Category: Budget Tips

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Christmas Shopping Is Not All Black and White

Budgeting for the Christmas holidays is always difficult; in fact, it’s the one time that is guaranteed to wreak havoc far into the next financial year. For holidays in general, we would advise incorporating your spending into your monthly budget. However, if you haven’t already, don’t despair, there may be some Christmas cheer for you yet.

Knowing how much money you have for shopping is one thing, being able to allocate where that money goes, when contemplating your holiday shopping is something else.
Click to download our Holiday Gift Giving Planner that can help.

Christmas, as we all know, is in December – which conveniently follows the month of November, and two of the biggest shopping days of the year – Black Friday on November 23rd, closely followed by Cyber Monday on November 26th. Although these two shopping holidays are more popular with our neighbours to the south, an estimated 80% of Canadians took advantage of the deals on offer in the 2011 sales. While you may not wish to fight for this year’s big sellers during these mega sales days, they are ideal for swooping under the radar and picking up deals on gifts for extended family and friends.

Another great idea for holiday budgeting, although a little sneaky, is to invite the whole family around for dinner and subtly find out what they want for Christmas. It will get everyone in the holiday spirit, and you’ll save yourself from that frantic, and often expensive, last minute search for the ideal gift. Make sure to set a limit for each person you buy for and keep track of what you bought for whom and how much you paid.

Remember too, that not everyone is concerned with material gifts. Consider making a donation to charity, or, buying a gift with a conscience, such as a milking goat for a 3rd world family on someone’s behalf. If you really want to go the extra mile, why not accompany them on a food drive or to serve at a soup kitchen over the Christmas holidays?

When the holidays are over, your budgeting tasks are not yet done. Take advantage of the New Year’s sales, where you can make huge savings on clothes, toys, electronics and even gifts for the following Christmas.

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Students Can Create a Better Future by Saving Now

Sometimes saving isn’t easy – especially when you look at it as a luxury – reserved only for
times when you have the cash to spare. The first step to successful savings is, ‘out of sight,
out of mind’. Your savings should be part of your budget, and as such, you should consider
that money spent before it is earned. Where does the money come from for savings in the first
place? You may ask. Well, if you budget smart, you will find a number of sources at your
disposal.

First of all take a look at the monthly services you subscribe to. Do you really need those
extra cable channels? What about that gym membership that you have neglected for over a
year? Your internet and phone service may come with added features; most of which you are
probably not even aware of, but are paying for every month. Cutting those payments, and
reallocating them to savings, is simply making better use of money that you never missed in
the first place.

The money you are left with after loans have been paid is ideal for saving. You have already
resigned yourself to that money being debiting from your account each month, so you won’t
miss it by paying it to your savings account instead. However, be careful when you actually
open a savings account – for example, some banks may charge you fees for falling below a
minimum balance. Check the terms and conditions carefully, and choose the account that best
suits your savings budget.

While it is important to save for your future, ensuring you have good credit is equally
important. The easiest way to have good credit is to pay all you bills on time. For credit
cards you should look for a low, fixed rate card, with no annual fees, and, clear and concise
terms for additional services, late fees, balance transfers and other charges. If you are going
to use a credit card pay off the entire balance each month and make sure you pay it on time!

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Financial Tips for University and College Students

Are you struggling with student debts, paying bills or otherwise making ends meet? Well,
knowing where, when and on what you spend your money is the best way to manage your
student budget. If you live month to month, on the premise that there are good times and bad
times, then you need to take a closer look at your finances.

Never spend all your money, just because it is there. Remember those bad times? That
spare cash would have come in pretty handy, if you still had it. Sit down and take stock of
everything you spend each month. Keep all your receipts and create spending categories
such as food, rent, school costs and clothes. Deduct these costs from your income and you
will begin to get a picture of where your money is going. Next you need to decide which
outgoing costs should take priority, and where you can afford to make cuts. Note: This does
not necessarily mean cutting out complete categories, but rather, streamlining what you spend
on each.

Certain categories, of course, are fixed and need to be paid first. Your rent, and loan
payments are examples of fixed costs, however, in some cases you may be able to negotiate
lower payments if you are struggling. Luxuries, on the other hand, are fair game. Until you
have a working budget in place, it is likely that you will have to cut back completely on the
small pleasures in life. Remember, renting a movie costs significantly less than a trip to the
movies, eating in is the new eating out, and thrift clothing is just another name for retro.

Wherever possible, spend cash and avoid using credit cards. If you have to use credit cards
at all, make sure that you pay off the balance in full each month. When you start to see spare
cash in your budget, do not immediately go on a spending spree. Lastly, save whatever you
can, no matter how small an amount, and look at it as a emergency savings or a nest-egg for
the future.

