Her Story:
*Based on a real client – for privacy, some details have been altered.
Meet Mia
Like so many other new parents – she feared missing out on social life while on maternity leave, with a limited income.
Mia is in her early 30s, and lives in Ontario with her husband Mark. They have recently welcomed their first baby girl, Emma. Mia works as a Marketing Coordinator, earning $65,000 per year. Since going on maternity leave, Mia has been receiving around $600 in EI per week, which is a reduction on her usual salary.
Social Life Woes
Monthly dinners with friends were becoming a significant financial strain, including the cost of dining out, entertainment, and arranging a babysitter.
Mia and her husband, Mark, were grappling with the dilemma of wanting social engagement with the financial realities of their reduced income during maternity leave. The monthly dinners with friends were becoming a significant financial strain, including the cost of dining out, entertainment, and arranging a babysitter. Each dinner would cost them around $300 for a nice restaurant meal, and sometimes going to a show or a hockey match afterwards. Mia knew it wasn’t in their budget to continue going out, but she had real FOMO (fear of missing out) on the social aspect of her life, and was embarrassed to discuss her financial challenges with her friends.
Reaching Out to Spergel
Mia sought help, emphasizing the importance of friends without compromising their financial stability.
When Mia reached out to address their financial concerns, Spergel, the ‘get rid of debt’ people, stepped in to help, emphasizing the importance of finding a sustainable solution that allowed Mia and Mark to maintain social connections without compromising their financial stability. Our expert counsellor at Spergel discussed the expenses and provided some suggestions. They discussed turning the expensive nights out for a night in – taking turns hosting, sharing the cost of bringing food, and even having a game night or watching a movie at home with the same group. Although Mia was very hesitant initially to suggest this idea to her friend group, she finally decided it was worth a try. Either she’d need to eventually cut out the expensive evenings each month and miss out altogether, or she’d need to find a different solution.
What Spergel Did to Help
Credit Counselling sessions gave her the tools to find what worked for her family.
During counselling sessions with Spergel, the suggestion was made to transition the monthly dinners from expensive outings to more affordable and intimate gatherings at home. The proposal included taking turns hosting, sharing the cost of food, and enjoying activities like game nights or movie evenings.
A Fitting Solution
Hosting gatherings at each other’s homes lead to more open conversations in their friend group about finances.
At the second counselling call with Spergel, Mia revealed that she had successfully suggested the night-in concept to her friend group. Surprisingly, most couples were willing to give it a try. The group started hosting gatherings at each other’s homes, leading to more open conversations about their financial situations. Mia even found out that others were also struggling financially with the expensive night out, but hadn’t wanted to be the ones to bring it up. They have now begun getting together at each other’s houses more often than going out – or the girls go out and the guys all get together at one house and watch the kids, or vice versa to reduce costs. Now, when they do all get together and go out for a nice dinner, they all appreciate the outing more as it is a treat and included as part of their budget without breaking the bank.
The Take-Away
Mia’s success story highlights the power of adapting a social habit to align with financial goals.
Spergel’s guidance not only showed her she could maintain friendships but also foster more open discussions about financial challenges within her friendship group.
Are you also struggling in Mia’s situation?
If this feels close to home, there are lots of ways we can help:
- Debt Consolidation and Management
- Budgeting
- Credit Counselling
- Debt Help
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