MoneyFit calendar acts as a personal trainer for your finances

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Getting in shape is a pretty common New Year’s resolution. But the health of your cheque book should be of equal concern.

A new push from MoneySense magazine aims to help balance your bank account. The interactive MoneyFit calendar is like a personal trainer for your finances.

“It will monitor all kinds of things that you should be [if you’re] trying to get fit and do well, regarding your finances, this year. Getting your debt under control, maybe starting a savings program, getting a little investment portfolio started, ironing out your insurance needs, and really solidifying what you need,” says Julie Cazzin, a senior editor with the magazine.

She says getting financially fit comes with a lot of questions.

“Are you earning more than you’re spending? How can you tighten your budget so you can actually have a little bit at the end of the month to put into savings? Are you paying down your debt?”

Cazzin adds the debt question is one of the toughest ones to tackle, if you want to keep that resolution all year long.

“People ask themselves, ‘Am I paying the right debt? Am I paying enough? Should I actually be beefing up some debt payments? Maybe credit card debt payments over line of credit payments?’ A lot of people try to pay down debt and have a savings plan.”

She says that’s where a lot of people make the wrong decision.

“We try to encourage them to do the debt payment down first and then start the savings plan. And we show them how to do that through pre-authorized payments themselves so that they can set it and forget it. Once they’ve put it in place, a certain amount every month is taken off of their paycheck and it goes into a specific account. And at the end of the year, they’re often amazed at how well they can do financially.”

Cazzin says a lot of people have good intentions when it comes to financial health and just need a little guidance.