Be Wealthy Financial Coaching

A lot of money stress doesn’t come from overspending.
It comes from TIMING!

It’s the irregular, lumpy expenses that catch us by surprise….and can end up on a credit card or line of credit:

Quarterly property taxes.
Kids’ sports + camps.
Car and home repairs.
Vet bills.
Christmas and seasonal spending.

This is where designated spending accounts change everything.

Instead of reacting when an expense shows up, you get proactive.

You look 6–12 months ahead and gently set money aside each month — into specific accounts for specific purposes.

For example:

For our car, I estimate about $3,000 a year in maintenance and repairs, so I set aside $250 a month into a car fund.

Planning for what can reasonably happen removes the shock and stress.

If you know you’ll spend $6,000 on a vacation next year, set aside $500 a month into a travel account.

When vacation time comes — the money is there and you won’t spend your vacation worrying about money!

It’s a simple system — but it creates space and calm.

And if you’re prone to money anxiety or have a super busy life?

Sometimes just seeing these accounts is enough to remind you: you’re covered for what’s coming.

You’d still keep a separate emergency fund alongside this — that’s for the true, unexpected whammy.

Designated spending accounts are for what you can reasonably expect to happen.


To get started:

🦙Think about the expense that always sneaks up on you.

🦙Open a separate savings account just for that.

Most banks don’t charge for savings accounts, but fees can apply if you use the account for purchases or transactions.

🦙Set up a monthly automated transfer — even a small amount helps.

Once the account is set up, your cash flow is smoother and the stress of surprise expenses is gone.

Your annual investment statements are out 👋

Many Canadian financial institutions have uploaded annual investment and CRM2 statements.

If you don’t get paper copies in the mail, you’ll find them online through your bank or investment portal. If you haven’t logged in yet, now’s the time!

These statements show:

* The fees you’re actually paying for investment management
* Your returns (not the marketing version)

Take 30 minutes to dig in and compare what you see with what you expected.

Ask yourself:

* Were you surprised by the fees you’re paying?
* Do you really know what you own?
* Do you have cash sitting in retirement accounts that could be working harder?
* Do you understand how your investments actually performed?
* Are you confident your savings and investing are on track for the retirement you want?

👉 If anything feels confusing or uncomfortable, you’re not alone. I can help you break it down, make sense of the numbers, and help figure out your next financial actions steps.

Your money deserves clarity. 💜

I recently called the Canada Education Savings Grant line to check where things stood—because over the years, we had contributions spread across different plans and I’d honestly lost track. (Bit of time spent on hold but the rep was SUPER helpful.)

After reviewing everything, I’ve decided to stop 🛑 making RESP contributions for my older son.

He’s 13 now, and the projections show there’s enough saved to cover full tuition, books, and a good chunk of housing expenses for 4 years. Plus I want my son to work and contribute towards his own education too!

Sidebar: I fully paid for my own education. It was a struggle, but also taught me so many valuable money lessons. My goal is to support my kids with their education, but also want them to have skin in the game too.

We’ve fully maxed out the available RESP grant money. While the account will still grow tax-free, I’ve decided to free up that cash flow for other priorities.

I’ll be redirecting the $5K per year to my TFSA instead, which still has some unused contribution room.

I feel confident about the level of support we’ve built and consider his education goal on track.

✨ Pro tip: If you’ve been contributing for a while, it’s worth checking your RESP value, grant history, and what your savings might actually cover. And don’t forget to balance RESP saving with building your own retirement accounts—there are no loans for retirement!

This is just one of the areas I help clients with during a financial planning engagement.

📞 Curious what this could look like for you? Book a free consult call to find out more.

How do you define your wealthy life?

It’s easy to think wealth is just about what’s in your bank or investment accounts.

But for me, real wealth shows up in how you’re able to navigate life — especially when things go off track.

It’s about the choices that help reduce stress and protect your peace.

2025 hasn’t been the easiest year.

My youngest has been dealing with ongoing issues from the illness and treatment he had as a toddler.

One of the ripple effects?

Serious dental complications. Unexpected, long-term, and expensive.

Nothing hits harder than watching your child struggle.

This is not how I’d choose to spend our money — but it’s necessary.

What’s making me feel wealthy right now is knowing we can cover these costs.

It’s being able to show up for every appointment without panicking about taking time off.

It’s being present, not spiralling.

What does your wealthy life look like these days??

Building your emergency fund is the foundation for creating a financial system where you’re in control of your money. 💪 It’s the first step toward reducing money stress and breaking free from the hamster wheel of uncertainty.

You’re making a powerful shift from a day-to-day, paycheque-to-paycheque mindset, to a future-serving mindset. 🌟

How much you need is unique to your finances—there’s no one-size-fits-all.

One of the first topics I discuss with a client is their emergency fund and we determine the right sized amount for them.

It doesn’t matter if you have tons of money, an emergency fund still plays a fundamental role in cash flow management.

