TO CLARIFY!!! This is all in CAD which is about 15% less than the US dollar. We also have more expensive food here in Canada compared to other countries because we don't subsidize certain industries as much as others so this will be different depending on which country we are living in. Also... talking about money can be weird but we're just trying to be transparent with our money. Hopefully it's helpful or interesting for you!
I'm a hair dresser . If she's getting a cut, color, And style it could run from about $150(short average thickness of hair)- $550 (long thick hair). There are a lot of things that play a roll in price but just for an idea.
I know you mentioned you have privilege, but even converted to USD you spent almost $1700 on food/beverages. My state has a pretty high minimum wage at $11.50/hr, so after taxes someone at minimum would take home less than you spent on consumables. Pretty hard to pitch this lifestyle as attainable/adoptable for anyone who isn’t in a higher tax bracket.
No offense, but you have a lot of money...I on the other hand am poor. My yearly income is roughly $9500.oo per year. I do my best to only buy eco-friendly products, and such. That is a lot of money to spend in one month! Please make some budget friendly suggestions i.e. under $250 per month expenses.
@@lacybookworm5039 they own a condo in Victoria BC maybe look up what that means. These people have money, and are just the stereotype of Patagonia wearing yuppies of van island. I’d love for them to discuss like the LITERAL opioid and homeless crisis in their town instead of this fake low waste stuff
I'm not all that surprised. What the most surprising thing is, for these days, is that you had no payments for debt reduction, other than the mortgage. That in itself is impressive!! Also, we put our money into our priorities. The fact you put it into good quality locally sourced food shows you live by what you preach! Plus you don't buy medications so the food can be looked at as a preventable measures in health care costs. Well done!! :)
That’s a great point too! We’re very healthy (knock on wood). We are very lucky to have graduated with very little debt and we’re able to pay it off fairly quickly. We never take that for granted!
@@LeahandLevi research backs up your statement. lowering the friction of spending makes it way easier. thats why theres tap for cards and casinos use chips
I'm not blown away by your spending, but I am blown away that you don't know around what you spent each month! :o Great video! Thanks for sharing things that lots of people aren't comfortable sharing. Break the stigma for talking about money!
When my husband and I moved to a new city and got pretty good paying jobs for the first time in our relationship, we ate out almost every night because we were so excited to do it! Didn't have a bed or a couch, but damn we ate well!
I think it would be interesting to see you guys do a zero-waste/local frugal food challenge for yourselves just to see what it looks like to be more mindful of money when it comes to food. You guys spend more on food in one month than I make in one paycheck, I think it would be interesting to see how accessible shopping zero-waste/local/farmers markets is for someone who maybe only can afford to spend 10-15% of what you guys do.
I was so shocked to hear what you spend in a month for only 2 people.. thoughts on doing this every month, comparing and trying to reduce your spending each month?
This was interesting. That may seem like a lot of money for food but my philosophy is - if food is what you enjoy, if you can afford it, if you're not going into debt with it, then enjoy it.
I appreciate the transparency on your finances. Money talk is so taboo and awkward, but talking about it and sharing individual experiences and learning from each other, makes all of us better with our own personal money habits.
“You manage what you measure!!” Tracking one’s expenses is tedious, but it is a valuable learning experience. I track my expenses, and will continue to do so as it keeps me on my toes and makes me a conscious consumer… one needs to be conscious of how many hair scrunchies they buy 😂. Great video Levi… thanks so much, keep ‘em coming 🌎💦🌀Ⓜ️ary
Levi: How much are you saving for future expenses, emergency & investments? That should be a large amount in your youth to set yourself up for the future & carry forward what your family did for you.
Yeah we have this in mind and we have been very conscious to save where we can. We are fortunate that our expenses are much lower during the winter months and we don't own a car. 👍🏻
You spent more eating out than I spend on groceries every month, for a family of 3. And then add your grocery budget on top of that. You must be eating gold leaf organic everything. Mine is also in Canadian dollars.
My point was they eat from restaurants a lot. They could easily reduce their food costs if they felt like it, and still continue to eat organic, local, and zero waste.
@@SymonSays oh yeah, for sure. Eating out adds up *really* quickly. But I think when people ask the question “Is eating zero waste affordable?” they’re mostly thinking of the grocery bill, not the eating out bill.
Fellow Canadian here: Grocery costs have gone up ALOT. Shopping ethically and sustainably and inherently more expensive but even baseline groceries have increased quite a bit. Between my partner and I we used to spend maybe 200$ on groceries per month. We're now spending around $400 all over the course of the last 1.5 years. If we shopped ethically and sustainable it would probably land us around $600. It's been kind of crazy to see a cost that we used to manage easily increase significantly to the point where it actually causes concern.
Thanks for elaborating on this. We have also seen that increase. I think that the cost of food will increase consistently form now on as our environment continues to struggle.
"I'm an enthusiast" is going to be my new go-to explaination for when people ask me about my love for alcohol 😂😂😂 I'm honestly very surprised at your expenses, especially for food. could it be that because of the climate in Canada food is more expensive to produce? I don't think I spend that much on food in 6 months in Italy, and I buy mostly organic produce, and when it's not organic I buy locally farmed. anyhow, very interesting video!!
Yeah food in Canada is more expensive because we are a huge country and we have to import most of the stuff we eat. We also have a lot more health regulations than the states so 🤷🏻♂️
Levi and Leah are also shopping at more expensive places. I can gaurantee that if you went to a discount grocery store and bought from the flyer it would be at least 80-85% of the cost for comparable items -- no fancy bread or artesan goods though. All national and store brands.
@@99leadpencils Yes that might be the case, I know for sure that I buy from a store that is more expensive than discount because it sells only organic produce, but still to me a lot of the prices there seem absolutely reasonable, even though I'm on a student budget. Italy is also the country with the highest biodiversity in Europe so that might contribute to the lower prices as well.
I use the excuse "hobby gone wild" when I explain my love and passion of wine, but I did get 2 certifications out of it. Yay to having a back up career!
