If you have been ready my blog and following my money saving advice the answer is yes, because this is what you have been doing all year long.

You know that last year you spent $200 buying presents. You are paid every 2 weeks and you have been putting $10 in a savings account every time you are paid. You now have enough money saved to buy presents. If I just described you then you can stop reading this post now.

For the rest of you, what are your plans? What do you do if you haven’t been able to save up money? If your first thought is to make purchases on your credit cards, STOP. You have to consider how much you will really be spending over time. The $200 in presents may end up costing you a total of $350 when you add on interest.

Instead look for other ways to save money this holiday season.

If you are buying for children consider a toy swap with a friend or neighbour. Chances are you both have used toys that are no longer played with.

You can also check out websites such as Kijiji. I found a great gently used train set a few months ago for a small amount of money. None of the children that play with it care that it was once belonged to someone else.

I often scratch my head when I hear someone say “my friend is so hard to buy for, she has everything”. Then why exactly are you buying her something she doesn’t want or need? Instead think of another way to exchange gifts. Maybe she doesn’t bake and you do. Why not make her a batch of your world famous chocolate chip cookies? I remember always having a hard time buying for a relative of mine. Every present she received was always to be saved for a “special occasion”. Instead one year we put together a basket of her favourite canned goods. It was the first time I say her use a present she was given. When she moved out of her home, we ended up donating many “special occasion” items to the local charity.

If you have a large family, consider doing a gift exchange and setting price limits for everyone to follow.

What about gift cards? We have all read about gift cards that get put away and forgotten about or worse, the company closes down. Did you know that many grocery stores have gift cards? Everyone goes grocery shopping. What can be better than saving a few dollars off your grocery bill by using a gift card someone gave you? Since this is something that is done every week or two, there is less chance it will become worthless.

The list of ways to save money can go on and on. If you have a tip to share, please post it.

But the most important tip of all is to have a safe and happy holiday.

My last post I wrote about what happens when you first call us.

This time I want to talk about what happens at your first meeting with us.

When you come to our Windsor or Leamington offices you will meet with me.  I am going to ask you some general questions about what caused your debt struggles.  It may have been job loss, marital problems or some other reason.  This just gives me some background into your situation.

Next we review your debts.  I want to know who much you owe and to which creditors. This is important information when it comes time to discussing your options. I also want to know what you own. This includes your house, car and anything else you own, even if you are making payments on it. We will also review your take home income.

We will then discuss your options. Not only will we discuss bankruptcy and consumer proposal, we will discuss other options such as a consolidation loan or credit counselling. Not every one who meets with me needs my help. We will discuss the monthly payment required in both bankruptcy and consumer proposal to help you make an informed decision about what to do.

Our discussions give you the tools to help you decide which option is for you. About half of the people I meet with already know what they want to do. As long as we have all the paperwork required, quite often we can help you complete the application form and book a day and time to come back and sign your papers. If you want to think about it some more, that is fine too. The decision to file can be difficult and you shouldn’t feel rushed as you think about it.

What do I need to bring to the first meeting?

- List of debts and amounts (you can either bring a piece of paper with the names and amounts, or the actual statements)
- List of what you own
- Pay information; bringing along a recent paystub will help
- Monthly budget

If you know you will be proceeding you can also bring
- Identification such as a birth certificate or passport
- Car ownership
- Proof of ownership of other assets such as RRSP statements or life insurance
- Most recent income tax notice of assessment
- Written market value on your house (if you own one). You can either ask your real estate agent to help you with this, or search for “free house market value” on the internet. It will provide you with links on how to get one done.

As you can read, you get a lot of information at the first meeting. I can help you formulate a plan. Why not give me a call at 310-PLAN to start planning your debt free future today.

The decision to make that first phone call to 310-PLAN can be hard.

You’re stressed out by bills and creditor calls and you don’t know what to expect when you call us. So you delay calling, and the creditor calls increase. You still are hoping for the best, so you don’t call us for advice. Until one day, you get the courage to call. But you still wondering “what will happen when I call”, and will we try and convince you to file for bankruptcy.

The first things we will do is ask you for your name, phone number and how you found us (for example, at hoyes.com). We ask for this information so we can speak to you by name. In the event there is no one to take your call, we want your phone number and we will call you back shortly.

We will then ask you some basic information. We want to know the family take home income, assets, total debt and number of people in the family. We ask this to see if you would be better served by a referral to a lender or a credit counsellor. We will answer any general questions you have about bankruptcy or consumer proposal. We will then book a meeting a trustee to review your situation in detail and discuss all or your options, including what might be best for you. If you are not ready to book a meeting, that’s ok too. Just call us back when you are ready to meet and we will be happy to book the meeting.

