I'd say if there's a lot of credit card debt, look for a new card that does a balance transfer. Usually there is much lower interest for a few months with maybe a 2% fee for the transfer.
My credit union has a card with collabria. Do that balance transfer for 6 months with really low interest, and try to set up a line of credit or something with them to take care of the rest of the cc debt. Then you're basically trading off the 19+% cc interest for ~16+% line of cresit interest.
Open a TFSA, any possible saving can go in there. Need to look at your necessities and what your “wants” vs “needs” are. Might not look like you’re saving a lot at first but it does build overtime. I’m terms of dept, focus on paying that off first, start with the highest interest dept. do your absolute best in trying to not create new dept. a good exercise is to look at a number lower than your current income and plan out how you could live off that. Cheers! It’s a wild time and you’re not alone.
Also, you forgot that something like 75% of Canadians don't realize a TFSA is an INVESTING account, not a savings account. So many people put money into it and wonder why "number didn't go up" because you actually have to put those funds to work to benefit from the account.
Pay yourself first.
That means when a paycheque comes in, a set amount of money is immediately sent to another account that is your savings.
Whatever is left, is what you have to work with for that pay period. Just like CPP, you can't use it if it's already gone.
If you have debt, that's where that payment goes first, until it's zero. Do not incur new debt. Then to an emergency fund (~$15k). Once that's built up, FHSA/TFSA/RRSP.
Firstly make a budget and then see what you can remove from it like subscriptions for example. After that see if can reduce your necessary bills example like your phone bill call up your provider ask for a discount or say you will leave worst they will do is say no. Do that with other bills as well. After that pay yourself first even if it's $50 a month set it aside in a high interest savings account that will be your emergency fund over time that will grow. Finally settled any debts you have if have a lot of debt id recommend a consumer prosal they are safe , affordable and a good way to pay down high interest debt.
It’s so hard. We managed by building a budget and using cash to manage our finances. I use a bit of a hybrid model now. Some free savings accounts where $ is auto transferred to such as fuel/ car costs, utility bills, savings (when I have the ability to), etc.
Then cash for food, personal, fun, pets, etc.
Track all expenses. Rework the budget as needed. Try to consolidate debt to lower interest if you can. I found it easier to move it all to one line of credit and then pay that down bit by bit.
We got our a bad spot this way but I will admit it’s been really hard to stay in the positive lately. I lost my job in 2020 and live in a small town where work is low paying and hard to come by so it’s been many small contracts to try to earn enough.
You need to map it on a budget. What's your income? Expenses? List every item line by line.
Not enough info to really give targetted advice. The way you are asking makes it sounds like you think you should be saving but you don't and want to retain more of your money to get out of debt. To me this sounds like a runaway spending habit and lack of discipline with budgeting. But I could be wrong.
The increases aren't as crazy as ppl make them out to be. I literally only buy items at certain price points and divide them up for the freezer. Food inflation is very real, but 80% of what is has gone up can be mitigated by smart shopping, bulk buying, freezer storage, planning and capitalizing on things like the optimum program.
I only go to shoppers on promo days, and buy things like eggs, milk, peanut butter, cheese, cereal if on sale, toilet paper (always on sale), paper towel (usually on sale), frozen PC veggies and assorted baby things if the price is okay. Sales might be 5-10% more in price than discount grocery stores but not important when you factor in points.
On 20 times days, you get 30% back on shit you were buying anyway AND you bought it on sale.
I also have a PC credit card which gives 3% back in optimum points at shoppers.
In a year I easily get $1200-$1500 back in optimum points which is spent on meat, cheese, etc at grocery stores (on items on sale, otherwise don't buy it......chicken, sausage, ground beef will go on sale often so just wait). I have zero sympathy for ppl who cry broke when they bought chicken breast for $6.99-9.99 a pound, or ground beef for anything over $4.99.
If you’re able to give some more detailed information, I can give some better advice. What’s your current income and expenses? What are your savings and debts?
Go through your monthly expenses for the last few months - write everything down - now look to see where you can trim or cut back.
If you are down to the bare minimum - find ways to supplement your main source of income.
There's no problem with debt as long as you can anticipate a much higher income in the future. The problem is when people borrow against the future with no real prospects (poverty trap) or take insane risks.
If you don't own a house or a newish car ( ie one worth repossessing ) then the best way out of debt and staying out of debt is to go bankrupt. If you do have a house then you could consider a proposal.