I have been cutting my own and my families hair for years now, BUT I do have a salon and a barber shop next door to my business. In our small town, for a woman, it would cost between $35-$40 for a wash, cut and dry (not blow out or anything else fancy) and for men hot towel shave and a haircut is $35-40 also.
FOR THE PLANET!!!!! As a young adult this was great! And I can totally relate to being privileged when it comes to buying local foods if they are available or even shopping in earth hero. I wish buying organic could be normalized and something that anyone could afford! Anyway, in short you both are amazing and j just look forward to all the videos you make Levi! Thanks for having my in the team 😎 and all of you who read this, you are great too!
We usually spend between $400-600 on groceries and another $100-200 on eating out. It’s just my husband and I. We do shop locally as much as we can and by mostly organic produce. I just started growing some of my own herbs this year as they were getting more snd more expensive and I have been enjoying it.
well turns out 5000 canadian dollars are only € 3364,81 euros, which is actually not thaaaaat much for two hard working people to spend in a month! was a bit shocked at first haha
I oddly feel validated by this video… when my partner and I became debt free and moved, our expenses went up as well. Food is also going up by at least 5% with the production delays from COVID. Love that your spending within your values as well.
Thank you for sharing. I live in CA and my rent (not mortgage) is almost double the mortgage that you pay, which is insane! Also, everyone can choose what to spend their money on. I love that you choose to spend it on good food because we’re the same.
Wow! Your grocery and eating out is so much money. We thought we were spending a lot with $400-500 per month for groceries. This year we joined a CSA where we paid $550 for 8 months of weekly veggie pickups, and I get the rest at the farmer's market in the summer and the grocery store in the winter. On restaurants we spend about $300 per month, alcohol about $150. We live in Langley, BC.
@@kelseyadler5812 Sorry I should have explained :) CSA is community supported agriculture. Usually how it works is you pay a farm upfront at the start of the year for produce (and eggs/meat sometimes) for their whole growing season, then you pick up or have delivered a portion of seasonal food every week. We get a bag weekly from March to October. Its been really eye opening to learn how to truly eat local and seasonally. We sometimes struggle to eat through all the veggies in one week so I freeze what I can for the next winter. For us it worked out much less expensive than buying veggies weekly, as long as we don't cave to cravings and buy extra produce on top of it.
I've been keeping my finances in check for few years already, it's not so much work as people think (I need to input everything I buy each day) and it helped me to make adjustments that make a big difference on the wallet while still living quite comfortably. After doing this for a few years, it's really amazing to see the progress year after year as well. I suggest to everyone to do this, just get a simple app on your phone and keep adding your bills there daily!
Yes, there are people who pay to get their hair done weekly. My mom use to have my sister and my hair done monthly. The price can get very steep with the type and thickness of hair you have, as well. Let's not forget about weaves, braids and wigs. Getting braids and weaves, you have to pay for the hair, as well as the someone to install them. If you can do them yourself or know someone who will do it for free, you have an advantage.
That's so interresting! I live in the province of Quebec and I spent like 500$ Restaurant, Alcohol and grocery combine. And I am out of my budget because I was on vacation. I got the feeling that BC is more expensive! To be fair, I ate a lot of food of my garden. I love those kind of videos! Continue your amazing work!
This was great! While I know it isn't seen as an "expense," I include savings in my monthly expenses because it is money that is "going out." This breakdown gives an illusion that you don't save o.o;
Good for you guys for being super honest about how expensive this lifestyle is! I won't say I haven't felt a bit frustrated in the past when you share your zero waste shopping videos and use the word "affordable" in the video. As a resident in Victoria, I would love for the price of these products to come down - though I recognize this is the true cost of production in Canada is very high. I think you can do sustainable options for less too, my partner and I shop at Superstore and they have a lot of Canadian in-season produce. Not local or organic, but definitely a more affordable option. We also order all local meat from Berryman Brothers. The least sustainable things we buy are pantry items, crackers, snacks, etc. We budget very strictly and spend around $500/month on groceries and $150 per month on eating out. Considering the average family income in Victoria is ~$5,000/month and the average 1 bedroom rental is around $1,600/month, I think it would be really cool if you guys could do a video on balancing a realistic food budget and doing the best you can to both support local and environmental causes.
I have done food calculations and writing down EVERYTHING we spend since years ago. In Denmark - where people say its expensive to live - our household of 2 people + 1 cat, we spend a little less than what would be equivalent to 800 CAD on food a month on average, that is including eating out and my husbands alcohol (i dont drink though). Also we dont spend any money on haircuts, i cut my own and husbands hair for years :)
For my hair trim, highlights and eyebrows every 3 to 4 months is around $75 plus tip. Mine is pretty cheap compared to some people. I shaved half my head so it’ll probably be cheaper this time around 😂 She also blow dries and straightens my hair and puts serums and heat protectant on my hair as well. I live in a small town in Ohio, USA, though so that also can vary from price depending on location and service! Xx I hope I helped a bit! P.s. my favorite UA-cam power couple besides Shelbizleee and Madison 🥺💕✨
I'm in the UK 🇬🇧 so I spent £400 on hair a year and a month on food is £400+ for 2 adults and 1 child plus cat 🙀. I found this type of video interesting so thanks!
Hair care cost near Los Angeles: Once my hair started to go grey, I touch up my hair color ever 6 weeks for $100 and have my hair cut and highlights added 2 times a year for $200.
In north SFV of LA, I pay $110 for root touch ups but I go every three weeks. Cuts are $65. Twice yearly hilites $165. This is pretty standard unless you go to WeHo or West LA.
Oh i can't stand those prices. I just don't dye my hair and cut it twice a year. That's so much money! (I know i know to each their own but it pains me) lol
Loved this video! Thank you so much for being honest with your viewers on this topic since unfortunately it can be one that people have a lot of opinions about. I would love to see a video about how you track your expenses or budget if you do. That is a tough area for me because I hate tracking individual transactions so I am always interested in how other people do it in case one of those ideas happens to stick for me.
Your expenditure is totally fair! My husband and I personally invest in something else, but we spend almost the same. I am almost sure that this is a fair amount for a couple with two salaries!
