Debt Free in 30

The weekly trip to the grocery store is a big expense for a family, so saving money on food can go a long way.  But how do you save money?  Is the only way to save by clipping coupons and buying no-name brands? There are other strategies, and on today's show, Nicole Olsen, the Financial Literacy Program Director for  Financial Fitness  in Windsor and Sarnia, Ontario,  joins us back on the show  to...

Today we present our top ten tips for dealing with collection agents.  We are joined by two industry insiders,  Blair Demarco-Wettlaufer who on a previous show told us how to   stop collection calls , and Mark Silverthorn who previously revealed several   "dirty tricks"   that some collection agencies use to collect on a debt.   We've taken their comments and compiled our top ten tips for dealing...

In today's technology filled world there are more resources and tools available to us than ever before. Although the traditional pen, paper and calculator method for   budgeting still works , mobile apps offer new ways to organize your money and save money. As we end 2015 and move into a brand new year, it's a great time to make financial changes and start tracking your money to   make a plan for...

Every year, the focus of the holiday season is on consumerism and the need to spend money on the perfect gifts, the perfect decorations and creating the perfect dinner. And every year, Canadians end up spending too much money, putting them at risk for financial difficulties once the holiday season is over. For advice about how to limit Christmas spending, we have invited Heather Cudmore, manager o...

The holidays are known for being a time of happiness and joy. But for those struggling with depression, anxiety or loss, the holidays can be a difficult. Our guest today is Theresa Karn, Manager of Clinical Services at   Carizon Family & Community Services   in Kitchener, Ontario. Attempting to create the perfect holiday experience and living up to expectations set by yourself and others can lead...

Gail Vaz-Oxlade is  back on the show  to discuss her new book,  Money Talks: When To Say Yes And How To Say No . I'm excited to feature Gail as a guest this week because not only is her book due out this Tuesday, December 8th, but this is also the FIRST podcast interview introducing her latest work. Gail starts out the episode by exclaiming, I'm so excited for this new book, I cannot begin to tell...

When shopping for financial products like mortgages, credit cards or GICs it's important to shop around. We spend time reading through reviews and prices for things like coffee makers, but as today's guest points out: “before buying a TV we look on Best Buy, we look on Amazon, we look online to find the lowest prices and comparison shop. And I think more people need to realize that they can also d...

When it comes to privacy, organizations are required to follow federal and provincial legislation which prohibits the use of personal information in an inappropriate or unreasonable manner. As part of the federal private sector,   The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act   (PIPEDA)  determines proper conduct by organizations throughout Canada. Differently,   The Privacy Act...

In a past episode we talked to four industry experts about   good debt vs. bad debt . Having listened to that episode, my guest today argues that there is no such thing as good debt, there is only bad debt and not so bad debt. Today’s guest is   Steve Stewart , a  Financial Wellness Coach and podcast host from St. Louis, Missouri. Steve's opinion of debt is that ...we've made it almost a necessary...

It's   Financial Literacy Month   here in Canada and to kick it off our guest today is retired math teacher of 30 years, educational speaker and publisher,  Dave Mitchell   to the show to talk about whether we should be teaching financial literacy in the high school classroom. We have a back and forth discussion about whether teaching financial skills to students who won't use it for many years is...

As a trustee in bankruptcy, I meet with people every day who are struggling to pay off their debt. In the finance world, it's not uncommon to hear shocking stories from clients about threatening calls from collection agents or how they got into debt in the first place. On today's show, I'm joined by Hoyes Michalos bankruptcy trustee,  Howard Hayes , collection agent  Blair Demarco-Wettlaufer , cre...

Interest rates are low and credit is readily accessible, making it easy to take on more debt. What's more is that debt becomes manageable in this kind of climate, until of course, it's not. This summer the  Bank of Canada lowered interest rates , and since that time, media sources have been reporting that Canadians are managing their debt levels and that delinquency rates have fallen. On today’s s...

