For all intents and purposes, I should not be able to afford housing at all, which makes me a bit fortunate even to call somewhere my home.
Unfortunately, that is where the fortune ends when it comes to living at this apartment complex. It is very cheap to live here, but I wouldn't call it a deal for the amount of money you are paying.
It is apparent from a quick look around the premises that this place hasn't seen upkeep in many years. A noticeable amount of the roof shingles have fallen off, the walls that have been painted over probably 50 times throughout its lifetime are crumbling and breaking with the slightest pressure, and the lights that, although on, are the cheapest and dimmest ones you probably can find on the market.
The place is as bland as you can for a low-income apartment complex.
As much as the place itself is bland, the individuals who call these apartments home make me seem like an upstanding citizen with all my issues; it makes for an interesting living place.
As I go up the stairs, I can see kids running up and down the stairs, people smoking outside in the cold air and screaming and yelling in some of these apartments. People are just returning from work as it is about 5:30 in the evening, so the corridors seem to teem with life about now.
It will return to being quiet in the next hour or so when people have had their fill of... whatever they are doing.
I usually don't return to the apartments around this time anymore, usually not returning till 9ish, so seeing this atmosphere, although seemingly unappealing, was a sight for sore eyes.
As I finally got to my door, I could tell my roommate hadn't been there all day either, as the mail cover was filled and not emptied.
«Sounds about right.»
I unlock the door and try to open the door. A loud creaking and a hard-to-open door later, I was finally inside the apartment.
«I keep forgetting to get WD-40 for the door; I'll make sure to get that later. Not that I can afford it right now...»
I stopped thinking about that for now, though, as my mood plummeted even further when I looked down.
Bills, a whole lot of bills. On top of that, I see a letter with the official Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) logo, with my name on it...
I couldn't help but give a sigh as I closed the door behind me and picked up the letters on the doormat. Afterward, I walked over to the half wall separating the kitchen from the living room, plopping the letters on the counter.
I leaned on the half wall over the letters for a moment. I rubbed my eyes in exhaustion for a moment before I finally decided to face reality again.
I first separated the pile:
«Mine, mine, his, his, his... is this a porno mag ad? Bro, Chris, what are you signing up for? Okay, this is his, mine, mine.»
After placing all his letters with the rest of his stuff, I had my pile of letters.
Might as well start with the familiar.
The first 3 letters were all the bills required for the apartment.
«Guess I will have to ask Chris for him to cover my half again.»
Chris is my roommate and a friend who went through a situation similar to mine. However, he got the better side of the stick compared to me.
He did not have nearly as bad of a relationship with his parents as I did; both of his parents are still together. The only reason he was kicked out of his parent's house at 18 was because they believed their children should be more independent.
They still helped him by starting him off with a nice job opening because they were friends with the owner.
On top of that, he started to date this pretty well-off, kinda spoiled girlfriend and has seldom shown his face back at the apartment since. He has been staying at her nice condo in West Hamilton in Westdale, where she attends university.
I'm not complaining; he still pays for the rent here.
«It's half off, full lonely. Guess that's a fair deal.»
After pushing the apartment bills out of my mind, I looked at the CRA letter. This probably isn't any good.
Fighting against the urge to just ignore it, I opened the letter.
How in the hell is this my taxes due?
「$1,268.71 past due, $58.45 late fee.
New Total: $1,327.16
Due Date: April 30th」
I've barely got $1.18 in my account. And I do not even have the guts for the overdraft fee. How will I pay that much in a little over a month?
For the nth time today, I can't help but audibly sigh in exhaustion and disbelief.
"This can not be right..." I very audibly whisper.
I plop the letter on the table and keep it there. I will figure out something later... Hopefully.
I walked past the half wall and walked over to the fridge, hoping to sate my hunger a bit.
Nice, it is loaded: a whole half an onion and some expired sauce!
I slam the fridge door close.
«Guess it's time for my daily gourmet: one-and-a-half stale crackers and personal dignity. Oh, and the water, can't forget the water.»
After a bit of time eating month-old crackers, I feel dirty and want to take a shower, but I am too tired to even do that.
I walked over to the sink, turned on the water, splashed my head and face, and took off my shirt, throwing it at the end of my mattress on the floor on the other side of the half wall.
«I need a nap...»
As I am about to lay down for a quick 15-minute nap, I remind myself to open up my laptop on the study desk and power it on.
It will take 10 minutes to boot anyway; I might as well nap while it does.
I walk to the foot of my mattress and fall backward like I'm about to do a backboard pool performance, plopping onto my thin, half-covered sweat mattress.
As I was finally laid out on the mattress, I felt all my built-up stress and wakefulness wash away, and I started to drift off to sleep faster than ever.
"Rock bottom never felt so soft."
{---[==={}===]---}
GASPS
I launch out of bed with a start.