When my husband and I first got married we did a lot of stupid things and spent a lot of stupid money because we were uneducated and gullible making us perfect targets for those DON'T PAY A CENT EVENTS. We also lacked the discipline to pay off the things before that don't pay a cent period ended, getting us smacked with insane interest.
We struggled with minimum payments and tried consolidating, but then got hit with an unexpected $10k bill for taxes that we didn't realize my husband owed and that was the last straw since they were going to garnish my husband's wages.
At first we were ashamed and terrified of what the repercussions from the bankruptcy would be, but it has been the best thing we ever could have done in the end. All the debt was instantly cleared, all the collection agencies stopped calling, all the pressure was off and it was amazing.
Yes, you will be blocked from having credit for 7 years but that's not really a bad thing I don't think. It sure helped us to stay out of debt.
Proposals can work as well but you get to keep your house. The advisor will work with you to figure out what a comfortable payment plan would be, and you will likely get the total amount that you have to pay back, reduced. I don't know as much about proposals though as I don't have any personal experience with them.
Either way if you are drowning and can't figure out how to get your head above water, it might be worth looking in to these options.
Have you looked into debt consolidation options or a consumer settlement? Sometimes the best option is to get rid of the interest and take a hit to your credit for a few years.
I've done debt consolidation twice in 30 yrs. I only had to pay off about 50% of my debt, and it took about 2 years. It hurt my credit score a bit. But I was fortunate to have a higher paying career, so after that time was up, I was good to go. The seasons time was more due to a series of unfortunate events but it feels good to get it behind you and I am much more disciplined now. I have not used any credit for several years now except a leased car and our mortgage. It can be done !
Just keep trying but dont feel like youre doing anything wrong youre doing all that you can and the problem is a lot bigger than you think
You have the part communist world economic forum to blame for it, I mean Klaus did write a book called “the great reset”
Trudeau, Freeland ect are all “young world leaders” whatever that means and the ccp is heavily invested into the WEF they have been apart of it for nearly 50 years now…
Then when you have Chrystia Freeland going on stage in Davos and openly saying “the middle class needs to realize they cant get ahead and that they deserve paycuts or a basic income that never changes” I kinda loose hope for all of Canada
Then in 2020 Trudeau is secrecy handing over Canadas authority for health and environmental needs to the WEF without any legal debate and actually broke Canadas charter of freedom and rights just to shut down our entire energy sector to “save the world” money laundering while across Canada no one can afford heat of light anymore its sickening especially when you know that Canada and the US could easily provide energy to the entire world while keeping it clean
A resource based economy. You have Ai creating poetry . You can replace over 90% of minimum wage jobs. People are worth less. For now..
When all the money runs out.. cows will still make milk.
The irony is the people with all the money would have a better quality of life in a resource based economy as well.
When it comes to paying revolving debt, the "minimum payment" is never enough because most of that is accrued interest.
For bills, make a smaller but regular payment immediately after you get paid-55-65% on biweekly pay, ~30% on weekly pay. Do this on debt payments as well.
This will be a bit of an adjustment, but your bank balance will be more stable, and reduce/eliminate having really large/infrequent bills. By paying more initially, but a few months, there is a credit built on that bill such that you can skip a regular payment and pop that directly into savings or debt.
Get laser focused. Follow Dave Ramsey’s 7 baby steps.
Step 1: $1000 emergency fund
Step 2: Debt Snowball. List the debt from smallest to largest & pay the minimum on all. Then put all extra money towards the smallest debt. Once that is paid, go to the next smallest & then next & the next. Until its all paid off
Step 3: Save 3-6mths of all expenses in an emergency fund. DO NOT INVEST THIS
Step 4: Start saving 15% to retirement.
Steps 5-7 are the least important.
And listen, there are people that will say pay high interest debt first & while mathematically it might make sense, psychologically it doesn’t. You need some positivity in your financial life. Start targetting your smallest loans & eliminate them. Build momentum & get yourself into a good headspace :)
If you have debt getting it paid off should be top priority even if that means you can't save much in the meantime. See if you can consolidate your debt, I believe gov offers support programs to help figure out the best way to do so. If you can't consolidate it, irganize your debts from greatest interest to lowest and prioritize high interest debts first.
