5 Tips To Help In A Tight Economy

No matter how you look at it, the economy is going through some difficult times, and many Canadians are facing tighter budgets than they have seen in a long time.  The following are a few tips that can help people manage their finances through the ups and downs ahead.

Watch out for high interest rate debt
As of Oct 31, 2007, there were over 64.1 million credit cards in circulation in Canada.  Many of these cards charge standard interest rates of 18% or more.  The way most credit card payments work is that your monthly payment will cover the interest charged and 3% of the balance of the card.  If you have a balance of $2,000 on your card, and you make the minimum monthly payment, this means that after 5 years you would have paid over $830 dollars in interest, and still have $321 left to pay on the card.