Financial literacy key to overcoming debt struggles
By Lethbridge Herald on January 21, 2022.
Alejandra Pulido-Guzman
LETHBRIDGE HERALD
After the Christmas holidays many worry about the financial implications of their spending, especially when money is scarce.
For many, this comes from lack of financial literacy and bad spending habits, but ABC Life Literacy Canada has learning materials that offer key tips to save money and improve finances for adults and families.
“One of the big programs that we run is our money matters program, a free introductory financial literacy program,” said Elizabeth Robinson, director of programs for ABC Life Literacy Canada.
She said the program is aimed at helping people to build their financial confidence and reducing their stress.
Money Matters is a free introductory financial literacy program for adult learners, newcomers to Canada, Indigenous Peoples and people with diverse abilities.
“We’ve reached more than 52,000 adults across the country with help from our founding sponsor TD Bank group,” said Robinson.
Robinson said some of the tips they have for people to help them come out of debt includes moving their spending to cash if they have trouble managing credit card debt, because it’s a clear and obvious picture of how much money they have.
“If you have multiple credit cards with debt that you’re trying to pay down, you might think of things like looking at the interest rates of the cards and pay the one with the highest interest rate first,” said Robinson.
She said this is because that is where people lose the most money, from paying interest.
Robinson said that another way they help people learn to pay off their debt, is by encouraging them to get creative with their resources.
“Maybe you got a gift card for Christmas, that is something that you can use to help reduce your grocery bill or the expenses that you need for your children at school,” said Robinson.
Robinson said they work with learning organizations across the country including several in Alberta to offer workshops on financial literacy topics like spending plans, shopping, borrowing money and savings.
“The people who could benefit from a financial literacy workshop should go on our website abcmoneymatters.ca and it’s great information there that you can download,” said Robinson.
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