Many Canadians are living on credit rather than staying within their means

https://thewalrus.ca/canadas-middle-class-is-on-the-brink-of-ruin/

by geodel • 9 years ago

74 132 9 years ago

geodel3• 9 years ago

I see the same pattern in so many nations. Marketers have triumphed all places where people have or don't even have any money to spend.

opportune• 9 years ago

Not only that. Rising wealth inequality and cheap credit is pricing the middle class completely out of asset ownership. Disposable income is staying constant while asset prices (and related things like rent) continue to rise. This isn't just a US phenomenon.

J-dawg3• 9 years ago

This is what leads to the "avocado toast" situation [0].

I'm conflicted on what to think about this. He comes across as arrogant, and made a very poor choice of item to illustrate his point, given how many avocado toasts you'd need to forgo to save a deposit for a house. It's also true that lack of affordable housing is mostly a political failure.

But I look at young people in the UK and kind of see what he means. Home ownership (and any sort of real, sustained wealth) seems like such a distant prospect that people would rather just indulge themselves now.

[0] https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/may/15/austral...

throwaway999517• 9 years ago

Disposable income is staying constant while asset prices (and related things like rent) continue to rise.

Wait, so the middle class doesn't own any of these rising priced assets, thus benefitting from the price increase? I don't think that's true.

hunterjrj• 9 years ago

Financial literacy should be a mandatory topic in a high school curriculum.

digitalengineer• 9 years ago

But then the students would realize how much in debt they will get by going to the university. No joke, see this unsustainable trend: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Student_debt#/media/File:Stude...

GhostVII2• 9 years ago

That is from the US, Canadian universities are much more affordable.

rocky1138• 9 years ago

It should actually be done in primary school. By high school, it's too late to teach them life skills like that. Especially since they are likely already making/spending money at their summer jobs by that point.

jessriedel• 9 years ago

The anecdote about one individual's credit problem the author uses to lead the article is particularly long and meandering. I can't fathom why anyone thinks this is an effective way to learn about anything.

cjf4• 9 years ago

Not to mention that it is a couple living in the most expensive part of Canada making pretty basic yet big impact financial mistakes.

jacquesm9• 9 years ago

This should surprise absolutely nobody. Canada's middle class gets to bear the brunt of the costs of running the country, it would take a much larger population to be able to do so responsibly, on top of that your average Canadian spends far more on consumer goods than is probably wise given their income. In places where the future arrived a little early you can already see this, I've known people to burn up their furniture and inner walls of their house to stay warm in winter. Todays middle-class has a fair chance of ending up in the poor house or on the streets when the final bills arrive. Some parts of Canada make Northern Michigan look good by comparison. Just drive around Northern Ontario for a bit if you want to have an idea of what poverty in a first world country looks like.

agmcleod• 9 years ago

"This should surprise absolutely nobody"

It surprises me, because I've never been up there. I do accept that we have issues, and that people have been getting hit by harsher bills, like Hydro recently.

The article doesn't want to seem to load for me, but what is the source of cost issues in that part of the country? Cost of living vs what jobs pay out there? Or is it more deep than that?

I primarily have been wanting to see an increase on taxes on the higher earning bracket. Also we should probably have more brackets on the high end 250k+ all paying the same tax rate doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Anyways, my hope is that we can use that to reduce costs of services this way. Not sure if it would solve the issues you speak of not.

thablackbull2• 9 years ago

The article doesn't want to seem to load for me

I had to wait a bit but it eventually loads. Not sure what is wrong with the website.

what is the source of cost issues in that part of the country? Cost of living vs what jobs pay out there? Or is it more deep than that?

Article concludes frivolous spending coupled with negative life events: Loss of job, "ignore their tax bill while shelling out for rep hockey and baseball", relationship gone wrong.

"Thanks to all the cheap credit, many of us can bridge our financial shortfalls for years before realizing we are on the brink of ruin."

arjie• 9 years ago

How is that even relevant to this article? The middle class family described wasn't forced into debt by expensive essentials. It sank into it by living beyond its means by overspending on non-essentials.

Nobody made them spend two months income and 60% of their savings on a vacation. That's patently idiotic.

jacquesm9• 9 years ago

> Canadian spends far more on consumer goods than is probably wise given their income.