The real benefits go beyond just avoiding debt. It’s about peace of mind: less anxiety, less stress, and feeling safe knowing an emergency won’t set you back financially. 🙌

Take a moment today to check in on your emergency fund! Your future self will thank you!!!!!!

THE FACT IS – the financial landscape is more complicated than ever! With information overload, endless noise, and so many decisions to make, it’s easy to feel stuck and overwhelmed.

Add to this changing regulations, and unpredictable markets…..it can sometimes feel like you’re not making progress or are missing something important.

But here’s the GOOD NEWS: You don’t have to control everything!

By focusing on what you can control, you can take confident steps toward financial success.

What’s in Your Control:

✅ Your Spending Habits: You decide where your money goes. Understanding your spending helps you make intentional choices about what truly matters to you and align your spending with those values.

✅ Saving & Investing: Pay yourself first. Prioritize saving and investing for the future before spending on anything else. By investing wisely, you’re using the power of compounding to build wealth over time.

✅ Financial Goals & Priorities: Setting a goal gives you a direction to head towards. You shift from reactive (feels bad) to proactive (feels good) money planning.

✅ Debt Management: You can develop strategies to reduce and pay debt faster.

✅ Financial Education: You can’t learn all things finance in a day or from a single book. It’s a journey. Stay curious and keep learning.

What’s Beyond Your Control:

❌ Stock Market: The market will rise and fall. A solid investment strategy helps you manage through volatility.

❌ Interest Rates: They’re set by central banks.

❌ Tax Changes: Tax laws can shift, but knowing how they impact you helps you plan better. My financial planning software is fantastic for showing how tax changes affect your decisions.

❌ Economic Cycles: The economy goes through its cycles, it’s normal. A well-funded safety net helps you navigate economic dips and uncertainties.

By focusing on what you can control, you’ll reduce stress and feel empowered to make smarter, more confident financial decisions.

If you’re curious about how I help as an advice-only financial planner & money coach, send me a DM!

As a financial planner and money coach, these are just a few of the questions I help clients answer.

My role is to understand your goals 🎯, analyze your numbers 📊, and provide a FRESH perspective on your finances 🌟. I’ll make sure you’re not overlooking anything, help you get financially organized, and set you on the path to a secure and successful future.

I offer a free consultation to help you get started on your financial journey. Send me a DM, and I’ll share my calendar link to book your session.

ABOUT ME:
Hi 👋 I’m Meri-Li Forrest, and I’m an advice-only financial planner with 25 years of personal finance and wealth management experience in Canada 🇨🇦. I provide guidance to help you make better decisions with your money. From day-to-day cash flow analysis to long-term retirement planning, I’m here as a second pair of eyes for your finances 👀.

I don’t sell financial products or insurance—just dedicated support to help you understand your finances so you can achieve your important goals.

Oh, and I crunch all the numbers, so you don’t have to! 🎉🎉🎉

Happy Mother’s Day to all the incredible moms out there!!

Moms can be AMAZING with money and are key players in building family wealth 👷‍♀️We’re making most of the purchase decisions and contribute significantly to the financial well-being and success of the household.

Way to go mom’s!!!!

Fidelity did a research study where they asked teens who their financial role model is—and 69% of the teens said their mom 😍So the kids are watching!!

Reflecting on the strong “mom’s” who shaped my financial journey, I’m reminded of the invaluable lessons passed down through generations.

My grandmother, became a single parent as my grandfather passed away and she was left to raise the kids solo. She showed me resilience and how to navigate banking. She mixed thriftiness with occasional splurges for fun, travel, and adventure. She was a pro at growing her own veggies, foraging for berries (Finland’s got plenty!), and meal prep so very little food went to waste.

My mom showed me the importance of a regular money routine. To this day I see find her money notebook on her dresser, detailing her weekly money spent, upcoming expenses, and progress to her goals.

My stepmother, Jatta, works alongside my dad in the family trucking business, and I would see her handling financial and business tasks like a boss. They also have passion for local theatre production and have turned that into a side hustle business.

I’m so inspired by my mom role models, and it’s one of the reasons I’m dedicated to fostering a legacy of teaching others financial empowerment. I’ve added my own unique skills to the family tree by becoming an investor, an entrepreneur, and focusing on ways to build our family wealth.

And, I’ve been getting more mom’s reaching out to me who want to build on their financial literacy skills and learn how to invest for themselves 👏🥳🙌

Enjoy your special day, moms! Cheers to you for all the magic you make happen!

Here I am, doing my fave home maintenance task, unclogging a drain 🤮

As I stand here in a vintage late 90s bathroom, aside from peeling wallpaper and ugly fixtures—i see dollar signs.

One of the mega whammies homeowners face, is the cost of maintenance and renos. Your house ages and things will break💔

As a financial planner, a common rule of thumb is to plan for this stuff to cost between 1 to 3% of the value of your home each year. This avoids debt, and panic attacks. If you have a house with fancy finishes, you’d be on the higher end of the scale.

