Since Casino Brantford is a short drive from my Brantford bankruptcy office, I am often asked if I see a lot of people with gambling problems in Brantford. The answer: I don’t. I don’t see gambling debts as a problem any more than I would see in any of my firm’s other Ontario bankruptcy offices.
However, I do have a large number of Brantford residents that have filed a bankruptcy or consumer proposal with me that work at the casino. The casino is one of the largest employers in Brantford, so it’s not that surprising that I meet with people who work there. Often they lose their job, are off work for a period of time, and then they finally get a job at the casino, and they are afraid that their wages may be garnisheed, so they file bankruptcy. Their financial problems are not caused by gambling at the casino.
This morning I met with two people who are currently in the bankruptcy process with me, and both of them work at the casino. I asked them how business was, and they both said the same thing:
Booming.
That surprised me; I would have assumed that during a recession people would save their money and gamble less, but apparently that’s not the case. The casino is very busy these days.
I asked both people why they thought the casino was busy during a recession, and they both had the same response: If you have lost your job, and if you have very little money, you are looking for hope. The casino offers hope. They hope that they may win some money and make everything better.
I have no objection to people going to a casino. It’s your money, you can spend it as you wish. I don’t see much difference between spending $100 at the casino, or spending $100 on dinner and movie, or $100 going to a sporting event.
I do worry about people spending money they don’t have, and my two contacts this morning told me that they worry about that as well. If you are spending your Employment Insurance or Welfare cheque at the casino, you’ve got a problem. We all want hope, but that’s not a good way to get it.
Here’s my advice: if you are down on your luck, don’t despair. We are in the worst recession any of us have ever lived through. You are not alone. Everyone else is also worried about losing their job, or not having enough money to pay the bills. Instead of hoping to win by gambling, a better strategy is to follow my three point plan for financial success:
1. Make a budget. Unless you know where your money is going, you can’t control it. Here’s a link to some free personal budgeting tools.
2. Pay off debt. A recession is not the time to be carrying a lot of debt, so pay down your debts as fast as possible. If you have more debt than you can handle, it’s time to investigate your options.
3. Once your debt is under control, start saving money. It’s a lot easier to survive a job loss if you have money in the bank.
There is hope, but in most cases the casino isn’t the solution. It’s fine as entertainment; gambling is not a financial plan. For more information on your options, call my Brantford office at 519-770-4440 or 310-PLAN (no area code required in Ontario), or e-mail me to set up a no charge intitial consultation, and let’s get started.
