Tips on making ends meet in a world where ‘everything is costing more’

globalnews.ca:

This story is part of a Global News series called ‘On the Brink,’ which profiles people who are struggling with the rising cost of living. In this story, a financial advisor and an insolvency trustee give tips to reduce spending and debt.

As the cost of living continues to rise, a Halifax-area financial advisor is offering up tips to help families cut back on extra costs.

Angela Mercier, the owner of Mercier Mediation & Financial Services, said she’s seeing an increase in people seeking her services.

“I have clients that are coming to me that work with the banks, work with other financial advisors, and they’re just asking for a second opinion and what they’re looking for is, ‘How do we make our dollar go father?’” she said.

“And that’s not an easy answer, because if we had a simple math equation that we could solve, then no one would be in this predicament.”

She said she’s even seeing people who make “good money” struggling to keep their heads above water.

“The reality is that everything is costing more, and yet the incomes for Canadians are not going up as fast as the cost,” she said.

But still, she said there are a lot of little things people can do to cut costs where they can.

“I use the analogy of a boat,” she said. “So you have holes in the boat, and there’s money coming out of your bank account, and how can we plug the holes? What can we do to help ourselves?”

The first thing people should do, she said, is do a “in-depth investigation of their spending” to see where their money is going.

“What are we spending on cable? What are we paying on our cell phones? What are we paying to Nova Scotia Power? What are we paying for oil? What are we paying for a mortgage?” she said.

“And is there somewhere that we can