Helping Canadians Get Out of Debt
If you’re sitting on a lot of debt right now, first know that you aren’t alone. The pandemic wreaked havoc on most people’s finances. Now that we’re seeing life get back to somewhat normal, you may wonder what you should do with your debt or if it will just hound you the rest of your life.
The good news is there are ways to conquer it. Here’s what you can do.
Continue reading “You can Conquer your Debt”
How much debt is too much? It can feel impossible to tell, especially since any debt can feel burdensome. But there are a few ways to tell that you have too much debt and that it’s time to do something about it.
Before you use a credit card or take out a loan, it’s important to determine if you can afford the payment. If it will put you over the edge, it’s too much. Here are some other ways to tell if you have too much debt.
Continue reading “Warning Signs you May Have too Much Debt”
Social media is a way of life for most of us, but did you know it could affect your spending? You may not even realize the direct connection, but we’ll show you ways that you might be spending more than you intended all because of your Instagram or Facebook feeds.
How often do you watch someone’s feed and think poorly of yourself? Maybe they have something you don’t, or you want to be just like them. What do you do?
Continue reading “How Social Media Affects our Spending”
It’s a common debate consumers face – do you pay down your debt or save money? You want to get rid of your debt, but you also need money saved for emergencies, so what do you do?
What if you could have the best of both worlds?
If you pay down your debt but continue ‘paying yourself’ the interest, you’ll get out of debt AND save money.
Here’s how!
Continue reading “Pay Down your Debt and Put the Interest Money Toward Savings” 
Get the Most for the Least by Shopping Carefully
Budgeting can be like strong tasting medicine – it’s one of the most challenging remedies to take, but its effectiveness cannot be denied. Whether you’ve got money troubles or not, a budget will help your finances. You don’t make a budget just to fix problems – you have to do it all the time.
A spending plan is more than just a list with numbers. It’s a willingness to do things that may seem inconvenient at the time, but add up to a considerable advantage when you’re looking to cut costs, without sacrificing quality.
Here are some everyday actions you can take that will make your bottom line look better:
Check Prices
Ok, so you’ve decided to make a purchase, and you’ve budgeted for it. Before you expend precious funds, make sure you’re getting the best value for your dollar. Ask yourself the following:
“Can I save money by buying used?” A lot of times, a used item will serve just as well as a new one. Appliances, for instance, are often available used, many from dealers who will offer a warranty. Clothing, too. Many discount stores offer name brand clothing, gently worn, at a fraction of the original cost. If you’re ok with previously enjoyed clothes, you’ll find that you can start dressing really well for really cheap.
“Is another store having a sale on this item?” Is the sale good enough to justify the extra travel time and expense? Try to avoid paying more just for convenience.
“Is it less expensive online?” Sometimes it’s worth having to wait a few extra days for delivery.
Prepare your Own Meals
We can’t stress enough just how much impact this one simple act can have on your bottom line. Take out or delivery costs several times as much as preparing a similar item at home, and when you make it yourself, it’s how you like it. Compare the savings to the time spend preparing meals, and it’s like you’ve got another job that pays really well.
Continue reading “How to Maximize your Spending Plan (AKA Budget)”
As published in the January/February 2017 issue of Balance, a Manitoba Teachers’ Society publication.
You’ve just moved in with your current love or maybe you’ve just got engaged. This is a happy, exciting time in your life. The two of you may have discussed where to go on a honeymoon, whether or not to have children, how many or where your dream house will be. But have you had a conversation with each other with regard to your finances? Everything listed above costs money and both of you need to be honest with each other regarding your finances in order to have those things.
As you begin a new, permanent relationship, it is time to set your financial goals as a couple and to be honest about your money values.
This week’s first snowfall is a good reminder that most of us have to start planning for the holiday season! Our November temperatures had been positively balmy up to this point, but now there’s no denying it, only a few paycheques remain until the holidays are upon us.
Most people avoid developing a spending plan. It’s just no fun hearing the same things over and over – “be frugal, be thrifty, save every penny you can for a rainy day.”
Unfortunately, failure to develop a spending plan usually results in our money waving goodbye every payday, and when bumps in the road occur and they will, (life being, well, life) you find yourself with very difficult financial challenges.
There’s got to be a happy medium – something between the regimented, enforced frugality that is so often presented as the solution to your life’s financial future and the carefree spending that’s going to land you in trouble. Taking control means that you take back full control and “tell your money where to go”!! No more letting it simply wave good-bye!