I think I covered that. The reason they do is because Canadians are very much conditioned (and Americans too) to describe everything they buy in terms of monthly payments. That works, as long as the paychecks keep rolling in. But it does not take much to upset that.

As for the infrastructure spending and other bits in that comment: if there were more people carrying the load then everybody would end up a little wealthier. As it is the only place where real money is being made in Canada is in banking, which is almost predatory as to how it treats the population. The interest rates are off the scale compared to the rest of the world and the various low key trade-wars with the US do not help either.

throwaway999517• 9 years ago

Just drive around Northern Ontario for a bit if you want to have an idea of what poverty in a first world country looks like.

As someone born and raised in Northern Ontario, I have no idea what you're talking about.

You want to know what modern poverty looks like, go to San Francisco.

jacquesm9• 9 years ago

As someone born and raised in Northern Ontario, I have no idea what you're talking about.

Been to Wawa, Sault Ste. Marie, North Bay or Timmins recently? What about the smaller towns like Desbarats, what about the rural areas?

It's - to me - incredible that in a first world country people would be living like that, I've seen poverty in other countries as well, but not in places where the winters are that cold. In Panama or Colombia you can get away with living in a shack, in Northern Ontario it is not an option.

If you feel that Northern Ontario is doing well then you are not in agreement with the people that live there, younger people - if they have any marketable skills - move to the large cities, mostly Toronto but also in the United States as soon as they are able to.

Sure, San Francisco has poverty too, but at least the climate won't outright kill you (in case you were wondering why there aren't so many street people in Northern Ontario: the ones that try usually do not last a single season).

bungie42• 9 years ago

I work in Tech (programmer) in Sudbury.

Their is far more money here than appears on the surface. Years of 10,000+ miners making 100K+ per year + nickel bonus saw to a rather well off retirement community and thriving big ticket item market. Yup, lots of them borrowed to get there quickly. But it was also paid off quickly.

Now, that being said, Sudbury is a very different place 15 years later. The vast majority of the mining jobs are gone, the infrastructure is falling apart. But I wouldn't even come close to calling it poor. Is the future bright here. Nope. But I wouldn't call lots of the major centers to the south prosperous either.

Myself. I never had a CC until I was in my 40's. Even then, they are rarely used, and, paid off immediately. Despite what I think is an artificially inflated local housing market, I manage to save a significant chunk of my income every month. The root cause of the debt problem, I think, is the lack of education. Schools haven't taught 'money' in ages. Managing a household is no different than managing a small business. People have been purposely NOT taught how to manage their money by our education system, it borders on the negligent.

maxerickson• 9 years ago

Much of rural Michigan is rather poor but I wonder about the comparison you are making. There aren't people living in anything resembling shacks in Michigan. At least not meaningful numbers of them.

There's even probably a bit of an inversion by now where the poorest areas are apartments in small towns rather than isolated rural homes.

mabbo3• 9 years ago

It's not surprising that people get into debts like the ones described in the article. Credit card companies want you to be terribly indebted to them.

I had an uncle who suffered brain damage from an aneurism that left him unable to handle money- memory issues, disorganization, etc. He was never going to be able to pay back credit cards and my mother (his PoA and lawyer) informed the credit card companies of this. They sent the cards anyways. They wanted him to go into debt, hoping that his family would bail him out.

There's more profit in taking advantage of people than there is in being a decent person. Unregulated free markets cannot account for that reality. We in Canada have some regulations, but clearly not strong enough ones to prevent this kind of predatory lending.

geodel3• 9 years ago

Marketers and Politicians have told us that we are 'worth it'. So everything including laws just follow.

sp332• 9 years ago

In America we have https://www.optoutprescreen.com/?rf=t Canada doesn't have something like this?

Edit: I didn't realize it blocked people in other countries from even seeing it. Here's a snapshot: https://web.archive.org/web/20170603221522/https://www.optou...

mabbo3• 9 years ago

I don't know what we have, but I know that apparently, having a lawyer and power of attorney tell a credit card company to not send credit cards wasn't enough.

dmix• 9 years ago

Visiting that site from Canada I get this message:

The OptOutPrescreen.com website is only accessible through ISP's (Internet Service Providers) located within the United States and its territories.

Rarely see that on non-media sites.

