Four budget and money management strategies for newcomers

22 Feb 2023

海德·哈桑 (Hyder Hassan) 在加拿大生活的早期就接触到了预算编制的概念。当他和家人移民到这个国家并开始工作以帮助家庭开支时，他只有 15 岁。 “预算是我在抵达加拿大后的头几周内开始与我的母亲在 Harvey’s 一起工作的原因，”Hassan 说，他现在在移民安置部门工作，担任卡尔加里移民服务公司的首席执行官，但他的职业生涯始于金融服务。 Hyder Hassan was introduced to the concept of budgeting early on in his life in Canada. He was only 15 when he immigrated to this country with his family and started working to help with household expenses. “Budgeting was the reason I started working with my mother at Harvey’s in the first couple of weeks after arriving in Canada,” says Hassan, who today works in the immigrant settlement sector, as CEO of Immigrant Services Calgary, but started his career in financial services.

“当我们在预算中计算每月的租金和食品费用时，我意识到我的家人需要我的额外收入来确保我们的需求得到满足，”他回忆起他早年在加拿大的日子。 “As we calculated the monthly rent and food costs in our budget, I realized that my family would need my additional income to ensure our needs were met,” he recalls of his early days in Canada.

对于像哈桑这样的新移民家庭来说，在新国家开始新生活时必须小心理财，这很常见。一开始，他们可能很难找到高薪工作，而且可能不得不依赖他们带来的积蓄。因此，制定每月家庭预算是了解有多少收入（收入）和多少支出（支出），以及剩余多少用于增加储蓄而不是耗尽储蓄的好方法。 It’s common for newcomer families like Hassan’s to have to be careful with their money as they settle into their new lives in a new country. They may have challenges in finding good-paying jobs, at first, and may have to rely on the savings they brought with them. So making a monthly household budget is a good way of understanding how much money is coming in — income — and how much is going out — expenses, and how much is left over to build your savings, rather than deplete them.

哈桑说，对他的家人来说，制定预算和控制自己的财务状况很重要，并补充说去银行寻求帮助令人生畏。 “也许，作为当时的新人，我们不是高价值客户，体验非常具有交易性，仅限于开户。我们没有被告知[关于为 RESP 或 RRSP 账户之类的事情做预算]，后来在我们的定居之旅中从朋友和家人那里发现了这些资源，”他说。 Hassan says it was important for his family to budget and take control of their own finances, adding that going to the banks for help was intimidating. “Perhaps, as newcomers back then, we weren’t high-value clients, and the experience was very transactional and limited to just opening accounts. We weren’t advised [about budgeting for things] like RESP or RRSP accounts and found out about these resources later in our settlement journey from friends and family,” he says.

预算的好处 Benefits of budgets

花时间制定预算可以为您在加拿大的新生活奠定坚实的财务基础迈出的一步，尤其是考虑到当今生活成本的增加和住房负担能力的担忧。除了像 Hassan 那样为基本开支（如租金）预留资金外，预算还可以帮助您限制非必要支出。它可以帮助您量入为出，防止您陷入和依赖债务来维持日常生活。 Taking the time to create a budget can be a step toward a strong financial foundation for your new life in Canada, especially given today’s cost-of-living increases and housing affordability concerns. In addition to earmarking money for essential expenses like rent, as Hassan did, budgeting can help you set limits on non-essential spending. It can help you to live within your means and prevent you from falling into and relying on debt for everyday living.

它还可以帮助您留出资金来制定短期和长期计划，例如购买您的第一套房子或汽车，为孩子的高等教育储蓄，为您自己的退休储蓄，支付专业发展或培训费用，或者意外的紧急情况，例如抛锚的车辆。 It can also help you set aside money to make short- and long-term plans like buying your first home or car, saving for a child’s post-secondary education, save for your own retirement, pay for professional development or training costs, or for unexpected emergencies like a broken-down vehicle.

四种 资金管理策略 Four money management strategies

准备好开始预算了吗？您不必是训练有素的财务管理专家。这里有四种简单的资金管理策略，它们将大大有助于您在加拿大建立财务稳定。 Ready to start budgeting? You don’t have to be a trained financial management expert. Here are four simple money management strategies that will go a long way in building your financial stability in Canada.

1. 了解你的实际收入 1. Know your actual income

第一个策略是了解您的收入中有多少真正带回家。了解以税收、养老金扣除、工会会费等形式从您的薪水中扣除了多少。为您的伴侣或其他有贡献的家庭成员的收入做同样的事情。 The first strategy is to know how much of your income is really coming home. Understand how much gets deducted from your paycheque in the form of taxes, pension deductions, union dues and more. Do the same for your partner or other contributing family members’ income(s).

