fixed' income, both with CPP and OAS and I have a small work pension (unindexed so it hasn't changed in 9 years). My wife lost her job due to covid and had to retire early, thus losing out on 2 1/2 years of contributing to CPP. That hurts!
We've also cut down on driving, take my wife's little puddle-jumper 2016 Focus when we can. The F-150 (also a 2016) is used infrequently and only when necessary.
Our only saving blessing is that our landlord gives us a very good rate and he hasn't raised the rent yet (in 5 years). If not for that we'd probably be living in our 2016 23ft RV in a 'homeless' camp! We bought that RV after the Ft. McMurray fire so we had a place to live and we lived in it for 19 months over 3 years, and we kept it.
$3,600 income per month barely makes ends meet, so we both work a bit, odd jobs, temporary jobs, etc. as we can to help offset inflationary costs.
Most of our 'retirement dreams' have gone out the window and we've significantly scaled back 'bucket list' plans.
Not complaining, life is good overall. Just stating reality for us in the present. Hopefully some investments we hold will begin to pay off in a few years and add a bit to our retirement comfort!