Can someone explain what it does?

chmod775• 9 years ago

In many countries, particularly European ones, knowingly giving loans to people you know will be unable to pay you back or are unable to handle money responsibly due to a medical condition, is basically handing out free money.

The moment a court hears of it ALL your claims against that person will be forfeit and the blame will lie squarely with you. I'd be surprised if Canada/US doesn't have similar provisions.

pavel_lishin• 9 years ago

It might, but I would wager that making it to court isn't a cheap proposition - you'd likely need to retain an attorney, pay all sorts of fees, and even with a judgement against you, you now have to track down all of the places your debt has been sold off to, repair your credit history, etc.

Not easy even if you're in full control of your mental faculties.

geodel3• 9 years ago

Would courts cover Euro loans to Greece? I somehow thinks banks/lenders know It would difficult to get back but they went ahead anyway.

turc16562• 9 years ago

Unregulated free markets? The banking/loan industry is a heavily regulated industry in both Canada and the US.

Yes, predatory lending exists and it may be immoral, but it still requires the other side to agree to it. And keep in mind that the other side frequently has no intention/ability of paying. That is at minimum acting in bad faith and is usually against the law, even if there is no misrepresentation of income, assets, etc. In many jurisdictions, merely taking out an unsecured loan without the intention of actually paying it back (regardless of what the lender says or does) is technically illegal.

josephdviviano3• 9 years ago

Implying people are actually rational. https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/01/the-irr...

mabbo3• 9 years ago

keep in mind that the other side frequently has no intention/ability of paying. That is at minimum acting in bad faith and is usually against the law

I see. My complaint is that a credit card company knowingly took advantage of a disabled man, and your answer is that he was the villain in the situation.

The man sometimes couldn't tell what was real vs what he had imagined happened. He couldn't go too far from home alone because he would forget how to get back. He was a wonderful human being, a hilarious story teller, and happened to be disabled because of a health issue.

But sure, let's blame him.

jksmith2• 9 years ago

Modern economies depend heavily on a middle class. Any currency not based on a fixed supply depends on the middle class to launder money for it.

stephen_g• 9 years ago

I don't think that really stacks up. A lot of the really interesting research into non-mainstream monetary theory (i.e post-Keynesian/modern monetary theory) is saying the opposite - that the size of the money supply is actually hugely important, and not having enough at certain times has caused as many problems as other times when there has been too much.

The money supply really needs to be flexible to account for the amount of goods and services produced by the economy. Too much and you have inflation, too little and you get stagnation.

So I don't believe that a currency based on a fixed supply of money would ever actually be workable long term (and unsurprisingly gold and other commodity backed currencies have never lasted).

jksmith2• 9 years ago

Not suggesting merits of either system. Just saying that if the supply is not based on some gold standard scheme, then for all intents currency is just paper when it's printed. It assumes value when paid in wages, loaned, etc. Effectively, it has to be laundered. The middle class is best at laundering because their ratio of earning power to debt to spending power. If the middle class shrinks, a money system that depends on it will lose value.

vinceguidry2• 9 years ago

One generation builds wealth, the next does everything they can to tear it down. Seems like the way of the world. I stopped worrying about the middle class when I realized that they are the architects of their own ruin.

chrisbennet• 9 years ago

There is a difference be creating wealth and capturing it. The fellow who builds something creates wealth. The fellow who invests in assets generally does it to capture wealth i.e. make money off other peoples labor.

beaconstudios3• 9 years ago

and there's nothing wrong with that, if investing means that more people can build wealth for themselves. Starting a business ain't cheap.

globuous• 9 years ago

until their vote during the next election goes against your agenda....

You cannot not care about part of the population, even if you think it's their fault they're not doing better. Because the day they go to the streets to tear apart society as we know it, is when it's too late to care about them. Sad but true, history has shown this is how it works.

Maybe it's extreme, but it's something to keep in mind. I had this very conversation with my grandpa the other day. He told me "well, you cannot care only about yourself, because you have to make sure other people/classes/whatever aren't so unhappy as to start a revolution."

thatwebdude2• 9 years ago

LOL @ the classism here.

vinceguidry2• 9 years ago

I'm middle class myself, so I don't feel all that bad about it. You don't know how many of my family members I've seen fritter away their lives and fall into dependence on the ones with money. Black holes of neediness, these people are.

I have very little sympathy for that idiocy. And even less for the decline of rugged individualism in favor of asking the government for handouts.

