Blog Post

How (Not) to Consolidate Debt

Luisa Hough • May 19, 2016

By Sandi Martin of Spring Personal Finance.

The point: it doesn’t matter what method you use to pay off debt, or if you use any method at all. What matters is that you stop creating new debt.

It’s out there: the mathematically precise, strictly rational formula for paying off your three credit cards, small car loan, and fluid line of credit balance. It’s not too hard to calculate the most efficient way to allocate every dollar and wring the most interest-busting bang out of each buck.

If that doesn’t work for you – and let’s be honest, it often doesn’t  – there’s a psychologically motivating method that throws math out the window and concentrates on tickling your brainpan with the momentum of every dollar that’s paid off – like the eponymous snowball rolling down a hill.

Proponents of these two camps are territorial and permanently at odds. (I’m just spitballing here, but I imagine it has to do with not being able to live inside somebody else’s brain and see how it works, like so many other disputes.)

Frankly, I don’t care how you pay off debt, so long as you simultaneously stop creating more.

Enter debt consolidation. Often a polarizing bone of contention between the two camps, debt consolidation – for those three of you in the back of the room unfamiliar with the concept – is when a lender gives you the money to pay back all of your other debt that’s scattered across the country and pay them back instead. They win by getting a new loan on the books, and stealing market share from the competition. You win by bringing down your overall interest rate.

What’s to argue with, right?

This is what to argue with: there’s a teeny-tiny window of opportunity in which debt consolidation is a powerful tool to bring your debt-free date closer and eat vast chunks out of the total amount of interest you’ll pay. That window of opportunity is open for about half an hour, and when it closes, it’s so hard to reopen that it might as well be painted shut.

If from the outset you don’t commit to a payment that is equal to or more than the amount you were paying on your unconsolidated debt, and that will get your three credit cards, small car loan, and fluid line of credit paid off in less time than they were originally amortized for, then you’re not paying down your debt, you’re just moving it around.

If you don’t take a long, hard look at how you got into debt in the first place, and – from minute one of your newly consolidated life – take measured, calculated steps to not do it again, those credit card balances are going to creep back up again. You’ll find yourself in the same office, maybe even in front of the same banker, signing a new set of loan papers for a new consolidation loan three years down the road.

I began my career in banking in the heyday of debt consolidation lending. The amount of new unsecured dollars added to our lending portfolio was a huge component of our sales scorecard, and while the focus shifted to include a wider spectrum of  product sales after 2008, banks are still hungry for your debt consolidation dollars. *

Folks, I’ve seen a lot of debt consolidation train wrecks, and about five of them where due to circumstances beyond the borrower’s control. The other 7,256,219 were due to the window slamming shut, either because the borrower didn’t know or didn’t care about it.

I’d love to blame the bank for it (you know I would), but I can’t. Yes, the banker you sit across from has incentive to talk you into stupid stuff that’ll not only shut the window of opportunity, but nail it closed and board it up too. (“Increasing your cash flow” is a phrase that comes to mind.)

But down in the land of brass tacks, you just signed a loan to pay off other loans. If you weren’t thinking about how you got to this point at this point, when else are you going to think about it?

If it was important enough to you to take action, why isn’t it important enough to change your behaviour?

* They’d like those dollars to be in the form of a secured line of credit, though, and will sell you on the fact that you can consolidate again and again and again, without ever having to go back into the bank to do it.

This article was written by Sandi Martin of Spring Personal Finance and originally appeared on Spring the Blog here. 

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By Luisa Hough • February 12, 2025
If you’ve been thinking about buying a property, whether that be your first home, next home, forever home, or a home to retire into, the current state of the Canadian economy might have you wondering: Is this really the right time to make a move? There is certainly no shortage of doom and gloom in the news out there. The truth is, that’s a tough question to answer in the best of times. It’s nearly impossible to know for sure what’s going to happen next with the housing market in Canada. It could heat up or it could cool down. So here’s some advice. Instead of basing your buying decision entirely on external market factors, like the economy or housing market, consider looking for the answers internally. When you stop looking at the market to determine your timing to buy a home, and instead examine the personal reasons you have for wanting to buy a home, the picture can become much clearer. Here are some questions to consider. Although they are subjective, they will help bring you clarity. Ask yourself: Does buying a property now put me in a better financial position? Do I make enough money now to afford a new home and maintain my lifestyle? Do I feel confident with my current employment status? Have I saved enough money for a down payment? How long do I plan on living in this new home? Is there any scenario where I might have to sell quickly and potentially lose money? Does buying a property now move me closer to my life goals? Do I really want to buy now or am I just feeling a lot of pressure to just buy something? Am I holding back because I'm scared property prices might drop soon? There’s no doubt that buying a home can be stressful, but it doesn’t have to be. Having a plan in place is the best course of action to help you make good decisions and alleviate that stress. If you’d like to have a conversation to discuss your plans, ask some questions, and map out what buying a home looks like for you, we can address many of the unknowns together. The best place to start is to work through a mortgage pre-approval. There is no cost for this service, you’ll learn exactly what you can qualify for, and it will provide a lot of clarity about your situation. You might decide that it’s best to wait before buying, and that’s just fine. You might find that now’s a perfect time for you to buy! If you'd like to talk, please connect anytime. You’re not in this alone. We can work through everything together.

