Are your post holiday bills calling out to you from your kitchen drawer? Just like in the commercials aired during the holiday season, the bills are whispering in your ear “interest payments”. Are the bill piles causing you stress? Well breathe, you’re not alone.
A new survey from Equifax Canada shows that 85 per cent of those polled say they plan to make significant financial changes this year. Paying down debt is priority for 38 per cent of Canadians while 37 per cent are focussing on saving more money. Equifax Canada’s vice-president of personal solutions, Tim Ashby, said in a news release on Monday, “At this time of year, many people are certainly suffering from a case of the credit card blues”.
There should be a song for credit card blues. I’m sure we can all sing the chorus emphatically. What we can do to overcome the blues is to make a game plan for paying down the debts. Decide what your long term goals are and then short term goals. Your long term goals could be buying a home, planning for retirement or becoming debt free by a certain date. Your short term goals could be following a reasonable household budget and prioritizing your debts and creditors you owe. You should concentrate on paying down high-interest credit card debt first.
Equifax’s survey showed 62 per cent of respondents consider themselves to be financially fit, follow a budget and are concerned over growing debt levels. It also showed that men (66 per cent of respondents) are more likely to consider themselves financially fit than women (58 per cent). It would be interesting to see how indebted these individuals are because many people have different attitudes concerning debt. One person may be comfortable with owing $25,000 of non-mortgage debt, while others may not be comfortable with owing $5000 of non-mortgage debt.
So what does it mean to be “financially fit”? For some it means monthly income outweighs monthly debts and expenses so you are always in the black. For others it may mean the debts owed, even if they are in excess of monthly income, are merited through investment planning. Ask yourself what your definition of financial fitness is.
Part of being financially fit is sticking to a budget. The Equifax survey showed women sticking to a budget more so than men: 67 per cent versus 57 per cent. Creating a budget is probably the easiest task a person can do to become financially fit, and yet it is the hardest one to maintain. You don’t need to be a financial adviser or investment planner to make a budget, but you need to plan well, know your spending habits and attain the proper amount of will power to help you stay in the black and maybe even save along the way.
The cure for debt hangover is tackling that debt and making a plan for you to stay in the black. Then you can concentrate on more ways to improve your financial fitness. Do yourself a favor and kick debt out of your house. We have the plan to help you do it..
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