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Help With Your Finances from the Ottawa Government

Here at Creditaid, we believe in giving you the tools that will help you manage your finances.
So when we learned that the Federal government has issued a financial toolkit, we just had to
share the news with you. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, the Investor Education
Fund and l’Autorite des marches financiers, teamed up with the government to produce the
toolkit, which aims to help Canadians better understand their daily finances.

The move was sparked bystartling figures, showing that an average household debt of
152 percent of disposable income is pushing many Canadians into the red. An effort to
reinvigorate the economy, through low interest rates, is one of the factors contributing to so
many Canadians suddenly finding themselves in debt. The Bank of Canada, backed by the
finance minister, had also voiced concerns about overspending, leading up to the introduction
of the financial toolkit.

The toolkit itself is available both online and in printed form. Worksheets, quizzes, videos
and questionnaires will help you understand and manage your finances. The skills that you
acquire from using this toolkit will not only help you with your current spending, but will
give you the tools you need to ensure you keep on the right track in your future spending.
This is certainly welcome news in these tough economic times, and we hope you find the
toolkit as useful as we have.

For more info visit – http://www.fcac-acfc.gc.ca/ft-of/home-accueil-eng.html

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Get your Finances in Shape with Budget Bootcamp

Deciding to set up a budget is the easy part of organizing your finances; doing it effectively
is where things begin to get tricky. Every day we hear from clients who say they attempted to
budget, only to find that they were no better off at the end of each month. It is an extremely
frustrating position to find yourself in, and one that seems hopelessly irresolvable. However,
we at Creditaid know from experience that budgeting works, as long as you have the drive,
the right tools and a well executed plan.

Everyone’s circumstances are different, so what works for your friends and family may
not work for you. We have always been conscious of this, which is why we have created a
number of tools to suit every need. With the Creditaid Budget Bootcamp, however, we have
taken the battle against financial hardship to a new level. The strategy we are bringing to you
today will take you step by step through a comprehensive budgeting plan, aided by many of
the tools we use to help our clients on a daily basis.

The Budget Bootcamp consists of a free five day plan, delivered to you by email. At each
stage you will receive tips and advice on creating a budgeting plan and prioritising your
finances, as well as access to tools that will help you along the way. We appreciate that you
may have questions that are not addressed in the plan, but don’t worry, we won’t leave you to
fend for yourself. Each email you receive will contain links to relevant help pages and tools,
along with a link that you can use to contact us by email. Subscribe today and look out for
your introduction email, which will guide you through the first steps on the road to financial
freedom.

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Its True – Cost of Kids is Rising

You are not imagining things, the cost of raising kids has indeed increased. Everything from food, entertainment, education, sports and clothing, comes at an astronomical cost. We are living in times where prices are rising faster than we can shuffle our budget to accommodate them. We all want the best for our kids, however, we need to step back and redefine exactly what that means. Here is a hint – it doesn’t mean the product with the highest price tag.

Food is perhaps the quickest way to make savings. Buying fresh ingredients, bulk buying staple foods at discount and pre-planning meals are all great ways to cut down your shopping budget. Forget about the high priced brands too, find a cheaper equivalent. Coupons have not gone extinct either, so seek them out in newspapers, stores and online. Most importantly of all, reduce food waste as much as possible. You paid for it, so make sure you use it.

The word retro is your friend – at least when it comes to clothing, sports and entertainment. Ask any musician or sports fanatic and they will tell you that used equipment is best. Second hand musical instruments and sports equipment will dramatically cut your costs. Similarly, you can find last season’s clothes, along with some in-style throwbacks, in any thrift store. As for games consoles and media – pre-owned means paying half the price within a month of release. The average game takes less than a week to complete for most avid gamers. Your kids can also trade in their games, once they have completed them.

Planning for your children’s education will require the most forward planning. Start saving for school, college and university from the second that you find out you are expecting. Contact schools to find out about the annual costs of books, extra-curricular activities and other expenses. Compare college investment plans and choose the one that best suits your budget. When your child begins school, re-evaluate your plan year on year.

Kids can be expensive, but if you plan and spend sensibly, you can greatly cut the cost.

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How to Prioritize Your Expenses

You may feel tempted to pay expenses to those who shout loudest; however, you need to prioritize. Rent, electricity, water and food. Without those things you do not have a functioning home, and you will find yourself in deep water for not keeping up with payments. Next, you have to consider the things that enable you to earn a salary, such as your car, travel costs or childcare; including child maintenance payments. All these expenses are absolute necessities, and you will find that out the first time you let your payments lapse. In short – unless an expense can put you out of your home, take food off your table or prevent you from earning money, it is not your first priority.