My mom spends about $250 every 6 weeks on her hair for cut and color. It’s insane. I spend about $100 a year for one hair cut and I don’t color my hair.
You have to imagine that, say, 100-200 years ago, a large majority of people's monthly budget went towards food or food-producing things, probably close to 70%. The fact that there are low-cost options that allow people to spend their money elsewhere is a big breakthrough. But high-quality foods, you're probably right, you probably are paying a fair price for those if you are living in a city.
I spend $300 in total, for all my food and drinks in a month for myself, my son and any dates I have over. And I do it mostly local/sustainably. So 1200 for groceries alone, to me, is the absolute craziest thing I've ever heard.
I've had a spreadsheet with every dollar I spend that I update weekly since high school (I know, very type a lmao) so it's so interesting seeing Leah guess at your expenses. Great video as always Levi, talking about money is so important and interesting!!
Hair cut prices: I used to go to a local lady and got a hair cut for $20us for long hair (scissors) or $15us for short hair (clippers) I have learned to cut my own and my family’s hair. This has saved us several hundreds of dollars over the last 10 years. Take your time and don’t expect perfection for your first self-haircuts. UA-cam how to videos and take a chance. If you go for a trim rather than a huge cut, you can go to a stylist to fix it if you had too.
Leah, I’m here for you! Least expensive for cut and colour has been around $170ish….most expensive…..I was in the chair for about 5 hours, but it was about $500 & I know that’s a regular expense for some 😳 (I’m in Vancouver, but not shocked at the Victoria cost).
I think that spending that much on food when you enjoy it and can support locally and sustainably, isn't that outrageous. You're eating a variety of things from different places and that can get expensive. I'm sure you could spend a lot less but enjoy it a lot less too. I like that you look at food like an event and not just something to eat. This was interesting! And made me feel better about the $900 I spend on food for the 2 of us for a month.
I never felt so poor 😂 What you're spending equlas FIVE months of my salary, and I'm supposed to be in the top 10% in my country😂 To be fair, I live in eastern Europe so life is SIGNIFICALLY cheaper lol (never realised how much of a differnece there is). That was super interesting! Thanks guys!
My wife spent about $80 for a wash and cut with a frizz treatment, but it was only because her hair got really long during COVID. (Our daughter’s hair cut is usually about half that. I cut my own hair because I’ve never had a good hair cut done by someone else.)
I would be interested in seeing a break down of what you guy buy/spend on food items. My family of 4 has been trying to reduce our waste and when I break down our food costs it's almost 3 times less than what you spend.
I think it largely comes down to where we shop. We shop almost exclusively at zero waste grocery stores and farmers' markets. This is very expensive in Canada. 🤷🏻♂️
@@LeahandLevi thats what I figured. I live in Washington where we have lots of access to local produce, but we don't have any local zero waste shops near us.
Obviously money is no object, $180 haircut, over a thousand bucks on groceries, another $1000 plus on eating out and booze... living your best life!! This is why so many people aren't working on saving the planet, that kind of grocery bill just isn't realist.
As I mentioned at the end, this is us living our best life and spending what we want on the food we love to eat. Living a sustainable life can be done for MUCH less than this if we made the effort... but we just want to eat fancy things haha.
I spend $30 every 6-8 weeks on my short uncoloured hair in Nova Scotia. I live alone so my grocery budget is about $400-600 month and that includes eating out and life products. The mortgage for my two bedroom mobile is considerably less as is the insurance. My car payment and insurance is more. I also have an electric bill, and internet and lot rent to pay. This is also in CAD.
The haircut twice a year that’s amazing! Some people pay that if not more once a month. Cut & colours go from that and upwards to $300. So good job Leah!
It blows my mind how expensive it is to have a roof in most places. Being “fortunate” to only spend 1k a month is wild to someone like me from small town Oklahoma
your food alone is like 9 months of my food budget! thats is so high! Im a uni student in Uk so yes i do budget my food a lot but still! Everything else is fine, dont judge the eating out much case i wish i could even do that, or switch it to other categories of expenses but just shocked how high your monthly expenses is as I was assumiung it was much lower. And Lea, I do my hair every 3-4months, bleach and dye so, ya good ;) ik woman haircuts alone are more expensive that men anyway. Haircut + bleach + dye is 100pounds and this is with student discount.
I get my hair cut and only half dyed once a year cause it costs $150 Australian. I don't understand the markup price for women's haircuts sometimes but can definitely sympathise with Leah that's why long hair is the go with me.
Canada sounds very expensive. We were living on credit cards when our rent was $780/month but now we bought a house and our mortgage is just under $400/month. I imagine wages must be higher to balance it out otherwise is homelessness more of a problem? You definitely make me feel better about my $330/month I've been spending on groceries since I got pregnant because I want to eat organic for my baby. It seemed like a lot but not compared to others. Thanks for sharing these videos, I find it very informative
Depending on their lender and the property management/HOA contract, taxes and utilities may be lumped into the mortgage payment. I lived in an apartment that included water, sewer, garbage, internet, and renter's insurance together, but have seen plenty that require tenants to arrange all utilities independently of management. It's possible that electricity is bundled into the rent payment, but I hope that isn't the case and they just forgot to add it in.
Just here in Kentucky being jealous of your healthcare system 💁🏻♀️ (But thankful to live in a place with lots of farms where it is not expensive or difficult to get local food!)
I think I spend about $250/year on my hair. I colour it myself and only get it cut twice a year. Still a significant amount though! I also am Canadian (Ottawa). My groceries are about the same but we almost never eat out. I love these videos! I find them really interesting, especially from other Canadians.
I always find haircuts to be so expensive for women. I live in Quebec and when I discovered that I could get my haircut for 25$ at Walmart and could just walk in without an appointment, I just started going there. They do a great job!
I'm surprised you've never had homeowners/renters insurance before! Having insurance is a requirement for most rentals here in NS and with the bank for your mortgage.
