Til Debt Do U$ Part

- Season 8

(2010)

Julia and Guy, married for five years with an infant child, are both teachers who have vastly differing outlooks on money. Julia believes one should not spend money one does not have. Guy believes money is for spending, not for saving for a rainy day. Guy not only spends money on almost daily sports outings followed by wings and drinks with his friends, but it is generally money he doesn't have as he uses credit and cash advances, which he does not see as being an issue. Because of their differing outlooks, Julia acts more like the mother to Guy in their relationship,...

There has always been an imbalance in Ingrid and Jamie's twelve year marriage, that imbalance, especially as it relates directly or indirectly to money, which is placing strain on their union to the possible point of no return. When they first got together, Ingrid, the A-type personality, already owned a house, whereas younger Jamie, the laid back one, brought three guitars as the material possessions into their relationship. Now, Ingrid, who handles all the finances for the family, which includes two adolescent children, works freelance as a location scout, earning ...

Together for ten years with three children, Hollie and Sean are in a common law relationship. They have divided their expenditures as his and hers, which includes Hollie's student loans as solely her own (while Sean's education was funded through a scholarship). Generally, Sean pays the bigger items - all which he handles through automatic deductions, so he doesn't even see the bills - but has fewer of them, while Hollie handles smaller expenses but far more of them. The two don't communicate about their finances, which bothers Sean as he feels Hollie is mismanaging ...

Liz and Will, who were high school sweethearts, are relative newlyweds with an infant son, Jack. Will has made a conscious decision that he doesn't want to know about or thus manage their collective finances. Beyond their mortgage, they have had a number of big expenditures of late, such as their wedding and renovations to their small house, which still requires many renos and which they have outgrown, and thus they would like to sell soon. Liz has rolled much of this debt into their mortgage to keep it out of mind so that she can justify more spending. Their mortgage...

Married couple Lisa and Paul, who have a combined income of $114,000 annually, have an infant daughter and a dog, Ella and Pumpkin respectively. Lisa pampers both their daughter and the dog, buying them anything to make them look cute to the world. The clothes for Ella often are for two or three years down the road, Lisa who will often make her purchases look like they have always been in Ella's closet. Lisa recently took a pay cut so that she could spend more time at home with Ella and Pumpkin. Paul's spending is on the larger ticket item of a car, which he replaces ...

Together for five years, late twenty-somethings Candice and Clint have a combined annual income of $96,000. Clint is like a kid in a candy store when it comes to shopping: if he sees something he wants, he will buy it without even thinking about it. His shopping spans the gamut of items, from clothes - hats being his weakness - to electronics, to vehicles (trading in an existing vehicle for another one every year on negative equity), to their just purchased condo, about which he has no idea of the financial outlay such as maintenance fees or insurance. He doesn't or ...

Married couple Rachel and Daniela are polar opposites when it comes to money. Rachel, who earns $45,000 a year in an office job, believes one needs to make money to spend money. She is thrifty to the point of willing to eat canned soup three times a day if that's what it takes. If the soup is on sale, so much the better. Daniela, who earns anywhere from $28,000 to $35,000 a year as a food server, believes one has to spend money to make money. Daniela easily spends especially her tips, on such items as food, drinks and cabs, that money which they largely see as hers. ...

Twenty-somethings Tara and Jeff, who have been together for two years and who want to get married but won't until they are close to being debt-free, live in unique circumstances. Ninety-eight percent of their $89,000 debt is carried by Tara, $70,000 of which is her student loans, which she did not even really consider how she would pay off once she got into the working world, which she is in now as a youth program manager. Her current $39,000 annual income alone would be insufficient to pay off that debt in a timely manner and still live a regular life. They live ...

Sharon and Brad have what should be a comfortable combined income of $120,000 annually, although Sharon is now unemployed and is planning on going back to school. Each brought kids from previous relationships into their marriage, Sharon's two who live with them while Brad pays child support for his four children, two of who who live in the same town as them. Although they talked about the kid issues before they got married, they didn't have a talk about money. Their money problem is an issue of contention, which has already led to one trial separation. Coming back ...

Leslie and Jurgen, who earn a combined income of $110,000 annually, are in a common-law relationship with a pre-school aged son, Ethan. Their relationship is at a stage of falling apart over their money issues and not being willing to communicate with each other effectively. They bought a fixer-upper two years ago, the house which has turned into a money pit with major cracks still showing figuratively and literally within the house. Jurgen, a carpenter, is supposed to do much of the work, and about which Leslie is always getting on him. Leslie is a shopaholic, ...

Gail believes that Jenna and Mark's relationship is the most at risk of any couple she has ever met due to their immature attitude. Both twenty-three, they leap into situations without thinking of the consequences. Mark brought $17,000 worth of consumer debt into their relationship, which Jenna decided to help him pay. However, he seems to be accumulating more debt spending on his outdoor activities. Jenna feels like she is second priority to his ATV. Although she had no consumer debt prior to meeting Mark, Jenna has since accrued her own in emotional spending, a ...

Sam and Stephanie, who have four children, are in overall the worst shape of any couple Gail has ever seen. With a combined income of $92,000 annually, most which is contributed by Sam, they lead a flashy life of material goods, a television in each bedroom being the least of it, none of which they can pay for. As such, they take out high debt loans, not realizing the interest rates or that what little money they are putting into repayment goes primarily into paying the interest. Sam admits that he lives by having the "wow" factor in what he buys, which, to him, gives...

Shannon and Colin, married for just over a year, were high school sweethearts. They, but particularly Shannon, are impulse shoppers, which also applies to the purchase of their house. Most of those purchases they do not need. Shannon has the mentality of "buy now, pay later", which Colin knows is unsustainable, but he does not have the backbone to say "no" to his wife, especially about shopping. In terms of incomes, Shannon makes decent money, but Colin only has a part-time retail job which brings in little money. In addition, he has ambition to become a police ...