This is where my book comes in handy

My ten tips for financial health

1. Evaluate your spending habits for a month, list all of your regular commitments or contracts that are annual or monthly, your debt service payments, interest rates on debts and essentials like groceries and gas or medical. How much is left over and who is entitled to spend the remainder? Is it split 50/50 or 80/20 between you and your spouse or partner? Is that fair?    This is where my book comes in handy
2. Know what you have, how many accounts, what assets you own, what debts you owe, what you insure and what's valuable, and where it's stored, check your will, power of attorney and representation agreements are current, review beneficiaries on insurance, RSP or RIF contracts ....             This is where my book comes in handy
3. Evaluate financial contracts to determine if they are necessary and cancel any that are not (cell phone, internet, phone, cable, debt, mortgage, credit, bank & investment accounts, organic grocery delivery, lawn, building, sprinkler, spa or pool maintenance, gym memberships, insurance plans)
4. Develop a plan to manage your paperwork, sort out your paperwork into account numbers, one account or asset per file. You'll find that most of your paper is from an account or asset, whether it's a bank, credit card, investment, vehicle, house, pension plan, utility provider or cell phone.
5. Create a budget and a plan to live within that budget. Sort your cash out into five major categories with sub-categories. The five major categories are annual, monthly, essential, debt service and remainder. 

1. Refinance debt at a lower rate of interest, investigate lines of credit with credit cards attached instead of credit cards
2. Make a long term plan (cash flow till you die requires date of death prediction)
3. Prepare some 'what-if' I scenarios, like what if we sold the house and rented, experienced a decline in health , what if we cashed in the GIC's and paid off the credit cards?
4. Evaluate what you are invested in, and if it's not growing, get out,consider debt repayment versus savings in tax deferred accounts and definitely consider TFSA's
5. Shift your attitude about consumption of everything from water, your footprint on the earth, your food and other consumables from sources within 100 miles, living even more green and within your means