Canada's New #1
This Canadian believes that I live in the best country in the world. There are so many things to be proud of; our natural beauty; our diversity not only in people but in natural wonders; our commitment to social justice; our work ethic; our compassion, to name just a few.
I heard on the news today that we now have factor of which we are the number one country in the world. We, as Canadians, have more debt per capita, than any other country in the world.
My guess we are not so proud of this one. The new figures released say that we all have $1.70 in debt for every $1.00 we earn.
I have disclosed that my partner and I were "above average" when it came to debt at the start of 2017. We are now well "below average" as we have successfully retired over $20,000 of our debt so far this year. When my partner blogged about our financial "diet" and how it was working for us, a number of people reached out to him asking for help in putting themselves on this diet. We were eager to help, and that is as far as it went. People asked for help. We offered to help, and then we never heard from them further.
Not surprising, given other information that has been released about our debt in Canada. Apparently, 71% of admit to an anonymous survey that they are uncomfortable about our debt. 27% admit that they are embarrassed to talk about their debt. 55% of us never discuss debt with their family. The majority of Canadians surveyed also claimed that becoming debt was their number 1 priority, yet, every year, our debt keeps rising.
I think one of the problems that we all have with money is that we spend in public and save in private. We all notice when our neighbours get a new vehicle or go on a fancy vacation and we equate that with wealth. We don't even consider that these people can't afford this or that they are going deeper in debt with this lifestyle. No, we most often plot how we can also access more credit to keep up with this lifestyle.
No one shares what they have in savings. It is not part of our culture.
We oooh and aaah when someone gets a new designer purse and we have no problem sharing how much we paid for this. You never hear anyone saying, "I have had the same no name purse for five years. This has allowed to be put an extra $500/year in my tax free savings account so I anticipate that this will allow me to retire 2 years earlier than expected.
A penny saved is a penny earned has left our vocabulary. And, it is not just because we no longer produce pennies.
My partner and I share a car, and it is a pretty crappy car. People see this car and feel sorry for us. They assume that we can't afford two cars or even one decent car. We love our crappy car. It has served us well and we purchased it without going into further in debt. We are going to drive this crappy car into the ground. As the years progress, people will feel more and more sorry for us. That's ok with us. Even when we become debt free, we still will drive this car. We will then silently put even more to savings.
The holiday season is here and this means get togethers and more family time. Make an early resolution to talk to people about money. Since no one feels comfortable talking about debt, talk about savings. Make savings the trend for conversations. If we all do this, maybe we can reverse the trend.
Let's start saving in public and spending in private. Let's let this particular "#1" distinction go away. Let's make good common sense become good financial sense.
I heard on the news today that we now have factor of which we are the number one country in the world. We, as Canadians, have more debt per capita, than any other country in the world.
My guess we are not so proud of this one. The new figures released say that we all have $1.70 in debt for every $1.00 we earn.
I have disclosed that my partner and I were "above average" when it came to debt at the start of 2017. We are now well "below average" as we have successfully retired over $20,000 of our debt so far this year. When my partner blogged about our financial "diet" and how it was working for us, a number of people reached out to him asking for help in putting themselves on this diet. We were eager to help, and that is as far as it went. People asked for help. We offered to help, and then we never heard from them further.
Not surprising, given other information that has been released about our debt in Canada. Apparently, 71% of admit to an anonymous survey that they are uncomfortable about our debt. 27% admit that they are embarrassed to talk about their debt. 55% of us never discuss debt with their family. The majority of Canadians surveyed also claimed that becoming debt was their number 1 priority, yet, every year, our debt keeps rising.
I think one of the problems that we all have with money is that we spend in public and save in private. We all notice when our neighbours get a new vehicle or go on a fancy vacation and we equate that with wealth. We don't even consider that these people can't afford this or that they are going deeper in debt with this lifestyle. No, we most often plot how we can also access more credit to keep up with this lifestyle.
No one shares what they have in savings. It is not part of our culture.
We oooh and aaah when someone gets a new designer purse and we have no problem sharing how much we paid for this. You never hear anyone saying, "I have had the same no name purse for five years. This has allowed to be put an extra $500/year in my tax free savings account so I anticipate that this will allow me to retire 2 years earlier than expected.
A penny saved is a penny earned has left our vocabulary. And, it is not just because we no longer produce pennies.
My partner and I share a car, and it is a pretty crappy car. People see this car and feel sorry for us. They assume that we can't afford two cars or even one decent car. We love our crappy car. It has served us well and we purchased it without going into further in debt. We are going to drive this crappy car into the ground. As the years progress, people will feel more and more sorry for us. That's ok with us. Even when we become debt free, we still will drive this car. We will then silently put even more to savings.
The holiday season is here and this means get togethers and more family time. Make an early resolution to talk to people about money. Since no one feels comfortable talking about debt, talk about savings. Make savings the trend for conversations. If we all do this, maybe we can reverse the trend.
Let's start saving in public and spending in private. Let's let this particular "#1" distinction go away. Let's make good common sense become good financial sense.
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