Don’t be afraid to make to make that first call. We are here to help you find a plan that is right for you.

Periodically I post a blog about a bankruptcy or consumer proposal hot topic.

Today, all I want to say today is Happy Holidays and the best for 2011.

As a Trustee with Hoyes, Michalos & Associates I am often asked if there really is a Hoyes and Michalos or is it just the name of people who are no longer around?

Yes, Doug Hoyes and Ted Michalos exist and meet with people every day; just like I do. At one point, the three of us worked together for a large firm. Then in 1999, Doug and Ted opened up Hoyes, Michalos & Associate Inc. When I became a Trustee in 2003, I joined them by opening up offices in Windsor, Leamington, followed by Chatham a year later.

Does it really matter that there really is a Hoyes and Michalos? Yes, it does. You have the choice of which trustee you want to deal with and there are many of us in Windsor. When you come through the door at Hoyes, Michalos you want to know that you are dealing with real people, not a nameless, faceless big corporation. All the Trustee’s and staff at Hoyes, Michalos have to go through the same training program. It doesn’t matter that you first met with us in one of our Toronto offices and now have moved to Windsor, the service will still be the same.

We are one of the largest personal insolvency firms in Ontario. Yes, we are a large company, but when you call us during normal office hours you will get a real person, not a recording. I manage three offices, but all we do is proposals and bankruptcies for people. You don’t have to worry about getting a phone call from us delaying our meeting because a big corporate insolvency just happened and it is more important.

We are here to help find the plan that is right for you. Sometimes a consumer proposal is the best option, sometimes it is bankruptcy or maybe even a referral to a creditor counselor. We are not going to just tell you what to do without giving you all of your options.

The first phone call is always the hardest. Why not call us at 310-PLAN and let’s find the best option to give you the fresh start you need.

Hoyes Michalos has blogged before about the risks of using a debt consultant. These companies are in the news again, because last month the Federal Trade Commission in the United States passed legislation requiring certain disclosures about the plans debt consultants set up. The legislation has no effect in Canada, but it might spur Canadian lawmakers into doing something similar here.

The lure to a debt consultant is understandable; you see the late night TV ads, the billboards or hear the radio advertisements telling you they can reduce your debt up to 70%. It sounds too good to be true doesn’t it? If you “goggle” debt settlement, there are pages of listings of companies. But there are also numerous articles about why this type of plan is not a good thing.

But be careful! Debt consultants are unlicensed and unregulated. That means they can set up whatever plan they want. Here is a typical scenario: They have you pay them so much money per month and then after a certain period of time, they offer a payment to your creditors. Let’s assume you pay $500. After a year of paying the debt consultant they offer settlement to your creditors. Depending on how much you owe it could be to only one creditor. You might think, not a bad idea, they now have $6000, my debt is $10,000, they can offer to pay $6,000. It’s not as simple as that, you forgot about the fee being charged. I have heard stories of the fees being thousands of dollars. So instead of having $6000 to offer, there is only perhaps $3000 to offer.

What has happened in the mean time? You are probably getting aggressive collection calls, the interest is accumulating and maybe even court action has started against you. What started out as a $10,000 debt is now $15,000. You are in a worse situation than you were a year ago.

If you are looking at using a debt consultant there are important questions to ask:
1. What are your fees and how is it paid?
2. When do my creditors get paid?
3. Do I get protection from garnishment?
4. Will I continue to get phone calls from creditors?
5. What services are they offering?

A better alternative is to file a consumer proposal. A consumer proposal is regulated, the fees are set by legislation and you get court protection from your creditors.

It’s important that you research with ever alternative you choose. To review your options in detail, call me at 310-PLAN or send me an email me.

Summer is here again, and it is more important that even toproperly budget your money. Why does summer change that? There are a few reasons.

With the increase in temperature you are probably running your air conditioner more. That means higher electricity bills.

Traditional gas prices are higher in the summer and that means it will cost more to fill up your car.

Many people take time off work during the summer. Even if you are not going on a vacation for a week or 2, even day trips cost money.

What can you do?

Consider raising your thermostat to save on air conditioning bills, or look for other ways to keep your house cool. Enwin has some good energy savings tips

Try to fill up your car when gas prices are lower. I am not suggesting you drive across town to save pennies (you will lose more in the long run), but you can top off your tank if you pass a gas station with a lower price.

