Financial Diet - Working !!


I read an article on the internet that was talking about the debt load of the average Canadian.  It noted that for every dollar that was made, there was $1.67 in consumer debt.  This means, if you were average and made $30,000, you likely had $50,000 in consumer debt, this means, not including your mortgage.

Using this statistic, my partner was pretty close to average.  In July, we will celebrate our 7th year together.  For our first year together, he thought he was cleverly hiding the debt from me.  He wasn't hiding anything, I knew he was pretty close to average.   

Once he finally revealed his situation (read:  he couldn't hide it anymore), I told him that this was a significant issue for me.  He pledged to make a lot of changes and take care of this himself.  For the next five years, I watched him work on this and he had a fair amount of success.  In the five years, he only accumulated an additional $1000. in debt.  

I wasn't comfortable moving forward with him continuing to be average.   

Fortunately, with all good negotiations, we both wanted something.   He really wanted to get married. I really didn't want to get married because I had been there/done that/lost the t-shirt in the divorce. So, even though I had no desire to get married, I really wanted him to be below average.   

We both got what we wanted.  We became engaged and we put together a plan so that we, as a couple, would be not only below average, but maybe even at the 5th percentile.  

We have done a lot since January 1.  We have worked out a budget; we pay bills when they come in; we have re-negotiated interest rates; and we are making a few sacrifices to aggressively paying down debt.  And it is not really that painful, because it basically means the money we would have spent at restaurants is now spent on debt.  We have charts placed in places where we have to look at everyday which is tracking our progress.   I am proud that in less that 3 full months, we have reduced our debt by 20%.   In January, the interest to service our debt was over $900/month; in April, it will be just over $300.  

We think we have found the secret to paying off debt.  It turns out the secret is to actually pay off debt.  Common sense becoming common practice for both of us.  

It is no wonder I am crazy in love with this man.  Although he now is way below average, to me, he is priceless !!

Now, if I could get another type of diet to start working........

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