Rochelle is in her mid 40’s and her husband, Dan is in his mid 30’s. They live with their two children near Victoria on Vancouver Island. Rochelle underwent surgery and has since been unable to work. Even with some additional overtime income from Dan, his income alone was not enough to make ends meet. Rochelle and Dan relied on credit to pay for living expenses, which resulted in a large amount of debt. Due to their financial situation, they contacted a bankruptcy Trustee for assistance. The Trustee referred them to the Credit Counselling Society and they decided to attend a budgeting workshop.

Rochelle and Dan had no budget in place to help them plan for an unexpected situation. The surgery impacted their family income severely and pushed them into a serious financial crisis. They now faced credit card debt of over $90,000 and 75% of their combined incomes went towards housing costs.

Rochelle recently returned to work part-time, but this still wasn’t enough to help them manage their monthly obligations. After speaking with a Counsellor at the Credit Counselling Society, Rochelle and Dan took a close look at their monthly and seasonal expenses. They were spending more than they earned each month and were going further into debt each week. They needed to take immediate action to reduce their debt and avoid bankruptcy.

Rochelle and Dan discussed several options with their Counsellor. They could sell their home, rent the basement, sell the second car, cash in their retirement savings or Rochelle could go back to work full-time. They decided to increase their income, keep their home and start a budget that allowed them to meet their obligations, pay down debt and save for emergencies.

With a lot of guidance and support from their Counsellor, Rochelle and Dan are on their way to becoming debt free with a Debt Management Program that fits their budget. In learning how to manage their money better, they reviewed their bills, made some changes to their spending habits and prioritized their needs and wants. Now they have a plan to pay off their debt and build savings for the future.

Phyllis is 65 years old, works full-time and lives in the Vancouver area with her husband, Joe. Over the years, Phyllis enjoyed buying gifts for her children, helping friends in need and paid for living expenses using credit. With retirement just around the corner, Phyllis realized that she owed $85,000 on 11 different credit cards, all of which Joe didn’t know anything about.

Phyllis was under a great deal of stress as she no longer wanted to keep her debt a secret from her husband but she was struggling to find a solution. She contacted her bank to ask for a consolidation loan but they were unable to help her. Instead they referred Phyllis to the Credit Counselling Society.

After meeting with a Counsellor, Phyllis began to track her spending to find out where her money was really going. By using 11 different credit cards for so long, she had lost track of her spending completely. She also hadn’t realized that she was paying for creditor insurance on some of her credit cards and this was causing her debt to grow.

With the guidance of her Counsellor Phyllis began building a budget. She learned how to plan her pay cheques and decided how much she needed to allocate for her weekly, monthly and seasonal expenses based on her personal goals. Phyllis didn’t want to be saddled with debt during her retirement, and with a Debt Management Program through the Credit Counselling Society, she will be able to reach her goal of enjoying her retirement debt free.

With her plan well underway, Phyllis felt relieved when she gained the courage to tell her husband about her secret spending and that she was now repaying her debt.

“Thank you doesn’t seem to be enough for helping me change my life and my future. Your patience and understanding was so very helpful and appreciated. I know that I am on the right track.” Phyllis

Ellen is a 42 year old, recently separated woman living in Winnipeg. She was struggling to find a solution to her money trouble as she had over-extended herself financially. She was uneasy about seeking help, but after seeing an ad on the TV Guide channel she contacted the Credit Counselling Society.

Ellen had recently bought another home so that she could take care of her disabled mother more easily. While she was waiting to sell her first home, she had to manage two mortgages. During this time, she tried to make do as best she could, but accrued a considerable amount of debt on credit cards, a line of credit and an RRSP loan. She had started to gamble in an attempt to make money to pay off the debt but soon realized that this was a mistake. The gambling was making her situation worse. She was feeling overwhelmed and unable to cope.

Ellen met with a counsellor at her local Credit Counselling Society office. Together they reviewed her income, debts and options, including bankruptcy. With her counsellor's guidance, Ellen was able to create a plan for how to deal with her debt. Ellen's best option to resolve her financial difficulty was for her counsellor to approach her creditors with a settlement offer on her behalf, and she was relieved to begin the process....

"It is finally over! You made the process a lot easier. I am relieved that my mother and I won't be homeless. Now that this heavy weight has been lifted I can move on with the rest of my life." Ellen

Greg lives in Vancouver and is 25 years old. He saw an advertisement on a BC Transit bus for the Credit Counselling Society and decided to find out if they could help him deal with his student loan and credit card debt. He hadn't been able to make payments on his loans for quite some time, so some of his debts had been assigned to a collection agency. They were calling him at all hours asking for money; they even called him at work. He was extremely upset and intimidated by their approach and became reluctant to ask anyone for guidance. However, things were getting worse and he needed help to manage his money and repay his debt.

Greg met with a counsellor at his local Credit Counselling Society office. After carefully reviewing Greg's situation, the counsellor explained his rights and responsibilities with respect to repaying his debts and dealing with his creditors; until then he didn't even know he had any rights. Greg's counsellor helped guide him on how to communicate with his creditors and the collection agency effectively. Together, Greg and his counsellor created a plan to pay off his debt so he could look forward to his future.

"I am extremely appreciative of your help and vast knowledge for organizing matters that I could not accomplish on my own. Thank you for assisting me in my goal of a debt free future." Greg