Author Topic: StatsCan: Average Canadian household spends $86k/yr  (Read 2638 times)

kelvin

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StatsCan: Average Canadian household spends $86k/yr
« on: April 21, 2019, 09:01:15 AM »
Statistics Canada (our government census bureau) says the "average" Canadian household spends about $86k/year.

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1110022201

The site has charts of the spending breakdown by category.

I'm not sure if that's a median or mean average. I have no idea how they're paying for it, given "Canadian families and unattached individuals had a median after-tax income of $57,000 in 2016." (https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/180313/dq180313a-eng.htm)

Suddenly I don't feel so awful about my spending.

RetiredAt63

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Re: StatsCan: Average Canadian household spends $86k/yr
« Reply #1 on: April 21, 2019, 09:23:23 AM »
Statistics Canada (our government census bureau) says the "average" Canadian household spends about $86k/year.

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1110022201

The site has charts of the spending breakdown by category.

I'm not sure if that's a median or mean average. I have no idea how they're paying for it, given "Canadian families and unattached individuals had a median after-tax income of $57,000 in 2016." (https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/180313/dq180313a-eng.htm)

Suddenly I don't feel so awful about my spending.

The first site includes taxes, which were 15,000+. The second one is after-tax. So 57,000 + 15,000 = 72,000.  So a smaller gap.

Some of the rest is most likely that the first one is an arithmetic average while the second is median income.

The rest is increasing debt. Haven't looked at house purchase stats recently, are more people buying houses?  And interest rates affect debt too.

Bloop Bloop

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Re: StatsCan: Average Canadian household spends $86k/yr
« Reply #2 on: April 21, 2019, 11:25:10 PM »
I remember seeing similar statistics about my country, Australia - apparently the average saving rate is nearly 10% and this is an all-time high.

Median household disposable income (income after tax) is in th $80,000's so that implies a yearly spend of about $75,000 per household.

I'm thoroughly amazed by this figure. My partner and I spend less than $40,000 a year (I suppose the figure would be about $60,000 a year if you include imputed rent) and we live absolutely lavishly. I could barely manage to increase this figure, short of:
- Taking a taxi everywhere
- Buying everything full-price and not claiming any deductions
- Going on random sprees to Armani stores
- Taking a major holiday more than once a year.

I can't understand how average earners spend so much and how they manage to sleep at night, being so financially inept.

Kyle Schuant

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Re: StatsCan: Average Canadian household spends $86k/yr
« Reply #3 on: April 21, 2019, 11:38:35 PM »
Lots of eating out, buying clothes and so on, Bloop Bloop. Once a month I take my son out, occasionally we do something like go to a movie and have lunch.

Movie: $22 for me, $15 for him = $37
Popcorn: $5
Lunch: $20 for me, $10 for him = $30
That's $72 down without counting the transport. Now imagine you're a household with 2-3 kids and you do this sort of thing once a fortnight. Or imagine you're a young childless couple and you go out 2-3 times a week.

In terms of spending statistics, compared to a generation ago we're all spending less on food and utilities, and more on entertainment, clothing and so on.

mm1970

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Re: StatsCan: Average Canadian household spends $86k/yr
« Reply #4 on: April 22, 2019, 11:58:35 AM »
Lots of eating out, buying clothes and so on, Bloop Bloop. Once a month I take my son out, occasionally we do something like go to a movie and have lunch.

Movie: $22 for me, $15 for him = $37
Popcorn: $5
Lunch: $20 for me, $10 for him = $30
That's $72 down without counting the transport. Now imagine you're a household with 2-3 kids and you do this sort of thing once a fortnight. Or imagine you're a young childless couple and you go out 2-3 times a week.

In terms of spending statistics, compared to a generation ago we're all spending less on food and utilities, and more on entertainment, clothing and so on.
Yep.  This.  We can easily drop $80+ on a meal out for our family of 4, which is why we very rarely do it (plus, eating out with kids sucks, and the food's usually not that good either).  Movies aren't cheap either.  I don't like movies much, so I just let husband+teen go to their movies together, and figure I'm saving by staying home with the little one (plus, big kid has earned 6 free tix so far this year from his school due to straight As).

I remember being young and single.  And young and married.  In the 90s and early 00s, I easily spent hundreds a month eating out because I didn't really cook.  And...it's what you did, it's how you socialized.

ElleFiji

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Re: StatsCan: Average Canadian household spends $86k/yr
« Reply #5 on: April 22, 2019, 06:05:49 PM »
I'm guessing car debt and leases are a big ugly piece.

Kyle Schuant

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Re: StatsCan: Average Canadian household spends $86k/yr
« Reply #6 on: April 22, 2019, 08:47:33 PM »
There was an article up the other day about Australia supposedly losing its car culture, and the front and back ends of the article were a woman in her late 20s in a car lot wondering what to buy. She was expressing concern about being able to make the payments on a car she was looking at... $6,999.

Bear in mind the full-time minimum wage here is about $37k annually, and she was a professional so would be getting more than that.

Lots of people just have no idea where their money goes. I'm a big believer in spending diaries, food diaries and so on. Your choices are yours to make - if you want to blow $500 a week on food, all good. But your choices should be informed choices. Back when I worked at the globogym, at one point I tallied it up and realised I was spending $1,500 a year on takeout coffee and buns. But since I was getting up at 0445 to cycle 23km to work and be there just before open at 0600, and then had to train a different person every 30', adjusting my demeanour to each one - well, $1,500 was worth it to get me through all that. I made the informed choice to spend my money.

Bloop Bloop

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Re: StatsCan: Average Canadian household spends $86k/yr
« Reply #7 on: April 23, 2019, 06:45:53 AM »
I saw that article. Reminds me of when I was working in a law firm and I had colleagues in their late 20s making $100k+ a year who, after paying off their usual mortgage payments, had no further savings. It seemed like everyone had designer bags, the latest phone, all that good stuff - and took at least 1 lavish holiday a year.

I have no issues with doing that if you're balling, but on $100k a year you may as well be earning $50k a year if you're going to spend like that. It's entirely a hedonic treadmill approach.

Prairie Stash

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Re: StatsCan: Average Canadian household spends $86k/yr
« Reply #8 on: April 25, 2019, 03:14:26 PM »


I'm thoroughly amazed by this figure. My partner and I spend less than $40,000 a year (I suppose the figure would be about $60,000 a year if you include imputed rent),,,
I can't understand how average earners spend so much and how they manage to sleep at night, being so financially inept.
the second line was total current consumption, what the average CDN spends in a year. Its at $63,723 - the first number of $89k included income tax and savings....I'm guessing you have savings too?

If you take out shelter its $45,086. That would be the benchmark to compare against if you want to exclude imputed rent.

@kelvin The $86k is average, including dual income housholds, and the $57K is the median AFTER TAX.  That means 50% of households make more than $57k after tax and on average households spend $86k (including taxes and savings of $20k).

kelvin

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Re: StatsCan: Average Canadian household spends $86k/yr
« Reply #9 on: April 26, 2019, 01:45:32 PM »
@Prairie Stash and others thanks for the clarification.


Bloop Bloop

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Re: StatsCan: Average Canadian household spends $86k/yr
« Reply #10 on: April 26, 2019, 06:50:53 PM »
@Prairie Stash and others thanks for the clarification.

+1, it makes the figures much more palatable.$65k a year is very close to the figure I've budgeted for my RE (with partner and two future children).