Enter the Save-to-Spend concept, a system of budgeting that will have you future-proofing your money, while still allowing you to achieve the things you want, and even giving you some “mad money” for the things you didn’t know you wanted. It is really all about pre-planning by putting your short, medium and long term goals on paper. Once you have them, put down what the costs are for each of them. Then prioritize them and determine the length of time it will take you to save for each of them. A simple example is buying a new big screen television. If the cost is $1200 and you want to have it in one year, start putting $100 away each month for it. This is far different then the buy now pay later program where you forget to pay off the interest free loan and end up paying 30% interest back to the day it was delivered. This is an example of a change from that path of instant gratification to one of delayed gratification!
The concept goes one step further and includes the most important part of any plan and that is building your emergency savings account. These are just a few simple examples of a very old concept that we need to return to.
Of course, you can’t make money from nothing, so there are going to be some sacrifices. They will, however, seem unimportant as you quickly see your bank balances grow with all the individual financial goals you have set.
Just remember you need to keep happy while you work within your Save-to-Spend plan! Like dieting, if you tell yourself you can never enjoy one of the foods you love, you’ll likely cheat. If you allow yourself the occasional treat, you’ll be happier overall and are more likely to get the result you want. Save-to-Spend has been proven to be effective.
If you have questions about Save-to-Spend, budgeting, or any other topic related to debt or personal finance, contact Creditaid anytime online or by telephone at (204) 987-6890.
If you are struggling to make all of your payments or are already unable to make your required monthly payments, Creditaid can help. Whether you need to rebuild your credit, undergo credit counselling, tackle your credit card debt, reassess your finances following a divorce or a move, or any other challenge that life brings – we’ve seen it all and we have a program that will suit your needs.
Reposted from the Winnipeg Free Press online edition February 16, 2016.
CALGARY – A new poll suggests nearly half of Canadians surveyed last month are within $200 per month of being unable to pay for their bills and make their debt payments.
The Ipsos Reid survey also found about one-quarter of the 1,582 people who responded to the poll were already unable to cover their bills and debt payments.
The online poll was done between Jan. 27 and Jan. 29 for MNP Debt, which provides licensed trustee services in six provinces, from Quebec to British Columbia.
MNP says the poll found that 31 per cent of respondents said any increase in interest rates could move them towards bankruptcy.
Ipsos Reid conducted the poll about a week after the Parliamentary Budget Office issued a report on Jan. 19 that said Canada has seen the largest increase in household debt relative to income of any G7 country since 2000.
The survey also followed Bank of Canada’s decision to keep a key lending rate at a historically low level of 0.5 per cent on Jan. 20, as the central bank lowered economic growth estimates for 2015 and 2016.
The polling industry’s professional body, the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association, says online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error as they are not a random sample and therefore are not necessarily representative of the whole population.
Creditaid is a proud participating member of the Manitoba Financial Literacy Forum, currently comprised of more than 40 active members. The following news release and Executive Summary of the survey can also be found on their website.
Winnipeg, Manitoba (November 19, 2015) – One in five Manitobans say that there is little they can do to control their financial situation, according to a new survey from the Manitoba Financial Literacy Forum.
The survey, conducted by Prairie Research Associates, also revealed:
• 15 per cent of Manitobans believe that they would put off dealing with their money problems
• 11 per cent say they do not know who or where to turn to solve a financial problem
• 8 per cent feel that they do not know how to make good financial decisions
The results indicated that half of Manitobans do not consider themselves to be fully confident in their financial behavior, with many people desiring access to information and tools that can help them understand their finances, track their spending, create household budgets and improve their ability to work with a financial professional.
These findings are being used by the Manitoba Financial Literacy Forum to create a benchmark for the current state of financial literacy in the province. This is the first survey of its kind to focus exclusively on Manitoba, and its results will inform the Forum’s future programming and projects.
“Learning how Manitobans understand their own financial situation and behavior is an important first step for the Forum,” says Cynthia Duncan, co-chair of the Manitoba Financial Literacy Forum. “We’re finding that many people want to improve their financial skills, and we’re committed to connecting them to the resources that can set them up for lifelong success.”
Manitobans can learn more about money management by visiting ManitobaFinancialLiteracy.com. The website, operated by the Manitoba Financial Literacy Forum, maintains a large collection of free tools and information to help guide people toward making responsible financial decisions at every stage of their lives.
The Manitoba Financial Literacy Forum is one of the province’s largest not-for-profit coalitions of organizations and individuals working to promote financial education and skills to Manitobans, represented by stakeholders from the public, private, financial services, credit counselling, and voluntary sectors, as well as individuals, and families and labour organizations.
The survey results cited are compiled from a random sample of 600 Manitobans 18 years of age and over between April 9 to 29, 2015. The results were weighted to better reflect the population. A probability sample of this size would yield results accurate to ± 4.1%, 19 times out of 20.
Media Contact Information:
Cynthia Duncan
Co-chair, Manitoba Financial Literacy Forum
204-925-7420, ext 7405
info@manitobafinancialliteracy.com