On Strike?…. Keeping Up Your Financial Obligations. |
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When strike threatens, get financially prepared ahead of time. With the talk of a possible strike for support staff workers at local colleges across the Province we would like to offer some advice in hopes that it will help those that will be affected should this strike take place.
The majority of Ontario residents have a mortgage. Most people do not have the financial means to keep paying all their bills including your mortgage payment, hydro, water, heating bills for any length of time with only one household income or no household income during a strike.
The first thing you should do is determine whether your mortgage is insured through Genworth. If it is you should contact them and tell them that your place of employment is currently on strike. They have a default management program to assist homeowners during times of financial hardship. Currently CMHC does not offer a product like this. You may also want to consider changing your weekly or bi-weekly mortgage payments to monthly just until the strike is settled. Historically a Line of Credit has lower interest rates than credit cards, so if you are able to transfer some of your credit card balances to your Line of Credit it will reduce your rate and you maybe able to only make interest only payments for the time being. This is just one more way to reduce monthly debt obligations. Another way to lower your interest rate on your credit cards is to call the credit card company and tell them that you want your rate reduced. Often they will do it for you just for asking.
Look at all your monthly bills all at once and call creditors to see if they will offer you relief by means of interest only payments until the end of the strike. You might have to agree not to use any more credit for the time being. Create a family budget and trim everything that is not considered an essential expense. As much as food is essential, eating out is not. You might have to eat at home more often, but just think of all the money you are saving by cooking yourself. Try to do all your errands in one planned trip to save gas. Every little bit helps. You may also be able to refinance your home and consolidate some or all of your debt before it gets out of control. Don’t wait until you have used up all your available credit and your only option is Consumer Proposal or Bankruptcy. Contact us to discuss your own situation without obligation and we can e-mail you a free copy of our Electronic Budget to help you. Elfie Hayes as seen on the CTV National News, Rogers TV, published in RENO & Décor Magazine and profiled in Canadian Mortgage Professional Magazine.
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