in some ways, this is a kind of a shitty analysis. but, maybe it's more realistic, too.

the fact is that i didn't have the choice to stay where i was - all i could do was make it expensive to get me out.

and, i've wasted a year, but i've now got the settlement i should have gotten in the first place, too.

so, i've been looking at percentages and inflation and calculating that i'd need to find a two bedroom for $700/month - inclusive - to be in the same situation i was in when i moved here. if i can get to that end point, i've lost nothing, in the end, except time - meaningful, but there's no value in complaining about it.

but, if i look at total dollars instead, it's a different computation.

i was initially getting about $1075, total, when i moved here. my hst checks were a few hundred dollars, and came in in the summer; i wasn't getting these monthly deposits. so, my total income was $1075...

the rent was $650 all inclusive. so, that's 61%.

then, i started getting the hst checks in monthly instalments the next summer, which brought my monthly income up to more like $1130. i decided that the hst checks were the way the government paid for my estrogen. but, $650/1130 is now 58%, which is where i'm getting these $700 numbers from.

but, even that's an exaggeration, isn't it? i wasn't budgeting that money, initially. i was planning on using it to buy wood to build furniture.

to be fair, if i'm going to use the 61% then i should also apply it to the pre-hst income, which is $1151 - and scales to $700, as well.

but, in practice, the change from a lump sum hst that i used as found money to a monthly check that i'm budgeting is very much an actual rate increase. so, i should be applying it to the $1215, or the $1230 in a few months - and that's almost $750, inclusive. but i've got free hydro, now, too...

so, that's really the more realistic calculation, percentage wise - $750 + hydro, or $750 all inclusive.

but, what about actual dollars?

i had budgeted $150 for food, initially. internet was about the same price. estrogen was more expensive. laundry was $20.

$1075 - 650 - 150 - 30 - 50 - 20 = $175.

and, i had $100 budgeted for cigarettes.

it was $75, left over.

by the time i moved out of this place, i was getting $1190 monthly, and i had quit smoking. it was more like $180/month, put aside.

if my income is now $1230, how much can i spend on rent (including utilities) to have $75 left over?

and the answer is $885.

but, the place had better be totally smoke free, because i'd essentially be taking the money i saved from not smoking and giving it to the landlord.

so, i applied somewhere yesterday for $850 + hydro, assuming i wouldn't pay hydro for at least a few years. and, i can see that that's actually more reasonable than i thought....if i can control for the smoke in it as well as i'd like to...