One of my favorite shows is “Until debt do Us Part” with Gail Vox-Oxlade. To be honest the show just makes me feel supior because I am not as monumentally retarded with my money as the people she helps on the show.
The average Canadian student who leaves school with a bachelors degree is $20,000 in debt. Credit cards charge between 17-20% on outstanding balances and department store cards can go as high as 28%. The Canadian criminal code allows interest rates as high as 60%.
Pay day internet loans are even more astounding. Here is an exerpt from a CBC article:
But that’s not the worst of it. On March 29, 2004, CBC Radio One’s The Current talked to one lawyer who represented a woman who borrowed $520. She kept rolling over her loan every two weeks for more than two years because she was never able to repay the original loan. Each rollover cost her $130 in fees and interest. By the time she was able to come up with the full amount owing (some 30 months later), she had paid more than $8,000 in fees and interest. (A link to The Current‘s full report on payday loans is on the bottom of this page).
I came across this great little interactive thingy on CBC about credit cards. The government has some valuable information on credit cards as well especially who is charging what and the special conditions on the interest free periods (not what you think).
I also came across this great little reader’s digest post on credit cards and how to get yourself back in the black.
All of this comes to bear on my house hunting. There is “good” debt and bad debt. I am looking for the good kind.