I earn $100K – and I was better off financially making minimum wage

A Canadian woman who earns nearly $100,000 a year has claimed that she was better off financially when she was making minimum wage in 2012. 

Sam Breezie, 32, from Langley, British Columbia, has more than 110,000 followers on TikTok, where she shares stories about her life. 

The content creator, who uses the handle @sam.breezie, went viral this week after breaking down her salary and cost of living over a decade ago compared to now. 

‘The cost of living in 2023 is so bad that I’m pretty sure I actually was better off financially when I was making minimum wage in 2012 versus me making almost $100,000 today,’ she said at the start of the video. 

Sam explained that she used to live with a roommate in a two-bedroom apartment that cost $700 per month 11 years ago. 

They paid $350 each for rent and another $100 for utilities. She also spent roughly $100 to $150 a month on groceries. 

She estimated that she made somewhere between $1,300 and $1,400 at her minimum-wage job.  

‘After all of my expenses and necessities, I had so much money left over. I mean, not like a lot of money, but like several hundred dollars left over,’ she recalled. 

‘I was able to go out to eat multiple times per week. I mean, nothing fancy, but I was still able to go out,’ she clarified. ‘I was able to go shopping. I really liked buying makeup and clothes and I was able to do that.’

She noted in the on-screen text that she was also able to use her extra money to partially pay for college. 

‘Now, in 2023, I pay $3,300 a month for rent in British Columbia, obviously split in two, so I pay $1,650 of that,’ she said. 

Sam explained that she pays $200 to $300 a month for utilities and also has a student loan payment that is ‘several hundred dollars.’ 

‘I had to move outside the city, so now I have to have a car,’ she continued. ‘Gas prices are ridiculous. Car insurance in British Columbia… It adds up, and, obviously, I am making a decent salary. 

‘I can afford it, but I really feel like I had a lot more disposable income in 2012 when I was making minimum wage.’

‘If I had known that this is what 2023 was going to look like 10 years ago I would have skipped on going to school and just bought a house instead,’ she added in the caption.

Sam’s video has earned more than 150,000 views in just a few days and has received hundreds of comments. 

Many people could relate and recalled how much less they paid for rent and utilities in their younger years. 

‘This! Back only TEN years ago we were comfortable,’ one person replied. 

Someone else added: ‘In 2011, I made 34k and had my own apartment in the city, went shopping for fun all the time, and took 3 vacations that year…’

‘My friend and I were just talking about this!!! When I was making half what I make now in 2012/2013/2014 and I had expensive hobbies and shopped lol,’ another agreed.

Others claimed her struggles were due to a ‘lifestyle creep’ — a phenomenon in which making more money leads to more spending.

Sam hit back at the accusations in a follow-up video, saying the issue is that things are ‘quadruple’ the price they were a decade ago. 

She also argued that people shouldn’t shame her for taking out student loans to go to college because that’s what everyone told her to do.  

‘And you know what? It worked. I took out student loans, I got a degree, I got a job, and my job pays me what 10 years ago I knew was going to be a good salary. But that salary now no longer is what is needed to live comfortably,’ she explained. 

‘If I was making the salary I make today 10 years ago, I would have been able to buy a house. I would have been able to have a really, really, nice lifestyle,’ she continued. ‘But now it’s just enough money for me to pay my bills, get by, and not really do a whole lot extra.’ 

Sam noted that she is ‘in a lot better position than a lot of Canadians’ and she is ‘very grateful,’ but the point she was making is that ‘it shouldn’t take a nearly six-figure salary to just be able to exist.’