‘Materialism doesn’t create happiness’: Tips for managing your money after Christmas

For a number of Canadians living paycheque to paycheque is a reality of life. In January after traveling, or spending money on Christmas gifts, or maybe binge shopping on boxing day some may find themselves a little behind where they’d like to be financially.

Kevin Kranzler at Kranzler Financial Services has seen a number of different ways people can get themselves in trouble financially.

“Unfortunately I’ve seen situations where people in their early 20’s think the credit limit is free money,” Kranzler said. “So a $10, 000 credit limit doesn’t mean you get to go spend $10, 000 and it was free. You have to pay that back.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Unfortunately I've seen situations where people in their early 20's think the credit limit is free money," Kranzler said. "So a $10, 000 credit limit doesn't mean you get to go spend $10, 000 and it was free. You have to pay that back."

He does say there are a number of ways to better manage your finances. Kranzler provided five main points for people to think about when making financial decisions.

1. It may seem obvious, but don’t spend more than you earn. Live within your means
2. Create a budget to help understand cash flow.
3. Understand how debt works and how much interest charges can actually cost.
4. Have a specific savings goal in mind, using automatic deposits for savings and investments.
5. If you don’t know what to do ask for help

Kranzler would prefer people not put any money down on credit cards unless it can be paid off at the end of the month, but he knows sometimes it’s inevitable.

“You can consolidate your debt at a lower interest rate and then have one specific debt cost per month and work at paying that off,” Kranzler said. “Or just completely put as much money as you can available to pay off the debt.”

He also believes in this era of automatic debit and credit cards, people can lose focus of how much they are actually spending.

“You can ask a lot of people, what do you spend on food a month?” Kranzler said. “And they’ll give you an idea and nine times out of ten it’s not going to be the right number. You really need to pay attention to spending habits.”

At times, navigating financials can seem complicated, but Kranzler believes it doesn’t have to be.

“If you don’t have the cash to pay for something you shouldn’t be buying it. It’s that simple. Materialism doesn’t create happiness.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "If you don't have the cash to pay for something you shouldn't be buying it. It's that simple. Materialism doesn't create happiness."