Glossary
Balance, when talking about money, can be:
- the amount of money you have in a bank account, or
- the amount of money you owe to a creditor
For example, the balance on your credit card is the total amount of money you owe.
Bankruptcy is a legal process. When you begin the bankruptcy process, it’s called filing for bankruptcy. When you file for bankruptcy someone called a Licensed Insolvency Trustee decides what you have to pay your creditors.
When you file for bankruptcy, you can keep some of your assets, such as furniture, pension funds, and registered retirement savings plans (RRSPs) that you’ve had for over 12 months.
But you may not be able to keep other assets, such as your home and RRSP contributions that you made within the 12 months before you filed for bankruptcy.
A budget is a plan that says how you will spend the money you receive within a certain period of time. Usually, people create a monthly budget that shows the income they get in a month and all the things they need to, or want to, spend that money on in the month.