Inflation down slightly yesterday but food costs still soaring. Catch my segment with CTV News Marcia MacMillan as I discussed 5 tips for finding more money in your budget. https://lnkd.in/gsdxkpXc
Here's my tips:
- Try my 30 day anti budget to track your spending – see where you can trim the fat (switch to no fee banking, call up your bank to move from a 24% rate credit card to a 12% rate, etc.
- Look for free money from the CRA – it’s estimated 10-12% of Canadians haven’t filed their taxes. If that’s you, you’re missing out on tax benefits. Also, Canada is the only country in the world that you can go back on your taxes 10 years to see if you’ve missed benefits or credits that could generate a refund. A company called Family Tax Recovery does this for you with AI and smart tech and it doesn’t cost you anything unless they get a refund for you.
- Find free money from your company – a report by Sun Life estimates that employees are leaving $3-4 billion dollars on the table each year in free money by not taking advantage of employer benefits.
- Start a side hustle to bring in more money – 31% of Canadians had a side hustle during the pandemic. And it’s never been easier to start an online business. Square announced recently that it partnered with Afterpay’s BNPL – so as the economy tightens, you can even offer this option to your customers (i.e. if you’re starting a wholistic pet food company or selling your jewelry on online)
- Look to your million dollar ticket – your career. Even if you only earned the average salary, you’ll bring in millions of dollars during your life time. When was the last time you looked at your career as an investment? Are you spending time and money on upping your skills, knowledge and experience? Did you know you can use your RRSP (for you or your spouse) to go back to school for example? How much could that recession-proof you or bring in more income?