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By Charles Lefebvre

Debt

Trustee offers tips to stay financially healthy in 2020

Jan 2, 2020 | 5:28 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB —A local credit counselling service says the start of a new year is the right time to get your financial house in order.

Brian Veres, a licensed insolvency trustee with BDO Canada, says his company is typically busiest in January, as Christmas bills are coming in.

“Generally people like to spend maybe a bit more than they should at Christmas time,” he said on Thursday. “You have the expenses of putting on dinners and travelling. It’s an expensive month. Certainly expenses are higher, and there is a bigger debt load to deal with in January.”

Veres says not having your debt under control can have an impact on your physical and mental health.

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“It gnaws at you, it’s insidious, and it’s a form of stress,” he said.

He says the most important thing people can do to is to sit down and create a household budget and not stray from it.

The budget should account for your monthly expenses, such as bills and food. Veres says it should also include plans to save money in the event of an emergency.

He says having a goal, such as saving for a vacation or retirement, can make it easier to budget.

When it comes to credit cards, Veres says you have to be careful with them, as it could make debt problems worse.

“The world wants you to spend money, the world doesn’t want you to save money,” he said. “We’re in a society where spending money and using credit is accepted as normal, and it causes problems. In my eyes, if you can totally minimize your use of credit, that would be ideal.

“Even for emergencies, if you have to use it, pay it off quick, because interest rates are high on credit cards. Credit cards, and car loans and payday loans are all the things that feed into having a problem down the road if you’re not careful.”