Free course teaches people how to live better with less money

GUELPH – “Living Better on Less” helps participants learn how to get by with less money – a skill necessary for growing numbers of people as the cost of living continues to rise.

The six-week course is free-of-charge and aims to “help community members navigate life using less money, reducing consumerism and reducing their consumer footprint,” said Kate Nixon, co-facilitator of this year’s Living Better on Less program.

The main facilitator is Susan Carey and the annual program was created by Ann Chidwick in 2009.

Nixon is the program facilitator of Helper Bees, an outreach program at the Church of the Apostles in Guelph, which is presenting the Living Better on Less program in partnership with “Jobs. Opportunity. Enterprise.” (J.O.E.), a charity focused on community-based employment and job training for adults with developmental disabilities.

People in the J.O.E. program “will be participants of the program but they will also be baristas and serve our lovely program participants coffee and snacks,” Nixon said.

The sessions are every Thursday from 1 to 4pm at the Guelph Community Health Centre.

The first class was on Jan. 19, but registration is still open and “anyone from anywhere can sign up,” Nixon said. Participants are not required to attend every week, and certificates of completion are provided.

During the first class, participants “learned ways we can spend less when buying our food, ways we can reduce food waste, [and] we made apple chips and quinoa bowls,” Nixon noted.

The program is “modified to support the needs of the participants” and is inclusive of participants’ goals, she said.

To register for Living Better on Less contact Nixon at helperbees@apostlesguelph.org or call 226-337-9262.