Canadians' Personal debt hits record high of 163.7%

Can't wait for the Christmas numbers to com in.

Seriously, who the hell is taking on more debt these days?

People should be clearing it as fast as possible, things still aren't getting better in the ROW.

It's not easy, as the Banks don't want you to clear your debt. I am doing some home renos, and wanted an increase on my (cheap) line of credit to do it, but instead the bank said I could have a new credit card (expensive) at 3X the amount. Better for them, worse for me.

How can you purchase a house today, now that prices have gone up 300% from 10 years ago without taking on a huge debt?

It's not easy, as the Banks don't want you to clear your debt. I am doing some home renos, and wanted an increase on my (cheap) line of credit to do it, but instead the bank said I could have a new credit card (expensive) at 3X the amount. Better for them, worse for me.


What's the rate these days, and why the devil are you financing renos on a card ?

I havent known my card rate for years now, always pay it EOM.

How can you purchase a house today, now that prices have gone up 300% from 10 years ago without taking on a huge debt?

fixer upper, auction, something farther out of town, or just wait a while,

that house correction has to hit one day.

Lower your expectations and buy something you can afford to pay off in 10-15 years.

That will be a terrible day.

That will be a terrible day.


It could be a very terrible day.

Weren't no fun back in the 80's either, people trying to renew mortgages at 24%,

looked at the numbers, walked away from the house.


My parents did ok by always building equity in a house while living in it,
renovating / fixing / painting.

The 80's house was in Collingwood, ON.
Bought for 63,000.
new basement, like what Yogi has been doing,
new kitchen, new entrance foyer.. wish I had a picture, God that
was a job stripping and refinishing a 100 year old staircase.

Sold 5 years later for 125,000.

The guy who bought it flipped it 2 years later for 250k.
My mom was so pissed.

How can you purchase a house today, now that prices have gone up 300% from 10 years ago without taking on a huge debt?

yeah I paid more than 3/4 of a million for a 1957 rancher. On the plus side, I do libve in paradise. from the North End (of Winnipeg) to teh North Shore (of Vancouver)--you've come a long way baby!

We finally sold our place in Winnipeg(River Heights) last month and made a nice profit. Both parties thought thney got a sweet deal. We kept our rural property and land, as that`s where we want to retire. Bought the new truck with part of the profit we made on the house and stuck the rest in the bank Unless civilization collapses we`ll be fine....and even then I imagine we`ll be OK for food, water and shelter

I went from a $60,000 fixer-upper in the west end (The war zone) to a $300K Sunny St. James location. We need to upsize for the new addition. It's not turning out to be easy.

Lower your expectations and buy something you can afford to pay off in 10-15 years.

I don't know about Sacramento, but in Edmonton it is next to impossible to find a house that cheap - unless you're making six figures.

Sometimes it's worth taking on a little more debt to get a house in a better area. It's one of the few ways money can buy happiness IMHO.

It's not easy, as the Banks don't want you to clear your debt. I am doing some home renos, and wanted an increase on my (cheap) line of credit to do it, but instead the bank said I could have a new credit card (expensive) at 3X the amount. Better for them, worse for me.


What's the rate these days, and why the devil are you financing renos on a card ?

I havent known my card rate for years now, always pay it EOM.

I'm not financing on a card. I wanted to on my line of credit, but all they would offer was a card. I changed banks.

That will be a terrible day.


It could be a very terrible day.

Weren't no fun back in the 80's either, people trying to renew mortgages at 24%,

looked at the numbers, walked away from the house.


My parents did ok by always building equity in a house while living in it,
renovating / fixing / painting.

The 80's house was in Collingwood, ON.
Bought for 63,000.
new basement, like what Yogi has been doing,
new kitchen, new entrance foyer.. wish I had a picture, God that
was a job stripping and refinishing a 100 year old staircase.

Sold 5 years later for 125,000.

The guy who bought it flipped it 2 years later for 250k.
My mom was so pissed.

Should see the house my grandparents originally bought in Abbotsford for 37 000 in 1970(my grandmother was a nurse and my grandfather a guard at the prison).....in `94 its value had more than quadrupled. Even when they sold it in `74 they made a nice profit. It was a new subdivision at the time and I remember when it was all forest around them, and going with my grandfather to dump grass trimmings from the lawn mower. It`s the same as my uncles` places in Colwood. One had a huge place on Benhomer Drive and then moved out to near the Canwest mall He(my mom`s uncle actually) was a prison guard at Williamhead, with five kids. My dad`s brother bought a four bedroom in Colwood, just off of Wishart Rd in 1971, when a LS and a nurse could afford to by a nice house in a new sub division. Another uncle(one of my grandfather`s brother again) bought in Abbotsford as well, on York Avenue across from my grandparents. Once upon a time land and housing was very affordable on the Island and Lower Mainland. We even seriously contemplated buying a house in Langley in the 90s, but decided you could get A LOT more house for the same money in Winnipeg and not have a multi-generational mortgage