I think apartments in the US make you get renters insurance. My HOA makes me get house insurance and insurance for my items. Also, my haircuts are like twice a year for around $50. Hair dye- that’s like $100. 😂 but treat yourself
wow I don't eat out hardly ever so mine cost would be about $100.00 a month average since my husband will pick up sometimes and bring home. I am also Canadian. Groceries are so much better in summer since I go to farmers markets. I live by Goderich Ontario and Farmers markets are great. I am also vegetarian so that helps with cost. I keep groceries at about $100.00 per week. I don't drink alcohol so that helps the budget :)
I feel like the price for Leah's hair is actually pretty good (I'm assuming its for a trim and high lights?) especially only twice a year. When my mom had blonde hair she spent ~$200 keeping it up every three months.
I loved this video!!! I think this gives great insight into the actual cost of living as ethically and sustainably as possible, and I so appreciate you and Leah for being transparent about this side of your life. I love and live for this content. Please keep making videos like this.
Thanks for this comment and the compliments 🥰. Truth is we got lucky, we grew into our values together over time but joining volunteer organizations and hitting up your local farmers market is a great way to start! Thanks for all your support 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
Loved this! I went back to hear how much your hair costs again! I spend about the equivalent of $12 every 2 months.... but I don't do anything fancy except maybe twice a year which is about $50....
My hair is $400 AUD once every 8 weeks. Naturally my hair colour is dishwater blonde and looks awful if I leave it. I hate that it's so expensive but have had experiences when I have had the same process done at salons that don't know what they are doing.
Thanks for the honest break down of your monthly expenses. Did I miss or you forgot utilities (electricity, internet, mobile plan, vpn and other services)? We're a young family with 2 kids and two adults living abroad in what is considered an expensive country for groceries and just everything and our food+drink is much less. We buy healthy food and have the best budget/sustainable/healthy ratio we can find here. I know the west coast of canada is one of most expensive place to live and for groceries (by experience) but where we are now is known to be more. I would love to understand how you can buy and eat for that much. An idea is to do a like the show eat well for less type of video; the format is very educative. We could learn about your habits while you see if you can be even more budget friendly. 🤠
Wow... ballers! As someone in insurance, that's really high! I know strata insurance in BC has gone up lots, but that amount seems VERY high. You should ask your broker to shop around or consider dropping your limits coverage and cut out some of the extra fluff. Your alcohol spend seems high and this is coming from a sommelier. I don't think I spent that much on average except a few months when I was prepping to for my certification as we got closer to the test. My bank account was happy when I finally passed! As was my liver... Groceries sound high, but there's 2 of you. I don't think I'm too far off but it's just me. PS- thanks for making me feel old. 😐
LOVED how fun you made this video!!! But how did you spend so much money on eating out?? And food?? Please do a deeper dive into the food. And yes LOVE the scrunchie!
I spend about 25-30% of your food budget in a combo of eating out and groceries. I'm also curious about how many meals you could make on like a sub $50 budget for example - more like what Budget Eats over on Delish does - buying food that's marked as discount/on the verge of food waste in grocery stores - which is another way to contribute to saving the planet (preventing food waste)
Yeah there’s definitely a budget version of our lifestyle which I think we lived for the years we were in university. Probably in the 500-600 a month range? Might be worth a follow up video
TO CLARIFY!!! This is all in CAD which is about 15% less than the US dollar. We also have more expensive food here in Canada compared to other countries because we don't subsidize certain industries as much as others so this will be different depending on which country we are living in. Also... talking about money can be weird but we're just trying to be transparent with our money. Hopefully it's helpful or interesting for you!
I'm a hair dresser . If she's getting a cut, color, And style it could run from about $150(short average thickness of hair)- $550 (long thick hair). There are a lot of things that play a roll in price but just for an idea.
I know you mentioned you have privilege, but even converted to USD you spent almost $1700 on food/beverages. My state has a pretty high minimum wage at $11.50/hr, so after taxes someone at minimum would take home less than you spent on consumables. Pretty hard to pitch this lifestyle as attainable/adoptable for anyone who isn’t in a higher tax bracket.
No offense, but you have a lot of money...I on the other hand am poor. My yearly income is roughly $9500.oo per year.
I do my best to only buy eco-friendly products, and such. That is a lot of money to spend in one month! Please make some budget friendly suggestions i.e. under $250 per month expenses.
ohh okay makes sense !
hahah i was like daaaamn haha
@@lacybookworm5039 they own a condo in Victoria BC maybe look up what that means. These people have money, and are just the stereotype of Patagonia wearing yuppies of van island. I’d love for them to discuss like the LITERAL opioid and homeless crisis in their town instead of this fake low waste stuff
I think Ramit Sethi says it best, quoting loosely: “Spend lavishly on what you value, cut mercilessly on what you don’t.” Enjoy the growlers!
Yes! Haha I love this!
“It’s summertime & pleasure is…. important.” The most Leah quote that has ever existed.
I'm not all that surprised. What the most surprising thing is, for these days, is that you had no payments for debt reduction, other than the mortgage. That in itself is impressive!! Also, we put our money into our priorities. The fact you put it into good quality locally sourced food shows you live by what you preach! Plus you don't buy medications so the food can be looked at as a preventable measures in health care costs. Well done!! :)
That’s a great point too! We’re very healthy (knock on wood). We are very lucky to have graduated with very little debt and we’re able to pay it off fairly quickly. We never take that for granted!
As a student, budgeting in a jar is such a *chef's kiss* idea.
Yeah I also found that you spend less when you literally watch the money leave your hand everytime you buy somthing haha
And to have a set amount of money every time you leave the house prevents those impulse buys!
I just graduated and did this through college, it's a very effective way to budget!
@@LeahandLevi research backs up your statement. lowering the friction of spending makes it way easier. thats why theres tap for cards and casinos use chips
I'm not blown away by your spending, but I am blown away that you don't know around what you spent each month! :o Great video! Thanks for sharing things that lots of people aren't comfortable sharing. Break the stigma for talking about money!
When my husband and I moved to a new city and got pretty good paying jobs for the first time in our relationship, we ate out almost every night because we were so excited to do it!
Didn't have a bed or a couch, but damn we ate well!
I think there's a time and a place for that! Maybe not every month but when it feels right you know?