Panic rose in my stomach.
I feel well-rested - It is a feeling I have not felt in a long time, nor do I want to, considering how busy I like to keep myself.
However, just as fast as that panic appeared - it washed away like cold water when I finally rationalized it. It was a false alarm—there was nothing to be late for anymore, and I had nothing to do but start looking for a new job.
I sat upright, momentarily catching my breath and trying to lower my elevated heartbeat. I looked at my shirt, all slick with sweat, and I felt like I was drowning in condensation.
«How long was I out? The last time I slept like this was after coming back from middle school. Where is my water bottle?»
I glance around my mattress side area and find my half-finished room-temperature water bottle next to me, and I guzzle it down like I was a fish out of water. All things considered, this was the best gulp of water I have had in a long time.
After that sated thirst, I looked around for my phone. I checked the time, scared it was already the morning, considering I usually come back around 9 or 10pm, I didn't put my body past it.
7:49pm
February 16th, 2025
Very unexpected, but not unwanted, I suddenly felt like I had gained time in my day.
Fully invigorated from my super power nap, a little longer than I wanted it to be, but apparently, I needed it, and still having a few hours left in the day, I felt a bit more motivated to search for a new job. Regarding the situation I find myself in, God knows I need it.
I stood up, found my work desk chair, and plopped down. Self-examining, I might need a shower right now - I look and feel disgusting right now - but I don't really need to go anywhere, and I don't have the money to do so anyhow. So it felt like a waste of time, which I already feel like I gained from the nap.
«Disgusting, but sue me. Oh, wait, sue me for what? I don't even have the money to give you.»
I looked at the laptop screen that I turned on before I napped. Oh, it looked like it had a forced Windows update; who would have thought.
Thankfully I had a longer nap then; this piece of shit probably took the whole time I took a nap updating.
Although I always complain about this laptop, and I criticize it almost every day for being such a slow and miserable machine, it is my lifeline for searching for jobs due to the job search capabilities that the internet provides.
«And, I got it for one dollar from that cranky old grandma anyways. Beggars can't be choosers!»
It sounds like a jet engine about to take off any moment - and I had to smack the side of the display for it to stop flickering on and off, but it is my baby, and I love it so much. Even if it is a bunch of malarky and challenging to start.
I logged in, and after about 3 minutes of it loading up and becoming functional, I could run Google Chrome - my favorite browser.
「Search: welding jobs hiring in Hamilton Ontario」 - enter
"Show me the money baby-"
Search result: 6 results
"fuuuuuuuuck..."
I looked down, and 3 of the six were the job postings for the position I was just going for that they still haven't taken down. The other 3 were ones I considered before, but are like 16 miles of transport daily.
«Two months of training, and I still can't land one single gig. Either I'm the problem, or this whole welding system is fucked.»
Well, I have to resort to some quick cash options until I can get on my feet and finally go for welding jobs. I can wait. I'm still young.
「Search: quick ways to make money in Ontario」 - enter
Search result: 96,580 results
"That is what I am talking about!"
However, when I started looking, the first page looked like many pyramid schemes and were downright just shady scammy-type websites.
I looked at some YouTube results, but they all said the same thing and many of them were just trying to sell some sort of fuckass class for like $499. No life cucks- no, I'll be the better person.
mhmmm...
「Search: quick ways to make money in OntarioReddit」 - enter
Search result: 101 results
More manageable.
I started doom-scrolling the Reddit threads and saw some good ideas that got me interested. However, I quickly realized I needed some starting capital and a car to transport myself. So, no can do.
I look back down at my phone.
9:23pm
"shit..."
I wasted 2 hours and gained virtually nothing from it. This is useless; let me just get on Indeed-
«Wait, last check.»
「Search: ways to reduce taxesCRAReddit」 - enter
Search result: 6 results.
Lower than I was expecting - however, there are still some results.
Unfortunately, all the results came from only 2 threads. 1 was posted 4 years ago asking for some help on how to lower the taxes he has to pay, similar to what I am wondering. This one got no reply, and the guy behind the account apparently got banned at some point.
The other thread, however, got an exciting answer, which was not related to the question itself but an answer that caught my attention.
「/r/PersonalFinanceCanada • 2 yr. ago」
「FrechLightningIII」
「What are some ways to ethically reduce taxes I pay to the CRA in Canada?」
There were 4 replies below, 2 of which came from the owner of the thread itself; just saying thanks for the replies.
Reply 1: be rich lol
It was not helpful, but it was not wrong, I guess.
However, the second reply found the ball rolling.
Reply 2: I only had to pay about $212 in taxes this year thanks to being a Diver. Gamble your life kids it cool 😎
"A Diver? Wait, isn't that those fools that parade around like celebrities and play hero?"
"They're so rich, why the fuck are they paying so little taxes!?"
{---[==={}===]---}