The lower class never had any advantages to begin with so my apathy does not extend there.

AlwaysRock• 9 years ago

"Around Christmas, they decided to take the children to Mauritius to visit with family. That trip cost them $12,000, shaving their nest egg down to $9,000. Kervin wasn’t worried."

Just starting the article but... It seems like this is a pretty big issue. I couldn't imagine taking a 12K vacation. Especially if it was going to bring the total savings for my family down to 9K. That's just poor financial planning.

walshemj• 9 years ago

Many people in the uk have no savings or less than £100 $9000 is quite a lot.

graeme3• 9 years ago

When unemployed?

barkingcat• 9 years ago

$12,000 is even more.

dghughes• 9 years ago

Everyone I know goes south every single year. The Dominican Republic, Cuba, Mexico but also Thailand, Australia. All they do is sit on a beach and drink until blackout drunk.

I have never gone on a trip to any of those places or anywhere else because I save my money (I'd rather Rome or Tokyo). Yet people with absolutely no money or on unemployment, a dozen kids etc. It seems everyone goes no matter the cost and every single year.

I know people say "travel now while you can" but I don't want to be 65, poor, an alcoholic, and with with blond hair, bald and blue eyes I'd probably end up with melanoma.

This is the same crowd that goes to Timmies two or three times a day yet poo poos Starbucks.

olegkikin• 9 years ago

They do it to escape from reality. Day-to-day grind is unbearable.

nunez2• 9 years ago

Yeah, I'm dealing with that now with one of my family relatives. They don't make that much but somehow manage to go to Mexico, Thailand, DR, wherever and spend a ton of money they don't have. And then they expect me to participate in buying stuff on credit unnecessarily despite me telling them that I can't do this. I'm good, thanks.

allengeorge• 9 years ago

That is...so weird to me. I'd be petrified of shelling out that much cash while not working. What happens to road trips closer to home?

jurassic• 9 years ago

I had the same reaction. I don't want to judge anybody too harshly for their choices, but it definitely makes it harder for me to view them as victims of a systematic hollowing out when they are making choices like this. A $12k vacation is a luxury by any standard and something I could not justify for myself even with a much more stable financial footing than the article describes for this family.

gavman• 9 years ago

“Rent, groceries—everything is costly,” says Kervin. “You get your paycheque, and you don’t know where it goes.”

This quote really stuck out to me. It wasn't "just poor financial planning" it was absolutely no financial planning.

Was there predatory behavior on the part of the loans? Absolutely. But to me the larger take away here is the importance of budgeting, saving, and being responsible with your financial planning. They were making over $87k/year after-tax, and just a couple months after he lost his job they had liquidated their entire savings.

danmaz74• 9 years ago

To put this in context, they were visiting their family (in Mauritius) after the birth of their new child. It's still irresponsible to spend such a large amount of money in that kind of situation - with that amount I guess they didn't look for the cheapest travel options, and lived in an expensive hotel instead of staying with their family - but it's not like they just went there for the beaches, as it looked like when I first read the comment.

geetfun• 9 years ago

There's good debt and then there's bad debt.

Good debt is one where you use other people's money to build your own wealth in appreciating assets.

Bad debt is where you borrow on credit to buy yourself a momentary satisfaction, like a trinket.

Most people think they're richer than they actually are. Which is why it's so common for people to "spoil" themselves. Learning to live cheaply is a skill and takes a bit of pride swallowing as the people around you live more lavishly on less income.

Unfortunately there a lot of people who are quite a bit overconfident about their financial state due to swollen housing prices.

josephdviviano3• 9 years ago

I predict people taking out ostentatious lines of credit on their mortgages (esp. in GTA and Van) will lead to very high rates of default if the housing prices drop dramatically (~10-20 %).

bluGill• 9 years ago

It is hard to live within your means when you see everyone else around you get nice things. I know that when I retire (possibly early) I will be glad I saved all my life as I can afford more nice things when I have time. However there is the desire for now.

Worse, nothing is guaranteed. I knew people who died young. All my savings will be wasted if it turns out I'm one of those who don't make it to retirement age. The best thing to do could be charge my credit cards to the max and enjoy life as best I can now - letting my estate be bankrupt. We have no way of knowing until after I die what I should have done.

bittercynic• 9 years ago

Your savings wouldn't be wasted if you left them to a cause/person that you believe in.