@@LeahandLevi for sure! Spend money on things you value and at the time we valued Jinya over a bed haha.
I think it would be interesting to see you guys do a zero-waste/local frugal food challenge for yourselves just to see what it looks like to be more mindful of money when it comes to food. You guys spend more on food in one month than I make in one paycheck, I think it would be interesting to see how accessible shopping zero-waste/local/farmers markets is for someone who maybe only can afford to spend 10-15% of what you guys do.
I would love to see a graham Stephan reaction now 😂
Wait for it, Canadian Money
@@andreaimbesi7493 hahaha omg I love it
Needs to happen
@@andreaimbesi7493 🤣
I was so shocked to hear what you spend in a month for only 2 people.. thoughts on doing this every month, comparing and trying to reduce your spending each month?
Leah pulls off the cute grandma style/librarian so well ... so jelly 😫 ❤
This was interesting. That may seem like a lot of money for food but my philosophy is - if food is what you enjoy, if you can afford it, if you're not going into debt with it, then enjoy it.
That’s our philosophy!
I appreciate the transparency on your finances. Money talk is so taboo and awkward, but talking about it and sharing individual experiences and learning from each other, makes all of us better with our own personal money habits.
“You manage what you measure!!” Tracking one’s expenses is tedious, but it is a valuable learning experience. I track my expenses, and will continue to do so as it keeps me on my toes and makes me a conscious consumer… one needs to be conscious of how many hair scrunchies they buy 😂. Great video Levi… thanks so much, keep ‘em coming 🌎💦🌀Ⓜ️ary
Levi: How much are you saving for future expenses, emergency & investments? That should be a large amount in your youth to set yourself up for the future & carry forward what your family did for you.
Yeah we have this in mind and we have been very conscious to save where we can. We are fortunate that our expenses are much lower during the winter months and we don't own a car. 👍🏻
You spent more eating out than I spend on groceries every month, for a family of 3. And then add your grocery budget on top of that. You must be eating gold leaf organic everything. Mine is also in Canadian dollars.
I know, that’s what I thought too!
Zero waste, local and minimally processed is sadly very expensive 😢
Are you from the same area of Canada though? It can still vary a lot.
My point was they eat from restaurants a lot. They could easily reduce their food costs if they felt like it, and still continue to eat organic, local, and zero waste.
@@SymonSays oh yeah, for sure. Eating out adds up *really* quickly. But I think when people ask the question “Is eating zero waste affordable?” they’re mostly thinking of the grocery bill, not the eating out bill.
Fellow Canadian here: Grocery costs have gone up ALOT. Shopping ethically and sustainably and inherently more expensive but even baseline groceries have increased quite a bit. Between my partner and I we used to spend maybe 200$ on groceries per month. We're now spending around $400 all over the course of the last 1.5 years. If we shopped ethically and sustainable it would probably land us around $600. It's been kind of crazy to see a cost that we used to manage easily increase significantly to the point where it actually causes concern.
Thanks for elaborating on this. We have also seen that increase. I think that the cost of food will increase consistently form now on as our environment continues to struggle.
"I'm an enthusiast" is going to be my new go-to explaination for when people ask me about my love for alcohol 😂😂😂 I'm honestly very surprised at your expenses, especially for food. could it be that because of the climate in Canada food is more expensive to produce? I don't think I spend that much on food in 6 months in Italy, and I buy mostly organic produce, and when it's not organic I buy locally farmed. anyhow, very interesting video!!
Yeah food in Canada is more expensive because we are a huge country and we have to import most of the stuff we eat. We also have a lot more health regulations than the states so 🤷🏻♂️
Levi and Leah are also shopping at more expensive places. I can gaurantee that if you went to a discount grocery store and bought from the flyer it would be at least 80-85% of the cost for comparable items -- no fancy bread or artesan goods though. All national and store brands.
@@99leadpencils Yes that might be the case, I know for sure that I buy from a store that is more expensive than discount because it sells only organic produce, but still to me a lot of the prices there seem absolutely reasonable, even though I'm on a student budget. Italy is also the country with the highest biodiversity in Europe so that might contribute to the lower prices as well.
I use the excuse "hobby gone wild" when I explain my love and passion of wine, but I did get 2 certifications out of it. Yay to having a back up career!
I have been cutting my own and my families hair for years now, BUT I do have a salon and a barber shop next door to my business. In our small town, for a woman, it would cost between $35-$40 for a wash, cut and dry (not blow out or anything else fancy) and for men hot towel shave and a haircut is $35-40 also.
FOR THE PLANET!!!!!
As a young adult this was great! And I can totally relate to being privileged when it comes to buying local foods if they are available or even shopping in earth hero. I wish buying organic could be normalized and something that anyone could afford!
Anyway, in short you both are amazing and j just look forward to all the videos you make Levi! Thanks for having my in the team 😎 and all of you who read this, you are great too!
Haha this is such a lovely comment Ediel! Thanks for taking the time to type this up! Have a great day 🙋🏻♂️
We usually spend between $400-600 on groceries and another $100-200 on eating out. It’s just my husband and I. We do shop locally as much as we can and by mostly organic produce. I just started growing some of my own herbs this year as they were getting more snd more expensive and I have been enjoying it.
“Sometimes I’m not nice” hilarious!
well turns out 5000 canadian dollars are only € 3364,81 euros, which is actually not thaaaaat much for two hard working people to spend in a month! was a bit shocked at first haha
I oddly feel validated by this video… when my partner and I became debt free and moved, our expenses went up as well. Food is also going up by at least 5% with the production delays from COVID. Love that your spending within your values as well.
“We’re not alkie’s here, we’re enthusiasts.” I love you two. LOLOLOL
Thank you for sharing.
I live in CA and my rent (not mortgage) is almost double the mortgage that you pay, which is insane! Also, everyone can choose what to spend their money on. I love that you choose to spend it on good food because we’re the same.
I live in the same city as them, and their mortgage is insanely low. Me and my husband lived in a low income complex and rent was $1550.
Love how transparent you are in terms of money! And to Leah, loved the hair and the scrunchie, totally worth it.
