Category: Creditaid Blog

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Results are In for Top 5 – Winnipeg 2012 Debt Resolution

We recently asked you, our Manitoba readers, to share your debt resolution for 2012 for a chance to win an Apple iPad.  Our iPad winner is Janice Margelino! We were very happy to meet and present the prize to Janice. We were extremely impressed by her dedication to good saving practices and determination to pay off her student loans!

Also, here are the Top 5 Resolutions we would like to share, as chosen by the contest participants. The choices are listed in descending order from lowest to highest votes.

Number 5. Commitment to save – By creating a budget and cutting your costs you will put yourself in the best position to save in 2012. You can use those savings in the future so that you don’t find yourself in debt again.

Number 4. Follow your budget – A budget is absolutely essential, if you really want to reduce your debt. The key to success is to make sure that the budget is realistic and to stick to it. If your budget comes in over your monthly income, it is time to start looking at where you can cut costs.

Number 3. Pay off student loans – Those students loans are not going to go away on their own. Commit to making regular payments on student loans as part of your overall budget. If you are struggling to meet your payments, speak to your lender to discuss your options.

Number 2. Pay down credit card debt – Credit cards are a quick and convenient way to pay for the things you want. However, they are also a sure way to increase your debt and put a huge dent in your monthly budget. Pay off your highest card balances first and work your way down.

NUMBER ONE. Cut frivolous spending – The top choice for debt resolution, and rightly so, is to cut frivolous spending. This does not necessarily mean going without. Look for cheaper alternatives to your favorites treats. For instance, retro clothing is fashionable at the moment, so why not check out your local thrift stores?

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Empowering the Independent Woman: Take Control of your Personal Finances

Gail Vaz- Oxlade has a message for women everywhere – be an “Island” before becoming a “Peninsula”. The tough-talking money expert and host of popular reality TV shows such as Til Debt Do Us Part and Princess maintains that all women should be financially independent , even in marriage rather than expecting a partner to become their financial safety net.

In her latest book, It’s Your Money: Becoming a Woman of Independent Means (HarperCollinsCanada, $21.99), Vaz-Oxlade argues that women have unique challenges when it comes to managing money such as motherhood, divorce, widowhood, disability and caring for the elderly. Instead of relying on others, whether it be a partner, parent or financial planner, women should take action to understand and plan around their unique needs.

The first step of taking control is keeping track of where money is spent. Vaz-Oxlade suggests keeping receipts and entering expenses into a journal or spreadsheet and to distinguish clearly between the wants and the needs. Read the full article from the Winnipeg Free Press on Gail’s financial tips for women here.

Credit Aid is a proud sponsor of “You and Your Money with Gail Vaz-Oxlade” taking place in Winnipeg on February 9th, 2012. Tickets are $45 and can be purchased at www.youandyourdollar.com or by calling 254-2595.

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You and Your Money with Gail Vaz-Oxlade

Creditaid is pleased to announce that we are a proud sponsor of You and Your Money seminar series with Gail Vaz-Oxlade. Gail Vaz-Oxlade will be in Winnipeg, Thursday, February 9, 2012 at Canad Inns Polo Park.

Also, don’t miss this opportunity to hear some expert financial advice from a variety of seminars from 2 pm-5 pm. Creditaid will be holding seminars on budgeting at 2:00, 2:30, 4:00 and 4:30.

Tickets can be purchased at Sofias Boutique 836 St Mary’s Rd, Winnipeg, Phone Number: 254-2595.

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Tips to Help Kids Understand Debt

In order for children to fully understand finances and how money “works,” they have to learn about debt. The age of your child will determine how you define debt so they can understand.

Make sure you use terms and examples that they are already familiar with.

You can begin with the concept of borrowing something such as a toy from a friend. Explain the need to return the toy to its owner. And if the toy can’t be returned in its original condition then it needs to be replaced by a similar item of equal value. Your child should be able to understand that until that item is replaced, paid for, he is in debt to the person who owned the item.

