Kathy Le reports on how Canadians are using tools like budgeting apps to stretch their household budgets, even as inflation begins to cool. <\/p>\n
As the cost of living continues to strain household budgets across Canada, more people are looking for ways to better manage their money \u2014 even as inflation begins to ease.<\/p>\n
In Calgary, Christen Oram says the impact is felt most at the checkout.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve really noticed it at the supermarket,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything has gone up. Insurance, house insurance, car insurance, gas prices.\u201d<\/p>\n
The financial pressure prompted Oram and her family to take a closer look at their finances and adopt stricter budgeting habits to stay on track, including using a budgeting app known as Waypoint Budget.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe kind of got off track, and then with this environment, we really needed to become diligent,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt almost feels like a second job trying to manage your money so you can make ends meet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oram is among a growing number of Canadians turning to digital tools to help manage their finances.<\/p>\n
Waypoint was created by Calgary-based software developers Ahmad Raza Jamal and Florencia Chomski, who say their own financial challenges inspired them to build it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve built Waypoint Budget out of a personal need,\u201d Chomski said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe came back from getting engaged in Italy, and we sat down to assess our goals \u2014 saving for a house, saving for the wedding \u2014 and it was quite a sobering realization. Our goals were a little bit further out than we thought.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jamal said the couple began by tracking their own spending more closely, searching for ways to cut costs and save more.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast year is when I really started to feel that whole impact,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cCosts were creeping up every month. We just never knew if we\u2019d have enough for the next month.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both developers by trade, Jamal and Chomski combined their skills to create a tool they say is simple and accessible.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re both software developers,\u201d Chomski said.<\/p>\n
\u201cJamal focuses more on the technical side, while I focus on user experience design.\u201d<\/p>\n
She added that many existing tools didn\u2019t meet their needs.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of the more popular ones on the market didn\u2019t really fully fit. They were either too complicated or too simple.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since launching earlier this year, the app has seen steady growth, something the pair says reflects a broader need.<\/p>\n
\u201cLiving costs are rising, wages are not keeping up,\u201d Chomski said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe see a lot of Canadians are anxious about money.\u201d<\/p>\n
For those trying to regain control of their finances, Chomski says the first step is simple.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery time you make an expense, you have to write it down,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing disciplined for a month or two, just to see where you can cut back, is the perfect way to start.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Oram, sticking to a plan is already helping ease some of the stress and she remains optimistic everyday life will eventually become more affordable.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like we are going to turn around,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really hope so, especially for the younger generation coming up.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kathy Le reports on how Canadians are using tools like budgeting apps to stretch their household budgets, even…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":398948,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[6772,114,184,85,46],"class_list":{"0":"post-398947","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-apple-news","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-economy","11":"tag-il","12":"tag-israel"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=398947"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398947\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/398948"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=398947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=398947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=398947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}