The Brandon Literary Council will be hosting a series of free workshops facilitated by ABC Life Literacy in partnership with TD Canada Trust, claimed to “reduce anxiety and increase your confidence in managing your money.”

The workshop series, titled “Money Matters”, aiming to teach introductory financial literacy to assist adult learners in managing their money, is being hosted in celebration of Financial Literacy Action Group’s Financial Literacy Month in November.

Tamara Bourgeois, executive director of the Brandon Literary Council, commented on the presenters of the workshops, “We wanted to make sure that the participants are getting the best information possible and are happy to have experts from the banking industry leading the workshops.”

The workshops will be split up between two days. On Saturday, October 28th, the first workshop, titled “Budgeting and Spending Plans”, will run from 10:00am to 12:00pm, and cover such topics as day-to-day spending and balancing “needs” with “wants”. Afterwards, the second workshop, titled “Banking Basics”, will run from 1:00pm to 3:00pm, and will cover such topics as bank accounts, cash and payday loan stores, and identification.

Saturday, November 4th will see the second set of workshops. The third workshop, “Credit and Borrowing”, on topics such as bad and good debt, ways to borrow, and credit history, will take place from 10:00am to 12:00pm. “Saving and RESPs”, the fourth workshop, will run from 1:00pm to 3:00pm, and cover areas including ways to save, and the concept of “paying yourself first”.

Saturday, November 18th will also see a pair of Money Matters workshops, specifically tailored to newcomers and new Canadians. The first workshop, “How to Bank and Save in Canada”, will run from 10:00am to 12:00pm and cover topics such as Canadian banks and credit unions, types of accounts, and ways of saving. The second, “How to Build Credit in Canada”, will run from 1:00pm to 3:00pm and cover credit history, ways of borrowing money, protecting your money, and so on.

All of the workshops will be hosted at the Brandon Literacy Council’s building at 129 12th Street, a short distance from Brandon University. For more information, or to register (by Wednesday, October 25th), call (204) 729-9964, or send an email to blc@wcgwave.ca.