For the “tween” set you can use real money items and examples. Set up a scenario where your child wants something, a new bicycle, for instance. Write down and discuss the amount of money the bike costs, the amount of money your child has, the amount of money he earns through allowance, or anticipates receiving for a gift, etc.

Talk about whether or not he can “afford” the bike right now, and if he can pay it off within a reasonable amount of time. This discussion will include installment payments where instead of paying back the “loan” with all of their allowance each week, they pay smaller amounts so as to keep some money for their usual “living expenses.” It’s important to work financial terms into the conversation as soon as you child is able to understand them.

Then, actually carry out a transaction. Keep it written down; sign a contract, have them make payments and even set up an amortization schedule so they can see how interest works. Going through this process will give your child an excellent opportunity to learn about personal finances.

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New Year-New Beginnings – Financial goals

The beginning of a new year is a time to start fresh, make some changes and set some goals.  Now is as good a time as any to evaluate your income, expenses and overall financial health and set some goals.

Here are a few things to look at when it comes to setting financial goals:

Retirement: Depending on your age, retirement can seem like a lifetime away, or it can be right around the corner. No matter your age, now is the time to look at what is available for retirement income, and if it is deemed to be not enough, now is the time to start saving towards that goal.
Insurance: get out your policies, health, life, auto, property, etc. Talk to your agent to see if you are appropriately covered.

Debt Reduction:Consolidate current debt and don’t create more- that means cutting up the credit cards and gaining control of spending.

Savings: Besides controlling spending, you’ll want to amass some savings; typically the interest rate on investments is considerably lower than the interest rate on your line of debt so by saving rather than paying down debt, you’re actually losing money. That’s where you need to strike a balance: you need to invest some, but at the same time reduce the debt.

Additional Income:Think about the possibility of getting a second part time job. If you’re living comfortably on your current income, the income from a second job can go directly on debt or mortgage or into retirement or another fund for education or a trip or an emergency.

Once you set your financial goals, it’s good to revisit them every few months. Six months from you will be motivated to continue your financial plan when you see how well it’s working for you!

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Consumer Obsession Leads Us to Over-spending

The desire to “keep up with the Jones’s” has become more than a social status issue for many people.  Also, it is very easy to get caught up in this during the holiday season. It has become a catalyst for overspending that has consumers running to banks and other lenders looking for ways to finance their purchases. This issue also has countless consumers loaded up with credit card debt so steep it may take them a lifetime to get out of it.

Give your financial literacy a good double-check, and if you are not already practicing the following financial practices, now is a great time to start today:

  • Pay bills on time and balance your check book each month. You can’t know how much you can afford to spend if you don’t know how much you currently have to spend.
  • Stop buying on impulse. If you want something, rather than charging it on your credit card and paying interest, save for the next few month and buy it when you have the money.
  • Always pay more than your minimum balance on credit cards: Get rid of them as soon as possible. You will save money on interest and have more to save for the future.
  • Vow to maintain only “good” debt. This is the type of debt that will increase your net worth: A mortgage on an affordable home, a car loan, or college debt. These will either increase your creditworthiness or make you more employable so you are able to earn more and keep debt to a minimum.
  • Always include some savings in your budget. Many short-sighted people are unable to see their needs after retirement and don’t save. This results in financial difficulty during their declining years.
  • Find out what you don’t know about finances—and learn it. Despite the flood of information on financial management, people don’t take the time to learn.

Finally, in order to put a stop to this financial madness keep in mind the media pull for spending and don’t be drawn into the hype. By being savvy shoppers and savers, the overspending and debt can stop.

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Inspired to be Debt-Free

Brian Denysuik, Owner of Creditaid, does budget work with Habitat for Humanity to help prepare applicants for potential home ownership. Brian recently met with a young lady, who had already developed some very good budgeting habits.

