2019-11-01 Canadian Living

CANADIAN LIVING NOVEMBER 2019 | 49

I often tell people when I’m teaching a workshop about
money that there’s no right way to budget; there’s only the way
that works for you and your family. It’s like fashion and style—
there are a few rules of thumb to follow and then the rest is
what makes you feel and look your best. There are also rules of
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avoiding these common money mistakes.

1

USING CREDIT TO PAY FOR

EVERYDAY PURCHASES.

The reality is we tend to spend

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because there’s room and avail-

ability and we know we’ll pay it

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focused on reducing debt and

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cash. It helps you live within

your means and not spend more

than what you have in your

wallet or purse.

3

MAKING MINIMUM PAY-

MENTS ON CREDIT CARDS.

We’re becoming a society that

makes minimum credit card

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amount possible in order to

keep our good credit rating. But

most of the money on a min-

imum payment goes toward

interest and very little goes

towards the principal. For

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payments (2% on a declining

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would take you more than

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set amount on your credit card

each month and keep at it until

your balance is paid.

5

SUFFERING IN SILENCE.

We see thousands of Canadians

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because they are afraid it’s

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embarrassed or ashamed and

hoping that somehow their

situation will improve. The real-

ity is debt doesn’t discriminate.

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and every religion. But when a

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uation usually gets worse and

they lose access to options that

were available to them when

things weren’t as bad. The hard-

est call to make is to your local

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agency because it means admit-

ting that you’re struggling. This

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and options so that you can

make a choice that works best

for you and your family.

2

NOT KNOWING WHERE YOUR

MONEY IS GOING.

Have you ever asked yourself

“where did all of my money go

this month?” If the answer is

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are not typically broken by one-

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dishwasher going on the fritz.

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little expenses that we aren’t

paying much attention to. Think

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going to cost you anywhere from

$12 to $25 per week. Over the

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spend money than it is to write

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being in control of your choices

and staying accountable to

your budget.

4

HAVING A LACK OF SAVINGS.

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money saved for rainy days are

enormous. It can downgrade a

crisis to an inconvenience when

you have the cash to deal with

what comes your way. It can

give you peace of mind that

you’ve got the ability to handle

life events and you may even

sleep better at night.

STACY YANCHUK OLEKSY IS DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION AND

COMMUNITY AWARENESS AT THE CREDIT COUNSELLING SOCIETY.