With escalating house prices and rentals in Squamish, it鈥檚 no wonder many lie awake at night worrying about money.
According to a study last year by the Financial Planning Standards Council, 42 per cent of Canadians rank money as the highest stressor in their life, with 51 per cent of women losing sleep over it.
Sarah Butler, a mother of three who is pregnant with her fourth child, says constantly thinking about money can be emotionally exhausting. Butler is not her real name, as she does not want to embarrass her teenage children by speaking publicly about their financial struggles.
鈥淚t鈥檚 on my mind all the time and sometimes keeps me awake at night, especially if we鈥檙e coming to the end of the money, waiting for it to come in,鈥� she says. 鈥淚鈥檒l know we need $50 for gas, and milk and bread, and something for lunch and dinner. I鈥檒l be planning that out in my head as I try to sleep.... I don鈥檛 think I鈥檓 ever not thinking about it.鈥�
Butler has been unable to work full-time since one of her teens required home schooling more than a decade ago. Her husband works full-time and they own a 1,000-square-foot apartment but, with a growing family, things are tight.
It鈥檚 been worse, she says. Her youngest teen was just six months old when her husband was laid off and, although he found employment, things were tough.
鈥淚 look at where we are now and I compare it to then and remind myself that things are better, because having two toddlers on a minimum-wage job is just untenable,鈥� she says, explaining that, at the time, they were helped by both the food bank and Christmas hampers program.
Family and friends offered support but the reality was 鈥� and still is 鈥� that they go without things like vision or dental care, she says.
She budgets for her grocery shopping with meticulous precision and watches her bank account like a hawk, sometimes logging in several times daily.
Food budgeting can be tricky, she says, as her teens can easily eat a loaf of bread a day and drink a gallon of milk. 鈥淚鈥檓 always trying to rein them in but they鈥檒l have four pieces of bread and two glasses of milk. I just try and explain to them if you eat all the bread today, there won鈥檛 be bread tomorrow because I can鈥檛 buy bread every day.鈥�
Kim Wilson also carefully plans her shopping for her family of four.
In April 2010, following the Olympic construction boom, her partner鈥檚 work in that industry dried up and he quit his job. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 when I learned to do this,鈥� she says, gesturing towards flyers and coupons.
Her children were around 11 years old; she was working part-time at the Whistler Health Care Centre and their grocery budget was about $150 a week.
Things were really tight for a while, she says, and although they both work full-time and feel more comfortable financially now, she continues to be a shrewd shopper
and estimates it saves thousands of dollars each year.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 buy anything unless it鈥檚 on sale,鈥� she says. 鈥淚f I鈥檓 going to get low on something soon, I start watching and when I find the lowest price over a two-week period, I buy it.鈥�
She unzips a well ordered folder. 鈥淭his is my coupon book. It鈥檚 running a bit low but, at one time, this was full,鈥� and explains she especially loves finding high-priced coupons for new items. 鈥淚f it鈥檚 a new razor, you鈥檒l often find a $5-off coupon, then you usually find them on sale in the store because they鈥檙e trying to promote it. So I combine the lowest prices I can find with the highest-value coupon.鈥�
She finds coupons on food packaging, online (sites such as websaver.ca and savealoonie.com), in-store and on flyers.
She also follows companies such as Dove and Kellogg鈥檚 on Facebook to stay on top of their offers and samples.
For both moms, visiting Shoppers Drug Mart is always worth the effort, especially on bonus weekends like the one recently where spending $75 netted an additional 18,500 reward points (worth $25).
鈥淪hoppers Drug Mart points have been the most lucrative for me, by far,鈥� says Butler, explaining that the greatest rewards come from collecting the maximum points before trading them in, as that鈥檚 when they鈥檙e worth the most.
Combine this trade-in with coupons and a promotion day when your points are worth more, and you could walk away with shopping well over $200 and pay only for the tax, explains Wilson, who says that one of her best shops was an event like this when she bought 116 items (including expensive products such as razor blades) and paid only $41 in tax.
Both Wilson and Butler have budgeted successfully for years without professional financial advice, but David Sweeney, an investment advisor and financial planner at HollisWealth, says even when money is tight, financial advice can make a huge difference.
One of the greatest benefits an advisor can offer, explains Sweeney, is unemotional, unbiased financial advice, which can mean the difference between escaping the debt cycle and planning for the future or continuing down the same path. But agreeing to a plan and sticking to it are essential, he adds.
The first step, though, is talking honestly about money, he explains 鈥� something we鈥檙e often reluctant to do. Not talking about it can sometimes be one of the reasons families may miss out on available support within the community, says Lisa McIntosh, Child Care Resource and Referral (CCRR) consultant with Sea to Sky Community Services. She oversees many early childhood programs including the no-fee-based Mother Goose and CCRR鈥檚 Thursday morning play group, both of which are fun ways for families and children to connect with one another and with community professionals.
The difficulty is, she says, 鈥淲e see the families that are connected and have networks already鈥� which is fine, but we鈥檙e not getting to the people that need it.鈥�
Part of that, she feels, may be the isolation that comes with financial woe and the courage it takes to ask for help.
The community support is there, she says, and Sea to Sky Community Services (with more than 50 programs) is a great place to start. 鈥淏ut it can be really intimidating to walk into an office... and just kind of say, 鈥業 need help.鈥欌��
She also recommends programs such as the Healthy Pregnancy Outreach Program (a weekly, no-fee drop-in group for pregnant women or those whose child is under six months old), as well as StrongStart (a free daily play group for families with children up to school age).
鈥淭hey鈥檙e avenues to meet families and develop relationships, and to use those as stepping stones to hopefully find help in other ways if needed.鈥�
If support is needed, McIntosh encourages families to reach out, and she explains there are many more programs available.
