Did you know that money can often be the cause of a breakdown in a relationship? A new survey shows 34 percent keep financial secrets from their partners. Creditaid’s Brian Denysuik shares one of the challenges couples have with over spending in Joel Schlesigner’s article in the Winnipeg Free Press, “Love is often blind to money problems.”
By Laurie Boudreau, Credit Counsellor, Creditaid
During the past 20 years, I have analyzed thousands of Canadian credit reports from Equifax and Trans Union and can tell you an interesting fact. People with the highest credit scores pay the least amount of interest. Why? Because the higher your credit score is, the lower the risk is for a creditor to lend you money. It’s the same concept as for why young people pay less for life insurance than old people pay. You are less likely to die when you are young. Same goes for credit scores. If you have managed your credit well chances are you will continue to do so, and the creditor will get their money back. This is why they are willing to offer you a low-interest rate.
If you have not seen your credit report recently, you need to do this now by going to www.equifax.ca and www.transunion.ca
You need to know what your credit report contains before you can take the steps necessary to improve your score. No matter how low it is today, the good news is that your credit score can go up very quickly. By following the steps below, you can dramatically increase your credit score within two years.
1. Starting today make all your payments on time.
One of the key behaviors that creditors like to see is on-time payment of bills. Since this is one of the strongest predictors of a consumer’s likelihood to make their payments in the future your credit score will be high if you have made all your payments on time.
680 CJOB, Winnipeg’s news talk radio, Hal Anderson recently invited Creditaid’s, Brian Denysuik to join him on air to help get people through the holiday spending season. Brian provides advice on how not to overspend including a few tips on how to create a “Save to Spend” holiday plan to help alleviate stress and avoid going into debt this holiday season.
Listen to the discussion below.
Creditaid’s Brian Denysuik recently co-chaired St. Amant’s 2nd Annual Party – Camp for 100. St. Amant is the largest provider of community living services in Manitoba, supporting individuals and their families with residential options, family care, and outreach services, as well as operating a growing program for pre-school and school-aged children living with Autism.
Continue reading “2nd Annual St. Amant Party: Camp for 100!”
Manulife Bank of Canada released their debt survey which revealed that many Canadians are not meeting their debt goals. Creditaid’s Brian Denysuik was on the air at CBC Radio with Caroline Barghout to discuss the survey, provide advice and tips on how to save to spend, budget and the steps to take to relieve stress and become debt free.
Listen to the broadcast below.
The desire to “keep up with the Jones’s” has become more than a social status issue for many people.
Also, it is effortless to get caught up in a 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 cheque 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.
Continue reading “Does Consumer Obsession Lead Us to Over Spending”
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.
Creditaid is proud to support various community initiatives and is privileged to have been a long time supporter of St. Amant, a comprehensive resource for Manitobans with developmental disabilities and autism.
Creditaid CEO Brian Denysuik, recently chaired the inaugural St. Amant Party, and was honoured to be among other individuals and organizations who so graciously donated their time and resources for the cause.
As published in the December 2016 issue of Balance, a Manitoba Teachers’ Society publication.
By 2021, 22.8% of Canadians will be 65 years of age and older. Do we feel prepared as children and grand-children to help guide and protect them and their finances through their later years of life?
Through the busyness of our own lives, we need to keep in mind that managing finances will become increasingly difficult for our parents and grandparents as they age. When a person ages they can easily lose sight of how to handle money, and even a financially astute person can quickly move to a state of being unable to cope with their finances. If this isn’t recognized it can be very stressful and costly for the elder.
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.
