You can’t make it through a drive-through without “do you want to upsize that?”, “can we add a muffin?”, “do you want to make a donation to….”; no, thank you, I just want the coffee I ordered!
Category: Debt
Budgeting 101 – Part 5 of 5
Catastrophic expenses are those expenses that you have no reasonable expectation of knowing that they are coming and they have a material and negative impact on your finances to the extent that you cannot recover from the impact and, in fact, may not even be able to deal with the expense in the first place..
December 2016 – Personal Bankruptcy & Consumer Proposal Statistics
Canada – Personal bankruptcies were down 0.1% and proposal filings were up 7.4% as compared to the 12-months ended December 31, 2015. New Brunswick – Personal bankruptcies were up 3.2% and proposal filings were up 1.4% as compared to the 12-months ended December 31, 2015.
Why People Delay Getting Help With Their Debt
The longer an individual waits to get help with their finances, the harder it is to help as the number of options is greatly reduced. By the time most consumers come to us the only choices left are to file personal bankruptcy or consumer proposal. If you are starting to struggle financially reach out for professional assistance before things get beyond your control.
Budgeting 101 – Part 4 of 5
Lumpy expenses, as I call them, are expenses that we know (or should know) are coming down the track and will have to be incurred but only happen once in a lifetime or only once every couple, few, 5, 10 or 15 years (or so). Lumpy expenses can cause significant stress if you have not prepared for them.
Budgeting 101 – Part 3 of 5
Like monthly expenses, most annual expenses are predictable; at least to the extent that you know they are going to happen. Sometimes the amount is uncertain or the amount is discretionary (you set it – requires some internal fortitude to manage).
Bankruptcy: My Name is Still On My Ex-Spouse’s Home
To get your name off of the mortgage, your ex-spouse will have to qualify for the mortgage, on his or her own name, when the mortgage comes up for renewal. Whether or not they qualify is up to their financial institution.
Budgeting 101 – Part 2 of 5
Monthly expenses should be the most predictable of the expense categories. They happen every month. Some are fixed and some are variable. With your household income, you should be able to comfortably cover these expenses including covering seasonal variations.
The Cost of Keeping Up With the Jones
We often see families putting themselves in difficult financial situations because they make purchase decisions based on emotions rather than considering the total cost. Sometimes, we have to take a step back and ask ourselves a few questions: what are these material things going to add to my overall quality of life? How are we going to pay for these purchases and what is the overall cost?
Budgeting 101 – Part 1 of 5
If you want to make a budget, you need to understand your expenses, short-term, medium-term and long-term. Monthly expenses can be fixed or variable. Annual expenses can be fixed and some variable.