You should also put together emergency funds and retirement funds as well
Wow! Your grocery and eating out is so much money. We thought we were spending a lot with $400-500 per month for groceries. This year we joined a CSA where we paid $550 for 8 months of weekly veggie pickups, and I get the rest at the farmer's market in the summer and the grocery store in the winter. On restaurants we spend about $300 per month, alcohol about $150. We live in Langley, BC.
Yes the CSA is what we've gotta get on next! I've been wanting to try that for ages!
What is CSA?
@@kelseyadler5812 Sorry I should have explained :) CSA is community supported agriculture. Usually how it works is you pay a farm upfront at the start of the year for produce (and eggs/meat sometimes) for their whole growing season, then you pick up or have delivered a portion of seasonal food every week. We get a bag weekly from March to October. Its been really eye opening to learn how to truly eat local and seasonally. We sometimes struggle to eat through all the veggies in one week so I freeze what I can for the next winter. For us it worked out much less expensive than buying veggies weekly, as long as we don't cave to cravings and buy extra produce on top of it.
I've been keeping my finances in check for few years already, it's not so much work as people think (I need to input everything I buy each day) and it helped me to make adjustments that make a big difference on the wallet while still living quite comfortably. After doing this for a few years, it's really amazing to see the progress year after year as well. I suggest to everyone to do this, just get a simple app on your phone and keep adding your bills there daily!
Yes, there are people who pay to get their hair done weekly. My mom use to have my sister and my hair done monthly. The price can get very steep with the type and thickness of hair you have, as well. Let's not forget about weaves, braids and wigs. Getting braids and weaves, you have to pay for the hair, as well as the someone to install them. If you can do them yourself or know someone who will do it for free, you have an advantage.
That's so interresting! I live in the province of Quebec and I spent like 500$ Restaurant, Alcohol and grocery combine. And I am out of my budget because I was on vacation. I got the feeling that BC is more expensive! To be fair, I ate a lot of food of my garden. I love those kind of videos! Continue your amazing work!
Great perspective from a fellow Canadian! I feel like we’re kind of living a vacation at home right now during the restrictions haha
This was great! While I know it isn't seen as an "expense," I include savings in my monthly expenses because it is money that is "going out." This breakdown gives an illusion that you don't save o.o;
Yes! and I would love to know what their income is as well!
Good for you guys for being super honest about how expensive this lifestyle is! I won't say I haven't felt a bit frustrated in the past when you share your zero waste shopping videos and use the word "affordable" in the video. As a resident in Victoria, I would love for the price of these products to come down - though I recognize this is the true cost of production in Canada is very high. I think you can do sustainable options for less too, my partner and I shop at Superstore and they have a lot of Canadian in-season produce. Not local or organic, but definitely a more affordable option. We also order all local meat from Berryman Brothers. The least sustainable things we buy are pantry items, crackers, snacks, etc.
We budget very strictly and spend around $500/month on groceries and $150 per month on eating out. Considering the average family income in Victoria is ~$5,000/month and the average 1 bedroom rental is around $1,600/month, I think it would be really cool if you guys could do a video on balancing a realistic food budget and doing the best you can to both support local and environmental causes.
Yes this is a great comment. I think it would be cool to try and love this way on a budget to see what we can do 👍🏼
Love this idea for a video! Madeleine Olivia is good for cheap, delicious food inspiration
I have done food calculations and writing down EVERYTHING we spend since years ago. In Denmark - where people say its expensive to live - our household of 2 people + 1 cat, we spend a little less than what would be equivalent to 800 CAD on food a month on average, that is including eating out and my husbands alcohol (i dont drink though). Also we dont spend any money on haircuts, i cut my own and husbands hair for years :)
Thank youuuuuuuuuu. I was just trying to figure out my monthly expenses. This was very helpful
For my hair trim, highlights and eyebrows every 3 to 4 months is around $75 plus tip. Mine is pretty cheap compared to some people. I shaved half my head so it’ll probably be cheaper this time around 😂
She also blow dries and straightens my hair and puts serums and heat protectant on my hair as well. I live in a small town in Ohio, USA, though so that also can vary from price depending on location and service! Xx
I hope I helped a bit! P.s. my favorite UA-cam power couple besides Shelbizleee and Madison 🥺💕✨
I'm in the UK 🇬🇧 so I spent £400 on hair a year and a month on food is £400+ for 2 adults and 1 child plus cat 🙀. I found this type of video interesting so thanks!
That’s interesting! Also the pound is about double the CAD so bear that in mind lol
Great Budget tip about the jar. Wish you could make a video about more things y’all did when you had a college budget.
As for hair, I hear that spending a lot of $$$ is normal, but I don't spend anything! My Grammie cuts my hair 2-3 times a year :)
Hair care cost near Los Angeles: Once my hair started to go grey, I touch up my hair color ever 6 weeks for $100 and have my hair cut and highlights added 2 times a year for $200.
Part of the reason I went bald
In north SFV of LA, I pay $110 for root touch ups but I go every three weeks. Cuts are $65. Twice yearly hilites $165. This is pretty standard unless you go to WeHo or West LA.
Oh not me. I'm waiting for that gray hair to come. I want a streak. I haven't paid for a haircut in years!!
Oh i can't stand those prices. I just don't dye my hair and cut it twice a year. That's so much money! (I know i know to each their own but it pains me) lol
Id love a video like this every month!
Loved this video! Thank you so much for being honest with your viewers on this topic since unfortunately it can be one that people have a lot of opinions about. I would love to see a video about how you track your expenses or budget if you do. That is a tough area for me because I hate tracking individual transactions so I am always interested in how other people do it in case one of those ideas happens to stick for me.
Your expenditure is totally fair! My husband and I personally invest in something else, but we spend almost the same.
I am almost sure that this is a fair amount for a couple with two salaries!
We spend on different stuff! Thanks for the comment!
they eat and drink two mortgages in a month and I used to think that spending over 500 dollars in a month on food for two people is way too much
My mom spends about $250 every 6 weeks on her hair for cut and color. It’s insane. I spend about $100 a year for one hair cut and I don’t color my hair.
