Til Debt Do Us Part

Dawn and Kelly, a massage therapist/acupuncturist and a farmhand respectively, recently bought a $500,000 house - their supposed dream home in the country as Kelly in particular is a country boy at heart - with a $100,000 down payment, some of which they had to borrow. They decided to build Dawn an office in the house so that she could work from home. However, because of the rural location, her income has dropped by about half from its previous $90,000 per annum when she was working in the city, leaving their combined income now at $86,000. In addition to Dawn buying new stuff for the house which they could already not afford, the house ended up being a fixer upper, which they did not anticipate. The maintenance and operating costs of the house are eating up their money, placing them in a catch-22 situation as they don't have the money to make the necessary house upgrades to save on those operating costs. Dawn handles all the household finances, Kelly not totally aware of how bad the situation is, it being so bad that unless things change, they could lose the house. Beyond the nuts and bolts of the financial plan, Gail has to get Dawn and Kelly to look at the house from a more critical standpoint, namely to get their brains out from their hearts, and what the costs and benefits are of that house compared to alternate housing.

Thirty year old Adam, who has an annual income of $35,000, four years ago "inherited" a house from his mother, and along with it a $300,000 mortgage. He went into the situation with his eyes wide shut. Twenty-five year old Tara, who has an annual income of $38,000, felt that one of the attractive aspects of Adam was that he did own a house at his age. When she moved in with him, they decided to share the debt of the house, which is currently $1,800 per month for the mortgage. Tara also changed the "face" of the household, cleaning and tidying, which included spending to do so. She was not aware when she bought into the dream that Adam was in arrears on both the mortgage and property tax. They are on the verge of breaking up because of the house, which they would both lose if they split since there is no way one of them could afford it alone. On top of these costs, they each are spending more than they can afford on lifestyle choices, such as on adult toys, luxuries and entertainment

Late twenty-somethings Shelly and Luke, who have a combined income of $120,000 annually, are addicted to buying rental income properties. They currently own three properties, including their own house with a rental unit, with a combined mortgage of $870,000. They are trying to juggle not only the money in their lives, but their time, both who need to do maintenance, renovations and other business on the rentals in addition to their respective full time jobs and taking care of their infant daughter, McKenna. Although they also work on their own house, it is generally on the bottom of their priority list as they work on the dream of wealth at an early age, which doesn't seem to be coming as easily as they thought. They have no clue what their expenses are or how much income they are generating from those properties. In reality, they are on the edge as one unforeseen major expense or loss of their employment income or longtime loss of rental income would bankrupt them since they are

Early-thirtysomething married couple Leona and Mohamad are relatively well off, earning a combined income of $150,000 annually. They generally like material possessions that have character, which in a house means older. They purchased their dream home, which required some maintenance work to bring it up to a standard where they could be insured, some of that work which has not yet been done. Instead, they did some cosmetic renovations, bought some expensive items to furnish the house, and took an $8,500 vacation to the Middle East and southeast Asia, when and where they bought some expensive Persian rugs and silk curtains. Everything was paid on credit. Mohamad handles all the household finances, he shielding their money situation from more emotional Leona, who does however know they have a money problem. They know that selling the house is a solution but one they don't want to do. Mohamad has started to pay off their debt, but he still supports their spending to live their dream life

Married for six years with three children, Susie and Alan bought a detached house three months ago so that all the children could have their own bedroom, upgrading from the three bedroom condo in which they were previously living. They have spent money on some new cosmetic items for the house, such as appliances and television sets. They were determined to buy the house that they did, despite the home inspection identifying some deficiencies which they have done nothing about yet, hoping those problems would magically go away, especially as they don't possess the DIY skills to fix any of the problems themselves and as they don't have the money to pay for big jobs. One of those problems has become more of an issue, they dealing with the symptom of the leak rather than deal with the leak's root cause or the consequences of the leak. They were unprepared for the additional costs of detached home ownership compared to their condo, and have not set aside any moneys for those additional

Married couple Karyn and Mark bought a $230,000 fixer upper four years ago to turn into their dream home. Mark, earning about $65,000 a year as a machinist, works seven days a week to provide for the family, and does not have the energy to do any of the renovations when he comes home, despite Karyn's want for him to do so. The renovation work thus far has been piecemeal, resulting in very few quality completed living spaces in the house. Beyond the shopping for the interior decoration parts of the renovations, Karyn does not herself do any of the work since it is in her mind a "boy's" job. Karyn, the stay at home mom, has a side catering business. One of the few fully completed spaces in the house is a catering kitchen in the basement, which cost them $40,000. Karyn, however, has only made a few hundred dollars on the business so far. Karyn, who handles all the household finances, is constantly smiling to hide the problems. Although Mark is aware of their financial difficulties, Karyn

Shannon and Pete, who earn a combined income of $78,000 annually, have been together for three years. Before getting together, Shannon already owned a house, where they now live and to which Pete is now an equal contributor. The problem is is that both are financially irresponsible, individually and as a couple. Although they knew they dealt with money poorly, their financial mismanagement became a problem when they tried to renew the mortgage. Shannon belonged to a buyers club which was only worthwhile if spending was in the thousands per year. Because of all the stress, Shannon quit her job, despite knowing the reduced income would make their financial problems even worse. Pete, on the other hand, had previous debt, his creditors now affecting his current financial viability. They include a student loan, thousands in unpaid parking tickets, and twelve years of non-filed income taxes (for which the government has begun to garnish a percentage of his wages). He had just avoided all

