Financial Wellness

Starting or maintaining a journey to financial wellness can feel overwhelming. Our finances can have a major impact on our mood and stress levels. We all want a good life for ourselves and our families, and financial wellness is a key factor to this.  

Although it can be challenging, it is always worth it to take time and learn more about money. Even more important is putting learning into action by creating and following financial plans. Fortunately, as a NOSM University learner, you have access to valuable resources that will help you kickstart your journey towards financial wellness, regardless of your current stage.  

Resources

I Need Help

Addressing Learner Mistreatment

Learner Support

NOSM U Well App

Resident Wellness Program

Student Assistance Program (SAP)

Need Time Off?

Health & Wellness Guide

Being Active at Home

Budgeting Sessions
NOSM University offers one-on-one financial counselling sessions with our Financial Aid office. Email financialaid@nosm.ca to arrange a time to meet!

Financial Aid Webpage
Be sure to visit your Financial Assistance page, and seek out internal and external bursary opportunities when possible. A little bit of help can go a long way.

Homewood Health Financial Coaching
If you have a specific financial question or goal, start one of Homewood Health’s financial coaching sessions. Through your Homewood Health SAP, a financial advisor will address specific questions you have about your financial situation.

To initiate a coaching session, contact Homewood Health at the following numbers:

1-800-663-1142 (English)
1-866-398-9505 (Numéro sans frais – en français)
1-888-384-1152 (TTY)
604-689-1717 International (Call Collect)

Build your financial literacy
If you are just beginning, we recommend you start learning about personal finance. We suggest you begin with budgeting and debt before moving on to subjects like insurance, saving long term, and investing your money! For a personalized budgeting session with one of your Financial Aid Officers, email financialaid@nosm.ca.  

Maintain a budget
Budget in a way that works for you, whether it be using a spreadsheet or a budgeting app on your phone. The best budget is one that you will actually use to help you save and plan for expenses. 

Two highly regarded apps are Mint and You Need A Budget. Mint is free to use and will provide personalized offers, while You Need A Budget is a paid app and will not provide product offers. As well, you can download the Financial Aid Office budgeting sheet for use on excel or sheets! 

Stay informed on student loans
Stay up to date with the National Student Loan Centre. You can follow them on Twitter in both English and French.

Tackle debt with a plan
As you near graduation, it will become time to start thinking about managing debt.

If you have multiple sources of debt, such as credit cards, a line of credit, as well as a loan, there are two methods recommended for paying these debts off.

The Snowball Method has you pay off the smallest debt first, then the next biggest, then the next. This can give a sense of accomplishment and motivation to continue tackling debt.

The Avalanche method has you pay of the debt with the largest interest rate first, no matter how big the total debt is. This can help save money in the long run, though depending on the size of the debt it may feel like progress is very slow.

For a more in depth explanation of these methods, visit the Wells Fargo article on the topic. And to hear an explanation of the methods, watch Fortunly’s Youtube video.

Choose a financial advisor wisely
If you are at the stage where you would like to meet with a financial planner or advisor on to help you with investments or long-term financial goals, check out this guideline for choosing a financial advisor in Canada.