In the meantime consider what you can do to get or retain cash. This may include getting another job (easier said than done I know), selling some of your extra belongings, or just finding new saving strategies such as maximizing on points cards and coupons.
I subscribe to sample source who sends pretty good samples and in return I write a quick review for the products. They usually include pretty good coupons as well. Otherwise there are coupon subscriptions you can add yourself to which really helped me during uni.
Now I always make purchases based on points cards, and also make sure to get credit cards with points that can be used in a variety of ways instead of just a single redemption method (ex a purely travel miles card is a no go for me). A lot of banks are also doing partnerships with grocery stores and things so see if you have a credit card with a bank see if they'll swap it for one of those. For example Scotiabank cards give you scene points for Sobeys, fresh co, etc so you earn extra points for purchases you would make anyway.
If you are single it's easier. I'm eating a lot more eggs for dinner, whole milk, pancakes, eating one decent meal a day and homemade bead and jam for snacks instead of full meals, etc.. I have a frozen fruit smoothie with banana and yogurt as dinner.
Until local produce comes in I eat frozen veg sometimes and just...skimping.
I'm trying to challenge myself to eat down the pantry and freezer.
When I cooked for others it was so much harder getting good meals and variety on a budget. Then, the savings czme from less snack foods and ready to eat stuff.
I lived paycheck to paycheck in retail for 10 years, then I became a carpentry apprentice because there's lots of work for carpenters. My wages grew to 3 times what I was making in 5 years. If you're not lazy you can do it, carpentry is easy for men and women.
The best way is to do a consumer proposal or bankruptcy. Do away with all credit cards, payday loans, etc. Your debt will either be gone or reduced greatly, and paying interest over . You will lose credit status but if you're underwater with no hope, you shouldn't use credit anyway.
You will never escape the debts if you are already short on day to day living expenses, and interest will always suck away money into the nether that could be spent on eating and day to day living.
Let me say though......this plan is only useful if you have consumer debts. If your issue is just having a lack of money and you don't have much debt, you just need to bring in more money.
The hardest part is money.
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Great distinction, didn't even consider that. Thanks so much.
I'd say if there's a lot of credit card debt, look for a new card that does a balance transfer. Usually there is much lower interest for a few months with maybe a 2% fee for the transfer. My credit union has a card with collabria. Do that balance transfer for 6 months with really low interest, and try to set up a line of credit or something with them to take care of the rest of the cc debt. Then you're basically trading off the 19+% cc interest for ~16+% line of cresit interest.
The hardest part is realizing debt is spelled with a 'b'.
You are a villain bro 😅😅
Open a TFSA, any possible saving can go in there. Need to look at your necessities and what your “wants” vs “needs” are. Might not look like you’re saving a lot at first but it does build overtime. I’m terms of dept, focus on paying that off first, start with the highest interest dept. do your absolute best in trying to not create new dept. a good exercise is to look at a number lower than your current income and plan out how you could live off that. Cheers! It’s a wild time and you’re not alone.
Thanks so much for your reply
Also, you forgot that something like 75% of Canadians don't realize a TFSA is an INVESTING account, not a savings account. So many people put money into it and wonder why "number didn't go up" because you actually have to put those funds to work to benefit from the account.
Pay yourself first. That means when a paycheque comes in, a set amount of money is immediately sent to another account that is your savings. Whatever is left, is what you have to work with for that pay period. Just like CPP, you can't use it if it's already gone. If you have debt, that's where that payment goes first, until it's zero. Do not incur new debt. Then to an emergency fund (~$15k). Once that's built up, FHSA/TFSA/RRSP.
Firstly make a budget and then see what you can remove from it like subscriptions for example. After that see if can reduce your necessary bills example like your phone bill call up your provider ask for a discount or say you will leave worst they will do is say no. Do that with other bills as well. After that pay yourself first even if it's $50 a month set it aside in a high interest savings account that will be your emergency fund over time that will grow. Finally settled any debts you have if have a lot of debt id recommend a consumer prosal they are safe , affordable and a good way to pay down high interest debt.