Twenty-somethings Lisa and Sean have a young family of three sons, six year old Liam, the eldest, who is her biological offspring but not his. As such, Lisa spoils Liam to make sure he feels more a part of the entire family, and to compensate for what Lisa and Sean see as his difficult life with Lisa and Liam's dad splitting when Liam was young. Lisa also sees herself more a mother than anything, wanting at least one more child, preferably a girl. Lisa and Sean have a combined income of $73,000, which takes a major hit every time Lisa goes on maternity leave, which in the last few years has been more often than not. Lisa also feels somewhat isolated as she moved away from family and friends to be with Sean. Although they say they focus their spending on the children, they focus on short term impulses, which has resulted in a houseful of toys, rather than longer term needs or wants. They also have conflicts over individual spending by each on their own wants, which in combination has

Courtney and Chad were $30,000 in debt before they started their family, but found that having twin daughters, now fourteen months old, an additional burden over just having one child as they had to buy two of everything for the girls, which resulted in $20,000 in spending the first year. Their $120,000 annual joint income was also reduced when Courtney was on maternity leave, they making the decision to hire a live-in nanny as Courtney went back to work. Although they in general do not live lavishly beyond indulging in clothes for the children, they rely on their line of credit to finance whatever their spending. Beyond Chad's nicotine habit however, Gail points out that they do indulge on more "stuff" than they realized. The easiest thing that they can do financially is manage their cash flow better simply by requesting a lower tax deduction from work as they know they have a tax deduction for child care. Gail has to make them focus their spending on debt repayment to get themselves

Together for ten years, thirty-somethings Celine and Ron still have the same mentality when they first met, spending money solely to have fun. This spending includes always eating out, and frequently vacationing, at resorts only four star or higher. They have not incurred much debt as their respective families have often paid for their needs, but neither have they made any effort to pay off whatever debt they have. Celine is now seven months pregnant with their first child. The pregnancy was unplanned, they have done nothing yet for the baby including not finding a place bigger than their current one bedroom apartment to house the baby, and they have no idea how much a baby costs or on what their money for the baby should be spent. Gail not only has to get them to prioritize their lives so that baby comes first, which first and foremost entails giving them life skills such as knowing how to cook, she has to give them the tools to learn how to budget for their lives plus baby in the

With a combined income of $74,000 annually, Darlene and Scott, in a common law marriage, live with their three children, the eldest two, Abigail and Nathan, who are biologically hers from a previous relationship, and the infant, Braiden, who is theirs together. Darlene's $18,000 per annum income is from a home daycare business, on which she spends more than she takes in. She also uses any excuse to buy Braiden whatever she feels he wants. Scott seems to resent not only the uncontrolled spending, which he feels he has no say about since she will buy things anyway when he's not around, but that Darlene doesn't drive, meaning that he has to put his life on hold to drive her where ever she wants, including on her shopping trips. She has also told her two oldest to lie to Scott about anything she spends behind his back. Darlene believes she is spending only the money she is bringing in, but Gail has to show her that she is spending far more than she is personally bringing in, which is

At age thirty-eight, single Melanie has become a mom for the first time, through artificial insemination. She has decided to take one year maternity leave, which cuts her annual income from $80,000 to $20,000. She planned the pregnancy, but has done no planning otherwise, even since baby Jude's arrival three months ago. She has pretty much kept to her pre-baby lifestyle, which includes spending on her own wants, such as maintaining a motorcycle, having recently purchased a cute but expensive small car, vacationing, and eating out all the time, these on top of her buying whatever she wants for baby Jude. Her reduced income is insufficient to pay her monthly mortgage and car payments, let alone anything else. Through Gail's visit, Melanie's dad, Bob, and Melanie's friend, Christi, will be her support, although Christi admits she has been enabling Melanie's bad habits by being her dining partner. Gail has to get Melanie to make a long term plan, including: budgeting money for debt

Richard, a paramedic, and Jaci, a high school teacher, are parents of five month old McLean, who they conceived by going to a fertility clinic. Jaci is now off on maternity leave, and after that has concluded and she goes back to work, Richard will take paternity leave as it is important for them for one or the other to stay at home during McLean's formative years. They as parents are finding that McLean is costing more than they expected, and that they should have paid off their small debts, such as the fertility treatments, when they were able. Richard admits that he is an impulse shopper for himself and for the family, but they are both guilty of dreaming big, wanting to have it all, while one or the other stays at home, resulting in a far reduced income not capable of affording those dreams, which includes more children. Worrying about money has caused Jaci anxiety, and has caused problems within their marriage. Gail not only has to get them to curb their spending and stop using

Tracey and Dan were determined to have a baby, which they are unable to do by natural means. Seven month old Senta is the result. But in having Senta, they racked up $80,000 in in vitro fertilization treatments (which failed), and another $65,000 for surrogacy, neither of which were guarantees of having that baby. During the process, Dan lost one of his three jobs, reducing their household income, and they incurred some "rainy day" costs in their lives. In addition, Tracey and Dan see their next big ticket item as trying to have another baby, which requires that IVF or surrogacy once again. Their biggest fear is not having a sibling for Senta. Although they do not in general live lavishly, they are financing a vacation property in addition to their primary residence, combined which account for over half their monthly spending, resulting in them neglecting their other debt. Beyond making them look at their overall finances, Gail has to show them that they can't have their cake and eat