Improving Your Credit Score

By Luisa Hough • February 5, 2025
Your credit score and how you manage credit are huge factors in qualifying for a mortgage. If you want the best interest rates and mortgage products available on the market, you want a high credit score. Here are a few things you can do to improve your credit score. Make all your payments on time. Making your payments on time is so important; in fact, it might just be the most important factor in managing your credit. Here's how credit works. When you borrow money from a lender, you agree to make payments with interest on a set schedule until the debt is repaid in full. Good credit is established and maintained by making your payments on time. However, If you break the terms of that schedule by not making your payments, the lender will report the missed payments to the credit reporting agencies, and your credit score suffers. It’s that simple. The more payments you miss, the lower your score will be. 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Bank of Canada Rate Announcement Jan 29th, 2025

By Luisa Hough • January 29, 2025
Bank of Canada reduces policy rate by 25 basis points to 3%, announces end of quantitative tightening. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Relations Ottawa, Ontario January 29, 2025 The Bank of Canada today reduced its target for the overnight rate to 3%, with the Bank Rate at 3.25% and the deposit rate at 2.95%. 1 The Bank is also announcing its plan to complete the normalization of its balance sheet, ending quantitative tightening. The Bank will restart asset purchases in early March, beginning gradually so that its balance sheet stabilizes and then grows modestly, in line with growth in the economy. 2 Projections in the January Monetary Policy Report (MPR) published today are subject to more-than-usual uncertainty because of the rapidly evolving policy landscape, particularly the threat of trade tariffs by the new administration in the United States. Since the scope and duration of a possible trade conflict are impossible to predict, this MPR provides a baseline forecast in the absence of new tariffs. In the MPR projection, the global economy is expected to continue growing by about 3% over the next two years. Growth in the United States has been revised up, mainly due to stronger consumption. Growth in the euro area is likely to be subdued as the region copes with competitiveness pressures. In China, recent policy actions are boosting demand and supporting near-term growth, although structural challenges remain. Since October, financial conditions have diverged across countries. US bond yields have risen, supported by strong growth and more persistent inflation. In contrast, yields in Canada are down slightly. The Canadian dollar has depreciated materially against the US dollar, largely reflecting trade uncertainty and broader strength in the US currency. Oil prices have been volatile and in recent weeks have been about $5 higher than was assumed in the October MPR. In Canada, past cuts to interest rates have started to boost the economy. The recent strengthening in both consumption and housing activity is expected to continue. However, business investment remains weak. The outlook for exports is being supported by new export capacity for oil and gas. Canada’s labour market remains soft, with the unemployment rate at 6.7% in December. Job growth has strengthened in recent months, after lagging growth in the labour force for more than a year. Wage pressures, which have proven sticky, are showing some signs of easing. The Bank forecasts GDP growth will strengthen in 2025. However, with slower population growth because of reduced immigration targets, both GDP and potential growth will be more moderate than was expected in October. 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With inflation around 2% and the economy in excess supply, Governing Council decided to reduce the policy rate a further 25 basis points to 3%. The cumulative reduction in the policy rate since last June is substantial. Lower interest rates are boosting household spending and, in the outlook published today, the economy is expected to strengthen gradually and inflation to stay close to target. However, if broad-based and significant tariffs were imposed, the resilience of Canada’s economy would be tested. We will be following developments closely and assessing the implications for economic activity, inflation and monetary policy in Canada. The Bank is committed to maintaining price stability for Canadians. Information note The next scheduled date for announcing the overnight rate target is March 12, 2025. The Bank will publish its next full outlook for the economy and inflation, including risks to the projection, in the MPR on April 16, 2025. Footnotes 1. Effective January 30, the deposit rate will be set at 5 basis points below the Bank’s policy interest rate to improve the effectiveness of monetary policy implementation. For more details, see the market notice published simultaneously with this press release.[ ← ] 2. A market notice published simultaneously with this press release provides operational details.[ ← ] Read the January 29th, 2025 Monetary Report.

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