Example for a home valued at $1,000,000

Set aside 1% per year

That’s $10,000 a year (or $833/month) for home maintenance & reno

You might say that’s way too much. But, if you haven’t replaced a roof or a deck in a while, you may be in for a shock.

Of course you may not spend this amount every year or you may spend way more (do your own math based on your home and the goals and plans you have for your home).

The reason you put the money away is to smooth out cash flow and avoid debt you can’t repay. If something major strikes, you’re ready.

With a brand new home, you might spend way more in the first few years. Think curtains, fencing, landscaping and decor. With an older home, there’s often a chain reaction effect. If you fix one thing, it leads to another and another.

This is where we’re at… it’s more cost effective to replace everything at once but that’s major renovation that costs major money. For the time being, all the fixes are Band-Aids🤕

This is the true cost of homeownership. It’s not just the mortgage, property, taxes, and utilities.

Hope you found this helpful?

If you’d like to work on some of your numbers together, book a free consult call with me 😍

My son is at higher risk for skin issues and he’s waiting almost 10 months for a dermatology appointment 😕

I’ve had a nagging bump on my arm and after hearing (and assuming) how long it would take me to get a dermatology appointment, I started to explore options.

Health care is the Canadian holy grail. My son had fabulous health care during his leukemia treatment and his life was saved with a bone marrow transplant. As parents we faced financial stress because we couldn’t work, BUT we didn’t face the stress of getting a bill for his medical treatment.

Yesterday, I had an appointment with a local nurse practitioner, who removed my bump and sent it off for biopsy. She also set up bloodwork, bone density scan, a prescription, and a few other things. I paid $75 for this visit.

For me it was money well spent.

I understand the controversy around tiered medical care. But, I also understand the stress around long wait times, it has a huge mental health impact, especially for someone like me who has MAJOR medical anxiety.

I’ve had times in my life where I had very little extra money. I didn’t get much family support and had to independently set myself up for financial success.

Having flexibility to pay for things that make life easier and reduce stress is something I value, especially when it comes to health.

How do you feel about paying for medical care? ⬇️⬇️⬇️

Back in 2017, I made a decision to get serious about my finances. 💼

I spent countless hours meticulously analyzing my budget, selecting investments, and berating myself for overspending. 😓

The #1 thing I wish I had done sooner? Connect my money decisions to my values. 🎯

This simple shift would have made it easier and saved me a lot of time and frustration ⏰

Here’s how you can align your money decisions with your values: 🌟

1. ID Your Core Values: Take time to reflect on what truly matters to you in life. These could be family, health, personal growth, travel, learning, community, etc. Write down your top 2-4 values. Anything more makes it harder to focus. 💡

2. VISUALIZE Your Ideal Life: Envision the life you want to live in detail. What does it look like? How do you feel? What experiences do you want to have? Really hone in on this vision, use it as a guide when making financial decisions. 🏝️

3. PRIORITIZE Your Spending: Review your budget and spending habits, and identify areas where your expenses align with your values and where they don’t. Adjust your spending accordingly, focusing more on the things that bring you closer to your ideal life and cutting back on those that don’t. 💸

Once I clarified my top three values and envisioned the life I wanted, aligning my spending with those values became effortless. 🚀

Before 2017, there wasn’t much money for travel. Now it’s one of my financial priorities. I can easily say no to unnecessary purchases because I’m saying yes to new adventures and experiences. ✈️

I hope sharing this will save you time and get you to your money and life goals faster! 🌟

I LOVE hearing the words clients use to explain why they decided to take ACTION and hired me as their financial coach.

“I realized no one was coming to save me.”

This comment from a recent client captures the viewpoint of solo women perfectly. There comes a time when you need to figure out your finances for your own SECURITY and SELF-CARE. The longer you wait, the more difficult it can be.

MONEY REWARDS the ACTION-TAKERS.

This was me when I turned 40 and realized it was time to TAKE CHARGE, improve my finances, and create a SERIOUS plan to meet my goals. I HAVE ZERO REGRETS and am enjoying the benefits of this decision EVERY SINGLE DAY.

Figuring out your money stuff on your own IS hard, so don’t feel embarrassed to seek support. I’ve been working in finance for 25 years and have all the skills and tools to help YOU!

Working together makes the financial transformation process easier and more fun. You save time, avoid confusion, so you can stop spinning in circles and giving up. If you’ve quit on your finances before—you know how what I’m taking about 😳

My client was eager to get an easy to follow plan for her money and find a way to accomplish all her important goals for this year.

Want to find out how money coaching could help you get your finances sorted?

DM me “FREE CONSULT” and let’s schedule a time to talk about your money and what you’d like it to do for your life.

I’ll explain how my services work, outline the work you’ll need to do, and discuss the results you can expect. I’ll also provide an action step to get you started, so it’s worth investing 20 minutes in this call. I’m looking for clients who are ready to commit to improving their financial situation, so my calls are pressure-free.