Resolutions that add value

Along with the various wellness projects, the promises to manage one’s finances healthily are undoubtedly among the most popular resolutions for those who set themselves challenges at the start of the year. Here’s something to inspire your New Year’s resolutions.

Use an anti-waste app

If you want to adopt more responsible behaviors in general, including practices that prevent food waste is a great place to start. And they reduce the grocery budget.

Many groups, retailers and apps offer less fresh or surplus foods at a discount.

An example that we like: Too good to gowhich allows you to collect baskets of fresh produce (often to be cooked at the time of reception!), pastries and breads which add a little extra to the weekly grocery shop or even a restaurant meal which warms up a late busy day, at low prices.

Track your spending

No matter your income, you need to know where your money is going.

“I’ve been doing my budget for several years and I continue to monitor my expenses at least once a week,” confides Annie Lauzon-Duguay, who launched Listes etc. two years ago, which notably offers tools for making a budget. budget.

“We have the unfortunate habit of forgetting what we spend,” she adds. Seeing it brings awareness. »

An example: we buy groceries for $150 and we calculate that this is the amount spent this week, without adding the two or three small purchases made on the way home.

Choose to save, in the right place

This could be to increase your mortgage payments or to pay off expensive debts.

“Money is not a bottomless pit, you have to make the best choices with savings or surplus,” says Caroline Marion, financial planner, notary and trust manager at Desjardins, who advises using the application of the Quebec Financial Planning Institute to determine its priorities.

The tool is neutral, she explains, and allows you to set clear objectives, for yourself, at the moment. Paying off certain debts can be more attractive than saving. The idea is to increase your wealth, with the best strategy according to your situation.

Do your mandate…and your cleaning!

“Since during the holiday season, we have some downtime, I advise people to review or write up their protection mandate,” says notary Caroline Marion.

“Everyone over 18 should have a warrant,” she said. We do not choose when we will become incapacitated, if we become so. »

The same goes for the will made a long time ago and which no longer holds up at all.

And while cleaning up, Caroline Marion advises entrepreneurs to update their papers: are your company’s resolutions ready? Dividends to be paid?

Give, regularly

Three out of four Quebecers have made a philanthropic gesture over the past year, reveals a survey whose results were revealed in November by the Mallet Institute. Donations of money and objects are the most common gestures.

Another study by the same group estimated the annual amount donated by Quebecers at $138. And yet, we sometimes miss it, for practical reasons. The solution: recurring and scheduled donations.

Several organizations offer them, from the SPCA to United Way to smaller local groups, which makes the whole process much easier.

Think about your worth – and your values

Saving as much as establishing where you are going to give requires an exercise in introspection. Caroline Marion highly recommends it.

“What do I really need in the next year? », asks the financial planner at Desjardins, who goes further and suggests broadening the assessment of finances to that of… oneself!

“Trying to determine your values ​​is an extremely difficult exercise to do, sometimes painful,” says the woman who has nevertheless done it, for herself.

How ? First, there are online tools of all kinds, but you can also do it this way: “We start with 50 values ​​and we reduce, little by little,” says Caroline Marion, “until we have only 5.” Good luck !

See a financial expert

Perhaps you dread meeting with a budget advisor or financial planner more than visiting the dentist.

This is often the case, confirms Isabelle Thibeault, of ACEF du Sud-Ouest de Montréal. “People are ashamed,” she said. However, this is not to be expected: the relationship with money is rarely simple, even twisted, for many reasons. “No one is safe from financial difficulties, whether you are a doctor or an airplane pilot,” says the budget advisor, who recommends turning to credible and independent experts.

ACEFs (cooperative family economics associations) are found throughout Quebec and offer budgetary advice and financial training for everyone.

Start your emergency fund

If you still don’t have one, now is the time to get started:

“People see it as bigger than it is, because we advise putting aside three to six months of expenses,” says Annie Lauzon-Duguay, who specifies that we are not building a fund. emergency overnight. Anyone can start by transferring small, realistic amounts weekly.

“The bigger the cushion, the better we sleep,” says Annie Lauzon-Duguay, who is also a data analyst in a financial institution. “Of course you have to have the discipline,” she adds, “not to use it for something else. »