When an SP talks about what she's accustomed to, it goes something like this:
$300 per hr.
At that rate, she only works a few hours a week and that makes enough for rent and food and more. A pretty easy life. Let's say 3 hours a week, that's $900 per week or $3600 per month.
It sounds like if she has kids, she's going to be too busy taking care of them to be working. Fair enough. So if she's talking about feeling accustomed to her past lifestyle, then its
at least $3600 per month.
But that's still not enough because there's kids in the picture, so add another $2000 per month if they're young and maybe 2 of them. That brings us to $5600 per month, net after tax, or about $7500 per month gross income.
Now of course, that's if she only works 3 hours a week at $300 per session. If she works 8 hours a week, that's $2400 a week or $9600 a month. If a guy had to earn that net of taxes, it would be about $17000 per month gross income - to give her what she's accustomed to. That's a guy who earns
$204,000, or in the
top 2.1% of income in Canada (see
http://www2.macleans.ca/2011/10/25/rank-your-income-where-do-you-stand-compared-to-the-rest-of-canada/)
I've personally been through this anxiety-ridden and frustrating calculation myself. The lesson I've learned is that a lot of women, SP's in particular (but not all), have no f**king clue what they're talking about when they mouth off such vagaries as "what they're accustomed to", especially when they're earning a wage that is completely beyond realistic.
And in complete contrast to most SP's I've met, I hold my glass of champagne high to PlayfulAlex for being a real heartfelt woman true and true.