Now, that is not to say that your other expenses are unimportant. Keeping up all your payments, even if you are only able to pay the minimum, is of huge importance. Your credit cards, loans and other expenses may not be secured loans, however, neglecting them will only serve to perpetuate the cycle of debt. Once you have allocated funds to priority expenses, budget the rest of your cash flow to cover your other expenses. This will provide a template for how to best pool your financial resources. If you are having difficulty finding the cash flow to cover all your expenses, speak to your creditors. They would rather work with you to come to a payment arrangement, than not receive payment at all.

As tempting as it may be, never hide from your debts. Speak to all your creditors, explore the possibilities of reallocating funds and create a budget that is both realistic and workable. When you do prioritize your expenses, consider that money as gone. It is not available for juggling debts or tapping into it in the hope of securing future funds. If you have to seek additional disposable income, then do so; however, never stretch your budget beyond its means.

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Automate Your Payments – Takes Away The Temptation

Automating payments presents a number of advantages. You can earn discounts, budget your cash flow better and forecast your financial requirements. When you get used to set amounts debiting from your account, you will eventually remove them from the equation. This takes away the temptation to tap into those funds, allowing you to create a workable budget that won’t leave you deeper in debt.

Remembering scattered payment dates throughout the month can become confusing. Your aim is to allocate money then forget about it – until such a time as you need to re-examine your budget. Depending on how often you get paid, you should set all your automated payments to come out on the same date, each month. To better manage your finances, there are various online apps and resources that can help you. Applications such as Mint, You Need a Budget and Mvelopes, are ideal. However, if you are not tech savvy, then keeping a calendar of your automated payments, when they reduce and completion dates, will suffice.

Another important point to remember is that automated payments do not only apply to regular household bills. You can set up regular payments for insurance policies, retirement funds, college plans and investments. Although many of these payments are not essential to everyday life, by budgeting automated payments, you are preparing for the future. Before you know it, that money won’t even exist in your mind. In fact, you will probably find yourself looking for other sources of income before even thinking about touching your monthly automated payment funds.

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Get Closer to Your Goals with Multiple Savings Accounts

Have you ever tried to perform mental gymnastics with your finances? It is no mean feat, and you are quite likely to forget at least one important payment. Creating a budget is one thing, but ensuring that all the funds in your bank account go where they should is not so easy. When you created your budget, you probably divided all your payments into categories. If you didn’t, then now is the ideal time to create a system that is both efficient and easy to manage. This will make life so much easier, once you split your payments across multiple accounts.

You would imagine that trying to manage multiple bank accounts would be a nightmare. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Separating your monthly expenses and savings across multiple accounts will help you focus on your budgets and goals. There are cost effective accounts like Tangerine Bank where you can have multiple accounts and even name the account the same as your budget category.

If you have financial goals that you are determined to achieve, focus on each one individually. Create an account where you can save towards specific goals. Once you have reached your target, you can use that account to work on your next goal. Keep all your regular payments in one account, where you can allocate a set amount each month, with the security of knowing that you will not overdraw. Next, create an account for your irregular payments. This account should allow for enough breathing room to accommodate ad hoc payments.

Should you be lucky enough to consistently have cash flow to spare, you may want to set up an account for luxuries. Filter your spare cash flow into this account, whenever you can. Once you have been using your multiple accounts for a while, you will find that management your finances becomes much less of a chore.

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Budgeting – Review Your Spending

Budgeting – Review Your Spending Before You Create Your Budget

If you want to reduce your debt, then you need to have a budget. I know, you have tried this a million times and it is a waste of time. You see, the problem with a budget is that it only works if you know what you are budgeting for. If you sit down and pull numbers out of your head, what you are doing is the equivalent of wishing away your debt. First and foremost, a budget needs to be realistic; which means you will have to do the ground work.


The key to success is in reviewing your spending, before you create your budget. To do this you are going to have to be honest with yourself. The easy part is your recurring payments, such as mortgage, insurance, taxes and credit cards; so start with those. Next you will need to look at your outgoings for less predictable or fluctuating costs. Consider your groceries, clothing, travel expenses, entertainment and any other impulse purchases. Track what you spend on each area for a month to give a realistic view of what you are currently spending.


Now, once you have calculated your outgoings, there is a chance that you will be over budget. Don’t let this dishearten you. You have effectively listed the component parts of an overall formula; you now need to make those components work for you. This is where you budget really begins.


Look at your outgoings; especially those that are not essential or are adjustable, and consider how you can reduce them. Allocate higher amounts from your budget to payments which have high interest rates. If, after you have tweaked the numbers as much as you can, you are still in the red, it is time to speak to your lenders. You may be able to make further monthly reductions by changes to your payment plans.