J-dawg3• 9 years ago

I know exactly what you mean. I've been slowly moving towards a "Mr. Money Mustache" style of frugal living, but I still wonder whether I'm doing the "right" thing. Maybe I'm missing out on all sorts of opportunities to enjoy life and grow as a person.

I do, however, look at friends who make significantly more than me and see that their lifestyle has grown proportionately with their income. Many of them could probably retire early if they embarked on 5-10 years of MMM-style extreme frugality, which to me seems like a missed opportunity.

hamstercat• 9 years ago

My only advice is don't go overboard with it, but keep sticking to your plan. Spending more money doesn't automatically bring you more happiness, even if a large part of society makes it seem so. Buying a new car seems fun, and it may be for a couple of days, but the fun wears out after a while. Eating out at a restaurant can be a great experience, unless you do it everyday and it becomes a routine.

scaryclam• 9 years ago

Personally, I like to save up some money specifically to blow on stuff I don't need. That way I can save for the future but still feel like I'm being irresponsible, albeit only sometimes.

lukas099• 9 years ago

"I knew people who died young... The best thing to do could be charge my credit cards to the max and enjoy life as best I can"

This argument relies on the assumption that 'getting nice things' yields 'enjoy[ing] life as best I can now'

This isn't necessarily true. Some people, myself included, feel much more satisfied living below our means. Above a base level, I don't think 'stuff' really makes us happier, and the security of having savings gives me peace of mind that is much more valuable and happiness-inducing than, say, an expensive car.

curioussavage2• 9 years ago

I think the concept of good debt does nobody any favors. The people who make real money using debt get money at very low to 0 percent interest rates. There are always exceptions but for most people this concept is BAD.

I would beg you not to tell this nonsense to people but I suspect you will think you know better.

What appreciating assets should people get in debt to buy? Surely you aren't trying to label houses as appreciating assets.

throwaway999517• 9 years ago

What appreciating assets should people get in debt to buy?

You should go into debt to buy any assets that you know will appreciate at a rate greater than the interest you pay on debt incurred to finance them.

Surely you aren't trying to label houses as appreciating assets.

Real rate of return on real estate is slightly positive in historical data.

sbarre5• 9 years ago

Ironically, "You're richer than you think" is a major marketing slogan for one of our big national banks. :-/

gwbas1c• 9 years ago

"Good debt is one where you use other people's money to build your own wealth in appreciating assets."

I'd say a new car loan is good debt, even though it's a depreciating asset. For the last 15 years or so, the interest rates are so close to inflation that it doesn't even make sense to pay cash for a new car.

At times when I was in the market for a used car, I opted to buy new because the interest rate was lower on the new car and it was irresponsible for me to pay cash for the used car.

carsongross• 9 years ago

We need to bring back a long lost concept in economics:

Usury

dgudkov• 9 years ago

The story looks to me like an example of family budget mismanagement full of red flags. Expensive trips, two kids in day care while 1 unemployed parent stays at home, two cars, and very expensive payday loans on top of it. Honestly, I have little sympathy here.

PS. If there is a problem with middle class in Canada this story is not a good example of it.

thablackbull2• 9 years ago

To be fair, it was never about a hollowing out. The link is, "Many Canadians are living on cheap credit rather than living within their means" and the title is, "Canada’s Middle Class Is on the Brink of Ruin". The whole purpose of the piece was pointing out the frivolous spending habits of the average person that leads to deep financial problems when a negative event happens (job loss, divorce, etc.)

You were never to empathize with it; it's just saying people spend beyond their means.

graeme3• 9 years ago

I know at least one supplier who lives like this financially. They and their spouse have above average incomes, but large debts, and constant spending on expensive vacations and house renovations.

They have jobs, so they don't go over the edge. But it's basically one step removed from the more extreme situation highlighted in the article.

nbanks• 9 years ago

I have more sympathy for Jacqui, the single mom. She wasn't planning to divorce her husband and a $1200 basement seems reasonably thrifty for three people. Perhaps the new vehicles were extravagant, but she purchased that before her second divorce and couldn't save much by selling it to buy an old beater. In the end, her best hope would be a better paying job or moving somewhere with less expenses but a worse university for her daughter.

prawn2• 9 years ago

The day care thing puzzled me. Surely either parent in between jobs could be at least 0.6 FTE home with the children? Is the father assuming that's not their role or being lazy about it? Schedule job interviews for the 1-2 days/week the kids are being cared for.