You have to imagine that, say, 100-200 years ago, a large majority of people's monthly budget went towards food or food-producing things, probably close to 70%. The fact that there are low-cost options that allow people to spend their money elsewhere is a big breakthrough. But high-quality foods, you're probably right, you probably are paying a fair price for those if you are living in a city.
I spend $300 in total, for all my food and drinks in a month for myself, my son and any dates I have over. And I do it mostly local/sustainably.
So 1200 for groceries alone, to me, is the absolute craziest thing I've ever heard.
I've had a spreadsheet with every dollar I spend that I update weekly since high school (I know, very type a lmao) so it's so interesting seeing Leah guess at your expenses. Great video as always Levi, talking about money is so important and interesting!!
Woah that’s awesome. I’m not that cool but I respect the hustle haha 😎
Hair cut prices: I used to go to a local lady and got a hair cut for $20us for long hair (scissors) or $15us for short hair (clippers)
I have learned to cut my own and my family’s hair. This has saved us several hundreds of dollars over the last 10 years. Take your time and don’t expect perfection for your first self-haircuts. UA-cam how to videos and take a chance. If you go for a trim rather than a huge cut, you can go to a stylist to fix it if you had too.
Leah, I’m here for you! Least expensive for cut and colour has been around $170ish….most expensive…..I was in the chair for about 5 hours, but it was about $500 & I know that’s a regular expense for some 😳 (I’m in Vancouver, but not shocked at the Victoria cost).
$500 is unreal… you could pay rent for that in some circumstances 😳
I've not had a professional haircut in at least 5 years - my partner cuts my hair for free :-)
I think that spending that much on food when you enjoy it and can support locally and sustainably, isn't that outrageous. You're eating a variety of things from different places and that can get expensive. I'm sure you could spend a lot less but enjoy it a lot less too. I like that you look at food like an event and not just something to eat. This was interesting! And made me feel better about the $900 I spend on food for the 2 of us for a month.
Want to get your hair done? Go for it! It's self care and makes you happy. Who cares what others think.
I never felt so poor 😂 What you're spending equlas FIVE months of my salary, and I'm supposed to be in the top 10% in my country😂 To be fair, I live in eastern Europe so life is SIGNIFICALLY cheaper lol (never realised how much of a differnece there is). That was super interesting! Thanks guys!
My wife spent about $80 for a wash and cut with a frizz treatment, but it was only because her hair got really long during COVID. (Our daughter’s hair cut is usually about half that. I cut my own hair because I’ve never had a good hair cut done by someone else.)
Thank you for sharing these numbers! Could you do a challenge for a week or a month trying to do zero waste grocery shopping with a smaller budget?
I’m loving this idea so maybe! 🤞🏼
I would be interested in seeing a break down of what you guy buy/spend on food items. My family of 4 has been trying to reduce our waste and when I break down our food costs it's almost 3 times less than what you spend.
I think it largely comes down to where we shop. We shop almost exclusively at zero waste grocery stores and farmers' markets. This is very expensive in Canada. 🤷🏻♂️
@@LeahandLevi thats what I figured. I live in Washington where we have lots of access to local produce, but we don't have any local zero waste shops near us.
Obviously money is no object, $180 haircut, over a thousand bucks on groceries, another $1000 plus on eating out and booze... living your best life!!
This is why so many people aren't working on saving the planet, that kind of grocery bill just isn't realist.
As I mentioned at the end, this is us living our best life and spending what we want on the food we love to eat. Living a sustainable life can be done for MUCH less than this if we made the effort... but we just want to eat fancy things haha.
ok but then the title is misleading…!! 😳
I spend $30 every 6-8 weeks on my short uncoloured hair in Nova Scotia. I live alone so my grocery budget is about $400-600 month and that includes eating out and life products. The mortgage for my two bedroom mobile is considerably less as is the insurance. My car payment and insurance is more. I also have an electric bill, and internet and lot rent to pay. This is also in CAD.
The haircut twice a year that’s amazing! Some people pay that if not more once a month. Cut & colours go from that and upwards to $300. So good job Leah!
😳 I find that mind boggling...
It blows my mind how expensive it is to have a roof in most places. Being “fortunate” to only spend 1k a month is wild to someone like me from small town Oklahoma
Great video. Tracking the expenses has been the key for my family to live mode on less and save a lot of money.
Yes absolutely! We learned a ton from this one 👍🏼
I’m very curious what you bought for groceries for an entire month now.
Would be an interresting videos!
Might be a future video! 🧐👍🏼
Also did any of it go to waste.
Not very often! We’re very careful about what we buy 👍🏼
Your eating out expense made me feel like my partner and I's more justifiable. Haha thanks!
I spent about 50 euros on a clipper and hair scissors one time and now I don't spend money on hair maintenance anymore! I'm lucky I like it short :D
your food alone is like 9 months of my food budget! thats is so high! Im a uni student in Uk so yes i do budget my food a lot but still!
Everything else is fine, dont judge the eating out much case i wish i could even do that, or switch it to other categories of expenses but just shocked how high your monthly expenses is as I was assumiung it was much lower.
And Lea, I do my hair every 3-4months, bleach and dye so, ya good ;) ik woman haircuts alone are more expensive that men anyway. Haircut + bleach + dye is 100pounds and this is with student discount.
Yes we spent very little during our uni days as well! But also, CAD to the British pound is almost half lol
@@LeahandLevi Oh right, totally forgot that detail. Is just shocking to see how high just living can be in other places, prices can be insane.
Leah.... I'm not always nice. Levi and the rest of us🤣🤣🤣🤣😂.
I get my hair cut and only half dyed once a year cause it costs $150 Australian. I don't understand the markup price for women's haircuts sometimes but can definitely sympathise with Leah that's why long hair is the go with me.
Canada sounds very expensive. We were living on credit cards when our rent was $780/month but now we bought a house and our mortgage is just under $400/month. I imagine wages must be higher to balance it out otherwise is homelessness more of a problem?
You definitely make me feel better about my $330/month I've been spending on groceries since I got pregnant because I want to eat organic for my baby. It seemed like a lot but not compared to others.