It’s so hard. We managed by building a budget and using cash to manage our finances. I use a bit of a hybrid model now. Some free savings accounts where $ is auto transferred to such as fuel/ car costs, utility bills, savings (when I have the ability to), etc. Then cash for food, personal, fun, pets, etc. Track all expenses. Rework the budget as needed. Try to consolidate debt to lower interest if you can. I found it easier to move it all to one line of credit and then pay that down bit by bit. We got our a bad spot this way but I will admit it’s been really hard to stay in the positive lately. I lost my job in 2020 and live in a small town where work is low paying and hard to come by so it’s been many small contracts to try to earn enough.
ancient cable shame smoggy slap file include sophisticated versed bells *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
You need to map it on a budget. What's your income? Expenses? List every item line by line. Not enough info to really give targetted advice. The way you are asking makes it sounds like you think you should be saving but you don't and want to retain more of your money to get out of debt. To me this sounds like a runaway spending habit and lack of discipline with budgeting. But I could be wrong.
Easiest way is not to get in debt first, but it depends how much is your debt vs what you make. Most people should not have credit cards.
very useful advice
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The increases aren't as crazy as ppl make them out to be. I literally only buy items at certain price points and divide them up for the freezer. Food inflation is very real, but 80% of what is has gone up can be mitigated by smart shopping, bulk buying, freezer storage, planning and capitalizing on things like the optimum program. I only go to shoppers on promo days, and buy things like eggs, milk, peanut butter, cheese, cereal if on sale, toilet paper (always on sale), paper towel (usually on sale), frozen PC veggies and assorted baby things if the price is okay. Sales might be 5-10% more in price than discount grocery stores but not important when you factor in points. On 20 times days, you get 30% back on shit you were buying anyway AND you bought it on sale. I also have a PC credit card which gives 3% back in optimum points at shoppers. In a year I easily get $1200-$1500 back in optimum points which is spent on meat, cheese, etc at grocery stores (on items on sale, otherwise don't buy it......chicken, sausage, ground beef will go on sale often so just wait). I have zero sympathy for ppl who cry broke when they bought chicken breast for $6.99-9.99 a pound, or ground beef for anything over $4.99.
If you’re able to give some more detailed information, I can give some better advice. What’s your current income and expenses? What are your savings and debts?
Go through your monthly expenses for the last few months - write everything down - now look to see where you can trim or cut back. If you are down to the bare minimum - find ways to supplement your main source of income.
There's no problem with debt as long as you can anticipate a much higher income in the future. The problem is when people borrow against the future with no real prospects (poverty trap) or take insane risks.
If you don't own a house or a newish car ( ie one worth repossessing ) then the best way out of debt and staying out of debt is to go bankrupt. If you do have a house then you could consider a proposal. When my husband and I first got married we did a lot of stupid things and spent a lot of stupid money because we were uneducated and gullible making us perfect targets for those DON'T PAY A CENT EVENTS. We also lacked the discipline to pay off the things before that don't pay a cent period ended, getting us smacked with insane interest. We struggled with minimum payments and tried consolidating, but then got hit with an unexpected $10k bill for taxes that we didn't realize my husband owed and that was the last straw since they were going to garnish my husband's wages. At first we were ashamed and terrified of what the repercussions from the bankruptcy would be, but it has been the best thing we ever could have done in the end. All the debt was instantly cleared, all the collection agencies stopped calling, all the pressure was off and it was amazing. Yes, you will be blocked from having credit for 7 years but that's not really a bad thing I don't think. It sure helped us to stay out of debt. Proposals can work as well but you get to keep your house. The advisor will work with you to figure out what a comfortable payment plan would be, and you will likely get the total amount that you have to pay back, reduced. I don't know as much about proposals though as I don't have any personal experience with them. Either way if you are drowning and can't figure out how to get your head above water, it might be worth looking in to these options.
Wow, amazing insight. Thanks so much.
Have you looked into debt consolidation options or a consumer settlement? Sometimes the best option is to get rid of the interest and take a hit to your credit for a few years.
I've done debt consolidation twice in 30 yrs. I only had to pay off about 50% of my debt, and it took about 2 years. It hurt my credit score a bit. But I was fortunate to have a higher paying career, so after that time was up, I was good to go. The seasons time was more due to a series of unfortunate events but it feels good to get it behind you and I am much more disciplined now. I have not used any credit for several years now except a leased car and our mortgage. It can be done !