I'd also be cautious about trying to live away from family and friends who you can rely on for spot support with childcare, emotional support, etc. I know it's not feasible for all, but that cost would add up.

ChuckMcM• 9 years ago

This is a scenario that plays out repeatedly. It always ends badly.

curioussavage2• 9 years ago

So does Canada still have the highest household debt in the western world? Higher than their GDP?

Do a search and all you see are articles downplaying it. Really shameful, looks like Canadian publications are just as shady as ours.

Does this hurt the assumption that subsidized health care and college was supposed "fix" this?

nathanvanfleet• 9 years ago

Your last statement is kind of incoherent. I guess you are just trying to justify USA's lack of that.

"Canada has a problem with credit, haha, looks like their... subsidized health-care didn't help them out of that one as they thought it would!"

refurb3• 9 years ago

Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm assuming the OP is referring to the common claim that American bankruptcy is so high because of medical costs.

It would seem like even with healthcare for all, bankruptcy is still a problem for people.

gthtjtkt• 9 years ago

Seems to be down (giving me 503), hopefully this Google cache link works: https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:7E6mLP...

Maybe this text-only version is better: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:7E6mLP9...

mirror, archive (for ctrl-f)

ktzar• 9 years ago

I'm sorry, but people not having just a basic understanding of how debt works is not 'the system's problem.

After reading the article I can identify a few things that would've raised a huge red alarm in my head if it was me: - Don't spend $12k in holidays right after you're fired and have a couple kids. - C-Sections are quite normal these days... It'd great that you want to be with your wife and the new babies... If you can afford it! Most people can't. - Using loans that have an interest of 590% APR... Sorry, you have to be quite ignorant to sign that. Even the worst credit cards have an interest that's a fraction of that. That's definitely not cheap credit.

I know many Canadians... And people with that little financial knowledge is definitely not that common. And yes, most people take more debt than what they should, but the case portrayed in the article should give way to a very different headline "Couple chains badly financial decisions".

sbarre5• 9 years ago

This ties back to something I've been saying for years: High School should include a basic course in financial education.

Understanding budgeting, interest on loans & credit card debt, how a mortgage works, saving for retirement, etc...

So that once you get into the real world, you aren't learning this stuff through trial and error.

ozmodiar• 9 years ago

It's this a million times. As a Canadian I've talked to a staggering number of people who don't understand finances or basic financial instruments. At best they end up terrified of anything so much as a credit card, and at worst they end up like the family in this story, just grasping whatever ill advised financial resources are available to live the life they feel is right.

sebtoast2• 9 years ago

We used to have that in Quebec when I was in high school (in the 90s) but they took it out a couple of years ago.

I remember doing budgets and figuring out how much it would cost to leave your parent's place, rent an apartment, buying fridge, furniture, etc. to help you prepare for being an adult.

They're talking about adding it back now.

thatwebdude2• 9 years ago

Sorry, you have to be quite ignorant to sign that. Even the worst credit cards have an interest that's a fraction of that. That's definitely not cheap credit.

Agreed, but sometimes that's the only hope some have. At one point in time, I did and I came from a very normal credit-worthy background. Shit happens, ktzar.

Maybe they're already maxxed-out? Or can't get a credit limit high enough to borrow what they need. Or need to pay something in cash, and don't have a higher limit available from a cash-out card. Or are "un-bankable"

That 590% is scoffed at, yet paid, because there's a majority of people (2M in Canada, according to the article) who have no other choice.

Most people would opt for the better option, if they had one.

prawn2• 9 years ago

Depends how you define the system, but if the system is the broader community, then I'd say it's the system's problem. A debt spiral isn't going to lead to happier people, crime-free communities, etc.

randomgyatwork• 9 years ago

As a Canadian making a decent wage, but not living outside my means, I guess this article explains why I feel like I'm being left behind.

I had a coworker who got a condon and was paying 45% of his income for it, it made no sense. So I keep renting and wasting my money as people say, but at least I wouldn't go bankrupt if something bad happens.

Many Canadians are living on credit rather than staying within their means

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