(Cue movie announcer voice:) In a world where inflation runs high, interest rates are spiking and consumer cash is melting away, one man/woman/person must embark on a journey to change their financial situation. Things are about to get TRACKED… (okay, enough of that trope)
Seriously though, it’s financially tough out there. Our paycheques aren’t stretching as far as they used to, due to the rising costs of, well, everything. And the cost of borrowing is way up, too. It sucks – there’s no other way to say it.
And it’s a massive cause of anxiety and mental health issues for many people. Worry and fear corrodes our mental wellness.
There’s no easy way around these issues. But there are things we can do to try and alleviate the mental weight. Last weekend, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland made a political gaffe when she seemed flippant about cutting her Disney+ subscription as a way to save money. For those of us NOT making nearly $300,000 a year as she does, it seemed out-of-touch and trite.
But, politics and privilege aside, the concept of tracking our spending during tough financial times is vital to making our dollar stretch further. Are we maximizing our money? Are there things we could cut that maybe have slipped under our radar? Could we consolidate debt payments into a line of credit at a lower interest rate?
There are no easy fixes for a lot of financial situations. Tracking spending is a pain, but it can be helpful. And it has the mental health benefit of feeling like we’re taking action and control of our situations.
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Each week, ICBA’s Jordan Bateman reflects on what we’ve learned as we participate in ICBA’s Workplace Wellness Program. ICBA’s Workplace Wellness Program is helping more than 80 companies and 8,000+ construction professionals better understand mental health. This program is free for all ICBA members – check out icba.ca/wellness for details.