If you are planning a trip, use cash instead of credit.

You can read more about budgeting here.

If you find that you are having difficulties with your bills, it’s important to talk to someone about your options. Call me at 310-PLAN, or send me an email.

I met with a gentleman last week who was referred to another Trustee. He called their office and booked an appointment to meet with the Trustee, but when he arrived he was told the Trustee was too busy to meet with him, so instead he met with an administrator. He told me that when he left the meeting, he was more confused than when he arrived. He then contacted our office for a meeting. He also said that he felt that they were trying to push him in to bankruptcy.

I met with him and he advised me that he was interested in filing a consumer proposal. Upon reviewing his situation, I agreed that was best option for him. I told him that even though the other firm would have told him all about the voting process in a consumer proposal, as the Trustee, I needed to review that with him. He advised me that the other firm didn’t tell him anything about the mechanics of a consumer proposal. After he meet with them and learned nothing, he researched his options on our website at hoyes.com.

A few things should have happened when he called the other firm to book the appointment. Someone should have entered the appointment into a calendar so the Trustee knew her schedule. If she was called away, then they should have given the client the courtesy of a telephone call to reschedule. When meeting with a client, we have the responsibility to go over all of the options with them. None of that happened in this case.

Here is what happened when he met with me. I first reviewed his assets, debts, and budget in detail. We discussed other resources such a credit counseling and debt consolidation. We then reviewed bankruptcy and consumer proposals and the pros and cons of each. He had read most of this information on our very informative website, but I am still required to review the processes with him. He left the office with a clear understanding of his options. Although he already knew that he wanted to file a consumer proposal, he left feeling better about his decision.

Getting a referral to someone is great, but if the Trustee won’t take the time to meet with you, or you didn’t like the service, you have the choice to meet with someone else. You can call our office at 310-PLAN and speak with either me; Catherine or Tina and it would be our pleasure to help you. Or, if you prefer, you can email me your question.

Consumer proposals have become increasing popular since we opened our Windsor office in 2003. Each year I have seen an increasing number of filings in Windsor and surrounding area. Since Hoyes, Michalos first opened its doors in 1999 we have maintained a database of creditor voting patterns and we have noted some very interesting recent voting patterns.

I can’t name names because I could get sued, but I want to share some examples of recent votes. Big Bank A recent voted against a consumer proposal and would not accept any counter offers. They stated they voted against the proposal because the debtor’s debts were too low (his total debts were $16,000). In another example, Big Bank B voted against a consumer proposal with a rate of return of 21% and they made a counter offer with a rate of return of 27%. In both cases there were sufficient other votes for the consumer proposals that they both passed even without Big Bank A and B’s support.

The logic of some of the voting is strange to say the least. The debtor has offered a consumer proposal with a reasonable rate of return and a rate of return far greater than a bankruptcy. In many cases when a consumer proposal is rejected the debtor has no other option but to file for bankruptcy. It doesn’t seem logical that a creditor would reject something that would pay money.

In 2008 (the latest year statistics are available), Hoyes, Michalos filed 8% of all of the consumer proposals in Ontario. Keep in mind that this includes regions we don’t even have offices in. We estimate that if we only include the regions where we have offices, our firm filed 25% of all of the consumer proposals filed.

What does this mean? If you are looking to file a consumer proposal you want to be dealing with someone who has extensive experience in this area. You want to hear about creditor voting patterns to make sure your are offering a consumer proposal that is fair to both you and your creditors.

Call me at 310-PLAN or email me and we can review your situation and formulate a consumer proposal that is right for you.

As a Bankruptcy Trustee in Windsor, I am often asked why I don’t do corporate work. For many Trustees corporate work is seen as the interesting work and the work that gets the attention. Well, the attention part can be true. There have been a number of high profile companies file for bankruptcy recently in Windsor and this can attract some media attention. I noticed two such articles in the local paper last weekend. The interesting note for me is our phone lines increase when this happens. As someone who used to work for a national firm this doesn’t surprise me. Someone may have called one of these firms and set up an appointment to discuss options to their personal situation. They book the appointment but then the trustee they were supposed to meet with starts working on a corporate file. What happens next? You guessed it – the personal appointment gets cancelled in favour of the corporate file.

That same person then calls Hoyes, Michalos, meets with me and we review the options in detail. They were stressed and annoyed that their meeting at another firm was cancelled, but now they are happy to know the options available to them.

It is important to meet with someone and review your options when you are having financial trouble. You can call me at 310-PLANto set up an appointment.