Asking for help reducing debt in Ontario shouldn’t be a source of embarrassment. The stigma that today’s society places on people struggling financially is truly ironic considering that society is the one of the largest contributing reasons to why people find themselves in debt in the first place.

To explain; one modern societal norm is how credit is widely available to anyone and can be obtained without having to understand how it works, how expensive it can be, and how it can negatively impact a person’s financial future. Additionally, society places huge pressure on people to give the appearance of being wealthy, often spending more money than they can afford simply to maintain this impression.

The first step to help reducing debit is to become financially literate. Being able to manage your finances responsibly will also help to avoid the feeling that you need to appear financially sound when you are not.

Being financially literate means understanding how money works. The best help in reducing debt in Ontario is often as simple as creating a budget and sticking to it.

Budget Accordingly to Save Money

It’s surprising to know how many Canadians aren’t financially literate. Not only have they never taken the time to look over their past spending habits, they don’t understand the importance of having a budget, or even how to create one. Luckily, there are many free resources online to show you how to make a budget. A thorough budget should reflect your living situation and factor in the following components:

• Family status – are you single or in a domestic partnership? Do you have children?
• Age – (A good budget should be one that is helping you toward some type of goal; therefore your age is relevant.) Are you young enough to have just entered the workforce or are you older with retirement considerations?
• Work situation – are you working full time? Part time? Currently unemployed?
• Residence – Do you own your home? Do you rent?
• Goal – (As mentioned above, a good budget should be created with a goal in mind) Do you want to get out of debt? Do you want to save extra money? Do you want to see where you can trim expenses?

Once you have gone over past spending habits and created a budget that allows you take charge of your finances you can then begin to live within your means, and save money to put towards reducing debt.

Once your debt is gone, you can then start placing any savings towards goals for the future like a holiday fund or retirement savings.

Saving money monthly by staying under budget within your categories in order to put more money towards your savings can be a very simple endeavour if you know where to look.

For instance, utility bills always provide excellent tips on how to reduce usage and save money. For food and groceries, flyers and instore promotions will detail sales, and coupons.

Shop Accordingly to Save Money

Another way to save money is to look into free discount memberships. Shop2Save offers wholesale volume discount savings to members.

They also offer cashback rewards on both everyday purchases and essential services like real estate transactions and arranging home and automobile insurance.

Help for reducing debt in Ontario can be as simple as a proper budget and smart shopping.

Get started today!