另外，你有任何额外的收入来源吗？在这里，您可以添加您赚取的任何兼职、副业或自由职业收入，或加拿大儿童福利或收入援助等政府福利。 As well, do you have any additional sources of income? Here, you could add any part-time, side-hustle or freelance income you’re earning, or government benefits like the Canada Child Benefit or income assistance.

1. 跟踪您每月的基本开支 2. Track your monthly essential expenses

接下来，看看您每个月必须支付的基本费用，例如房租和食物。 Next, look at the essential expenses that you must pay for each month, such as rent and food.

根据您的收入预算这些费用可以控制您的钱并减轻压力。对于其中许多常规费用，您可以通过网上银行设置自动供款，这样您就不会错过重要的付款。 Budgeting these expenses in relation to your income allows to take control of your money and reduces stress. For many of these regular expenses, you can set up automatic contributions through online banking so you never miss an important payment.

1. 自己也要付钱 3. Pay yourself, too

你听说过“先付钱给自己”这句话吗？作为新移民或加拿大出生的个人，这是储蓄和积累财富的重要策略。当您为租金等基本开支设置付款时，请考虑为每月自动转入您的储蓄账户的金额制定预算。 Have you heard of the saying “pay yourself first”? It’s an important strategy for saving and building wealth as a newcomer or Canadian-born individual. As you set up your payments for essential expenses like rent, consider budgeting for a monthly amount that gets automatically transferred to your savings account.

它对哈桑有效。 “我学会了通过自动供款节省 10% 到 20% 的工资，”他说。 It worked for Hassan. “I learned to save 10 to 20 per cent of my salary via automatic contributions,” he says.

随着这些储蓄的增加，您可以计划您储蓄的目的，或者您可能希望如何投资这些资金。 As these savings grow, you can plan out what you’re saving for, or how you may want to invest the funds.

“我总是计划一年周期的短期目标（比如偿还债务或投资）和五到十年周期的长期目标，”哈桑说。 “I always plan short-term goals in one-year cycles (like paying down debt or investing) and longer-term goals in five- to 10-year cycles,” Hassan says.

1. 看你的日常消费习惯 4. Look at your daily spending habits

预算是一种工具，它还可以帮助您跟踪每天或每周的非必要开支，例如每天的咖啡费用。人们很容易陷入琐碎的消费中，尤其是小额商品，却没有意识到它们加起来有多少。 A budget is a tool that can also help you track your non-essential daily or weekly expenses, such as your daily cup of coffee. It’s easy to get caught up in frivolous spending, especially with small-ticket items, not realizing how much they add up.

除了记录您的支出外，还要考虑减少支出的方法，这样您就可以将更多的钱用于未来的储蓄。提醒自己您希望储蓄的目的是什么，并努力实现这些财务储蓄目标。 In addition to keeping track of what you spend, consider ways to reduce your spending so you can put more of your money toward future savings. Remind yourself what you wish to save for and work toward reaching those financial savings goals.

跟踪您赚的钱和花的钱将帮助您控制自己的财务状况，并让您朝着实现加拿大梦想的方向迈进。 Keeping track of the money you make and the money you spend will help you stay in control of your finances and keep you on track toward reaching your Canadian dreams.

在本指南“实现您的财务目标”部分的即将发表的文章中，了解更多关于为未来储蓄的信息。 Learn more about saving for the future in our upcoming articles in our “Achieving Your Financial Goals” section of this guide.

_The New Canadian’s Financial Pathway to Prosperity，_加拿大慈善机构 Windmill Microlending 提供的信息指南，分享工具和技巧，帮助您在加拿大建立财务基础，同时为长期繁荣做好准备。作为一个慈善组织，Windmill 专注于支持移民和难民在加拿大建立他们的生活和事业，提供负担得起的贷款来支付培训、教育和职业发展的费用。在 Windmill Microlending 的网站上了解更多信息。 _The New Canadian’s Financial Pathway to Prosperity, _an informative guide presented by Canadian charity, Windmill Microlending, shares tools and tips to help you build a financial foundation in Canada while setting you up for long-term prosperity. As a charitable organization, Windmill focuses on supporting immigrants and refugees in establishing their lives and careers in Canada, offering affordable loans to pay for the costs of training, education and professional development. Learn more on Windmill Microlending’s website here.

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