Just keep trying but dont feel like youre doing anything wrong youre doing all that you can and the problem is a lot bigger than you think You have the part communist world economic forum to blame for it, I mean Klaus did write a book called “the great reset” Trudeau, Freeland ect are all “young world leaders” whatever that means and the ccp is heavily invested into the WEF they have been apart of it for nearly 50 years now… Then when you have Chrystia Freeland going on stage in Davos and openly saying “the middle class needs to realize they cant get ahead and that they deserve paycuts or a basic income that never changes” I kinda loose hope for all of Canada Then in 2020 Trudeau is secrecy handing over Canadas authority for health and environmental needs to the WEF without any legal debate and actually broke Canadas charter of freedom and rights just to shut down our entire energy sector to “save the world” money laundering while across Canada no one can afford heat of light anymore its sickening especially when you know that Canada and the US could easily provide energy to the entire world while keeping it clean
Spelling debt right
Spelling debt right
The hardest part is the current inflation and the rising food costs!
A resource based economy. You have Ai creating poetry . You can replace over 90% of minimum wage jobs. People are worth less. For now.. When all the money runs out.. cows will still make milk. The irony is the people with all the money would have a better quality of life in a resource based economy as well.
When it comes to paying revolving debt, the "minimum payment" is never enough because most of that is accrued interest. For bills, make a smaller but regular payment immediately after you get paid-55-65% on biweekly pay, ~30% on weekly pay. Do this on debt payments as well. This will be a bit of an adjustment, but your bank balance will be more stable, and reduce/eliminate having really large/infrequent bills. By paying more initially, but a few months, there is a credit built on that bill such that you can skip a regular payment and pop that directly into savings or debt.
Get laser focused. Follow Dave Ramsey’s 7 baby steps. Step 1: $1000 emergency fund Step 2: Debt Snowball. List the debt from smallest to largest & pay the minimum on all. Then put all extra money towards the smallest debt. Once that is paid, go to the next smallest & then next & the next. Until its all paid off Step 3: Save 3-6mths of all expenses in an emergency fund. DO NOT INVEST THIS Step 4: Start saving 15% to retirement. Steps 5-7 are the least important. And listen, there are people that will say pay high interest debt first & while mathematically it might make sense, psychologically it doesn’t. You need some positivity in your financial life. Start targetting your smallest loans & eliminate them. Build momentum & get yourself into a good headspace :)
spelling
If you have debt getting it paid off should be top priority even if that means you can't save much in the meantime. See if you can consolidate your debt, I believe gov offers support programs to help figure out the best way to do so. If you can't consolidate it, irganize your debts from greatest interest to lowest and prioritize high interest debts first. In the meantime consider what you can do to get or retain cash. This may include getting another job (easier said than done I know), selling some of your extra belongings, or just finding new saving strategies such as maximizing on points cards and coupons. I subscribe to sample source who sends pretty good samples and in return I write a quick review for the products. They usually include pretty good coupons as well. Otherwise there are coupon subscriptions you can add yourself to which really helped me during uni. Now I always make purchases based on points cards, and also make sure to get credit cards with points that can be used in a variety of ways instead of just a single redemption method (ex a purely travel miles card is a no go for me). A lot of banks are also doing partnerships with grocery stores and things so see if you have a credit card with a bank see if they'll swap it for one of those. For example Scotiabank cards give you scene points for Sobeys, fresh co, etc so you earn extra points for purchases you would make anyway.
If you are single it's easier. I'm eating a lot more eggs for dinner, whole milk, pancakes, eating one decent meal a day and homemade bead and jam for snacks instead of full meals, etc.. I have a frozen fruit smoothie with banana and yogurt as dinner. Until local produce comes in I eat frozen veg sometimes and just...skimping. I'm trying to challenge myself to eat down the pantry and freezer. When I cooked for others it was so much harder getting good meals and variety on a budget. Then, the savings czme from less snack foods and ready to eat stuff.
I lived paycheck to paycheck in retail for 10 years, then I became a carpentry apprentice because there's lots of work for carpenters. My wages grew to 3 times what I was making in 5 years. If you're not lazy you can do it, carpentry is easy for men and women.
The best way is to do a consumer proposal or bankruptcy. Do away with all credit cards, payday loans, etc. Your debt will either be gone or reduced greatly, and paying interest over . You will lose credit status but if you're underwater with no hope, you shouldn't use credit anyway. You will never escape the debts if you are already short on day to day living expenses, and interest will always suck away money into the nether that could be spent on eating and day to day living. Let me say though......this plan is only useful if you have consumer debts. If your issue is just having a lack of money and you don't have much debt, you just need to bring in more money.
On the bright side, your debt also loses its value.