Thanks for sharing these videos, I find it very informative
About £2500UK a month is pretty average for many parts of the UK, I'd be happy with that budget.
I love Earth Hero!!! I use them so often. & I also look there first noe before I buy something to see if they have a sustainable option 😊
Earth hero is great. I bought their wood dish drying racks.
I go for a haircut once a year, just wash, dry, cut, no brushing for 40 ish dollars.
Just wondering if I’ve missed expenses like electricity, water, city taxes etc? Or did you somehow include that in your mortgage?
Depending on their lender and the property management/HOA contract, taxes and utilities may be lumped into the mortgage payment. I lived in an apartment that included water, sewer, garbage, internet, and renter's insurance together, but have seen plenty that require tenants to arrange all utilities independently of management. It's possible that electricity is bundled into the rent payment, but I hope that isn't the case and they just forgot to add it in.
Just here in Kentucky being jealous of your healthcare system 💁🏻♀️
(But thankful to live in a place with lots of farms where it is not expensive or difficult to get local food!)
My wife is a hair stylist and she has a regular clientele. Many of them get their hair done every 4-6 weeks.
I’ve learned something today! 😂
Yeah, i spend about €150 euros every 3 months . I don’t think 180 twice a year is bad and her hair looks great!!
I think I spend about $250/year on my hair. I colour it myself and only get it cut twice a year. Still a significant amount though! I also am Canadian (Ottawa). My groceries are about the same but we almost never eat out. I love these videos! I find them really interesting, especially from other Canadians.
Leah and her scrunchie cracks me up. I wish I could pull off scrunchies as well as her 😂😅
I always find haircuts to be so expensive for women. I live in Quebec and when I discovered that I could get my haircut for 25$ at Walmart and could just walk in without an appointment, I just started going there. They do a great job!
Whoa! So much on restaurants, groceries and alcohol! 😬😬😬
I'm surprised you've never had homeowners/renters insurance before! Having insurance is a requirement for most rentals here in NS and with the bank for your mortgage.
I think it’s just “recommended” here or perhaps I was just subletting so maybe I didn’t have to deal with it?
@@LeahandLevi maybe?! 🤷♀️
Another great video Levi! Thank you for sharing!
I think apartments in the US make you get renters insurance. My HOA makes me get house insurance and insurance for my items.
Also, my haircuts are like twice a year for around $50. Hair dye- that’s like $100. 😂 but treat yourself
wow I don't eat out hardly ever so mine cost would be about $100.00 a month average since my husband will pick up sometimes and bring home. I am also Canadian. Groceries are so much better in summer since I go to farmers markets. I live by Goderich Ontario and Farmers markets are great. I am also vegetarian so that helps with cost. I keep groceries at about $100.00 per week. I don't drink alcohol so that helps the budget :)
I personally get my hair cut and styled every 3ish months for $30-40 USD plus tip
This was an enjoyable and fun video.
I'd be curious to see how much you saved too. Great video 😊
I feel like the price for Leah's hair is actually pretty good (I'm assuming its for a trim and high lights?) especially only twice a year. When my mom had blonde hair she spent ~$200 keeping it up every three months.
This was very insightful! Thank you for being so transparent 😊
I loved this video!!! I think this gives great insight into the actual cost of living as ethically and sustainably as possible, and I so appreciate you and Leah for being transparent about this side of your life. I love and live for this content. Please keep making videos like this.
Thanks for this comment and the compliments 🥰. Truth is we got lucky, we grew into our values together over time but joining volunteer organizations and hitting up your local farmers market is a great way to start! Thanks for all your support 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
I do not, but that definitely is a realistic cost for hair...I stopped coloring because holy cow...money
Loved this! I went back to hear how much your hair costs again! I spend about the equivalent of $12 every 2 months.... but I don't do anything fancy except maybe twice a year which is about $50....
Hi Levi! Could you make a video showing a breakdown of a typical shopping trip and how much everything costs individually?
We’ve made a video about our zero waste grocery haul which is basically that! 👍🏼
My hair is $400 AUD once every 8 weeks. Naturally my hair colour is dishwater blonde and looks awful if I leave it. I hate that it's so expensive but have had experiences when I have had the same process done at salons that don't know what they are doing.
Thanks for the honest break down of your monthly expenses. Did I miss or you forgot utilities (electricity, internet, mobile plan, vpn and other services)?
We're a young family with 2 kids and two adults living abroad in what is considered an expensive country for groceries and just everything and our food+drink is much less. We buy healthy food and have the best budget/sustainable/healthy ratio we can find here. I know the west coast of canada is one of most expensive place to live and for groceries (by experience) but where we are now is known to be more. I would love to understand how you can buy and eat for that much. An idea is to do a like the show eat well for less type of video; the format is very educative. We could learn about your habits while you see if you can be even more budget friendly. 🤠
Wow... ballers!
As someone in insurance, that's really high! I know strata insurance in BC has gone up lots, but that amount seems VERY high. You should ask your broker to shop around or consider dropping your limits coverage and cut out some of the extra fluff.
Your alcohol spend seems high and this is coming from a sommelier. I don't think I spent that much on average except a few months when I was prepping to for my certification as we got closer to the test. My bank account was happy when I finally passed! As was my liver...
Groceries sound high, but there's 2 of you. I don't think I'm too far off but it's just me.
PS- thanks for making me feel old. 😐
LOVED how fun you made this video!!! But how did you spend so much money on eating out?? And food?? Please do a deeper dive into the food. And yes LOVE the scrunchie!
voiceover at 13:25 lol. A reel of bloopers would be awesome Levi.
I spend about 25-30% of your food budget in a combo of eating out and groceries.
I'm also curious about how many meals you could make on like a sub $50 budget for example - more like what Budget Eats over on Delish does - buying food that's marked as discount/on the verge of food waste in grocery stores - which is another way to contribute to saving the planet (preventing food waste)
Yeah there’s definitely a budget version of our lifestyle which I think we lived for the years we were in university. Probably in the 500-600 a month range? Might be worth a follow up video