Til Debt Do U$ Part

- Season 9

(2011)

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...