On today’s show Nora Spinks, CEO of the Vanier Institute of the Family, explains why debt is very complicated in the family context. When it comes to family debt, Nora explains that the majority of Canadians carry some sort of debt; the highest debt being mortgages, followed by car loans and education. The pattern has been, and continues to be, that people incur debt when they're starting out in l...

As the cost of higher education increases, so to does the amount of student loan debt for those graduating from university or college and entering the workforce.  On today's show we talk about the average student loan debtor, explain why females carrying student loan debt have more difficulty paying it off and Ted Michalos points out that student loan debt doesn't only delay big life events for gr...

Today's guest is Blair Demarco-Wettlaufer, Managing Partner of   Kingston Data & Credit , a collection agency servicing Canada and parts of the United States. Blair is a   past guest from show #20   where we discussed the collections process and how to stop collection calls. He's back to give us an insider's perspective about ways that collection agents find debtors, including the use of social me...

It's been over seven years since the Canadian government made changes to the  Bankruptcy & Insolvency Act (BIA) in Canada to make bankruptcy more expensive and to promote an alternative: a  consumer proposal . Today they are more popular than ever because they have significant advantages over any other form of debt relief option in Canada. But since many still don't know a lot about what a consume...

Today’s guest is financial blogger and podcast host, Jessica Moorhouse from Mo' Money Mo' Houses   We discuss how to make big life changes including relocation, going back to school, buying a home and planning a wedding. These are all common life events that can take a toll on your finances and can be difficult to manage for those already facing debt. As a millennial, Jessica has recent experience...

Today’s guest is Susan Eng, Vice President of Advocacy at  CARP , an organization focused on helping seniors and future generations with issues like financial security. Susan explains that studies like our   Joe Debtor whitepaper catalogue the fears that seniors have today; fears about outliving their savings and their children's and grandchildren's lack of economic opportunities. During our talk,...

It’s the start of season number two of Debt Free in 30, and we start this season like we started the first season: we let Ted Michalos rant about payday loans. A lot has happened in the last year, and today talks about a presentation he attended this summer with the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services, where Ted gave his thoughts on how to deal with the rise of many new types of high inte...

For the month of August we are rebroadcasting our most popular shows. We're going to wrap up our "Best Of" summer series with a discussion we had with Jonathan Chevreau about obtaining your own version of Financial Independence or "Findependence" as Jonathan calls it. Jonathan's approach to getting out of debt is to adopt a form of guerrilla frugality in order to get out of debt, stay out of debt...

For the month of August we are rebroadcasting our most popular shows. On today's rebroadcast we talk with Gail Vaz-Oxlade about how to build a repayment plan to deal with your debt before it reaches the tipping point. If however you find that you are looking at years and years to pay back your debt then you may need to consider other options. We also talk with Ted Michalos, bankruptcy trustee and...

Gail Vaz-Oxlade is one of the most popular financial experts for a reason. Her no holds barred approach is based on one consistent message: You need to be the one to take action to take care of your debt problems. You may criticize the bank, the credit reporting agency or payday loan companies but at the end of the day you have to be able to identify that you are too deep in debt and need to do so...

Heather Cudmore is a credit counsellor with Carizon Family and Community Services in Kitchener, Ontario, and on today's show we discuss credit counselling. Who does a credit counsellor work for?  Is it true that they are just a collection agency for the big banks?  What does it cost?  What are the fees? Isn't a debt settlement better and cheaper?  What about other options? Answers to those questio...

For the month of August we are rebroadcasting (with updated information) our most popular shows. Dr. Lee Anne Davies, co-author of   When Life Bites You in the Wallet , discusses the financial challenges faced by seniors and gives practical advice for over-coming "Bag Lady Fears". In an updated introduction to the podcast, we discuss some of the findings from our 2015 Joe Debtor study that reveale...

From now until Labour Day we are rebroadcasting (with updated information) our most popular shows. Today’s guest is Christi Posner, a credit counsellor and new mother.  Christ starts the show by telling us how, after graduating from university she had a lot of debt.  She got married, and she and her husband wanted to start a family, so they knew they needed to tackle their debt.  They did.  They p...