When discussing the importance of budgeting, she quickly pointed out how she was never taught this very important life skill. She proceeded to say the she was inspired by Gail Vaz-Oxlade, author of the best-selling Debt-Free Forever and host of the popular TV show Til Debt Do Us Part. Gail Vaz-Oxlade is having a lot of impact on people and will be in Winnipeg, on February 9, 2012 at Canad Inns Polo Park. Creditaid is very excited to be one of the sponsors of this event. Stay tuned for more information.

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Christmas Shopping on a Budget

With Christmas just a few weeks away, we have abruptly entered the “shopping season” that special time when you look at all the people on your Christmas list and compare them to the amount of money you have available. It’s time to create a budget and stick to it. The following ideas will help:

Comparison shop: Check prices at different stores, and don’t forget the online stores. Many online stores have great prices, but be sure to figure in any shipping costs in the total price of your gifts.

Making a list, checking it twice: Christmas shop in the same way that you grocery shop: create a list and stick to it. If you shop without a list it’s too easy to get caught up in the hype and you’ll buy items you hadn’t planned for compromising your budget. Download our handy holiday gift budget planner to help you get organized.

Plan a “homemade” Christmas: instead of buying the fancy cookies this year, buy the ingredients and make your own. Homemade goodies generally taste better and are less expensive than store-bought varieties. But, don’t stop with just baking. There are hundreds of things that you can make to give as gifts that won’t break your budget.

Time: Elderly persons would love to receive a gift card stating you will clean their house for them once a month (or once a week), while a young couple with children would consider free baby-sitting services for an evening (or weekend!) away, to be an extra special treat.

Bartering: Basically, you offer a product or service to someone who offers a product or service that a person on your gift list would enjoy. For example, your mother gets her hair done on a weekly basis. You could barter a certain number of up-do’s for a couple oil-changes.

With careful planning, you will be able to provide gifts for everyone on your list this year without breaking your budget.

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Holiday Gift Budget Planner

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. That’s where a planner can help.

Start with a general statement of how much money you will spend. Or rather your limit, such as: “I will spend NO MORE than _____________ amount of money on Christmas.” Then you may want to allot different amounts of money for different categories such as gifts, food, decorations, other entertainment, etc.

Once you’ve decided how much you will spend on gifts you can create a list of gift recipients.
This can be tricky; do you give a gift to each person in your sister’s family or do you give a “family” gift? Or, maybe you give a “group” gift just to the kids and individual gifts to the adults. Whatever you decide, while taking your budget into consideration, it’s a good idea to write it down so you don’t get side-tracked while shopping.

Once you’ve decided the “who” on your gift list, you need to decide the “what.” Here’s where you pull out that hidden wish list you’ve written on every time you’ve heard someone say they “like” something or “want” something—right? The ongoing list notwithstanding, you’ll need to brainstorm ideas and maybe come right out and ask your gift recipients what they would like.

Then it’s on to the “where” can these items be found. List stores and their locations; don’t forget online options and the actual shopping begins.

You might also want to include on your Planner a space to write where the items you have bought are “hidden.” This is especially important if you tend to shop for gifts all year. You don’t want to forget where that special gift is stored and buy duplicate items in December.

Feel free to download and use our Holiday Gift Budget Planner. Keeping lists of recipients and ideas together will make your Christmas shopping easier, fun and budget “friendly.”

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Is money causing stress in your life?

Is your relationship with money causing stress in your life? If so, then it may be time for some financial therapy. Winnipeg-based psychologist and life coach Dr. Moira Somers specializes in financial psychology, an emerging field that explores people’s relationship with money (and why they may treat it the way that they do).

Dr. Somers maintains that our behaviour towards money may stem from our childhood experiences including exposure to money management beliefs and culture. These beliefs in turn causes many disordered behaviour in our adult lives such as chronic debt, overspending, under-earning and using money as a means (whether consciously or not) to exercise power, control or to fill a void.

You can read more about Dr. Moira Somers in the Winnipeg Free Press article by Carolin Vesely, or visit her website at http://www.moneymindandmeaning.com/.