With our federal and provincial fathers, and now mothers,
taking more from our pay checks before it get into our pockets, people are
looking to tighten their belts. Although the economic outlook is predicted rosy
for the global economy later in the fourth quarter, and for Canada as a nation,
we won’t feel the effects on our pockets for a while.
We will look at putting aside any extra money to
pay-down your debts and live debt-free using the Debt Snowball method. It’s not going to be easy but the increase in mental well-being
will be worth it.
Look
over your budget, to see exactly where your money is going, and if you can cut
some costs to save while tightening your financial belt.
1.
When was the last time you looked at your
budget? Do you even have a budget? The trick to budgeting is making a realistic
budget not an idealistic one. You have to be able to live up to the budget you
create and it has to warrant your needs, not your wants.
2.
Pay yourself. After you have budgeted your
monthly expenses against your income and your debt payment plan, you will be
left with a surplus. No matter how small, don’t get discouraged. Your savings
will grow.
Whatever is left over and you
have allocated for your emergency fund, your long-term savings or your RRSP,
take it out first. Do you have your paychecks deposited into your bank account?
Consider a pre-authorized transfer to your savings accounts, that way it’ll be
gone and saved before you can get to it.
3.
Leave the
debit and credit cards at home, and switch to a cash system. Your weekly
grocery, gas, and entertainment allocation can easily be controlled, by using
cash. Keep a daily log of spending so you can see where your cash goes. Once
your cash is gone, so is your weekly spending, it may take a week or a month to
get used to it but it will save you dollars and sense down the road.
The key to tightening your belt is taking baby steps, if you
create the idealistic budget, save and repay your debts too fast you will fall
financially short and be discouraged. Baby steps means trimming your budget
slowly, balancing the ideas listed here with your debt management, and you are
more likely to succeed.
Family Day may have passed us again this year but there is no shortage of family events in the Niagara Region. Whether you prefer to stay indoors or bundle up for some outdoor time, there's something for everyone.
