Want to crush your debt? Financial experts suggest trying a money crash diet
Crash diets are extreme and unhealthy, but the financial version might actually make sense.
Scott Terrio recommends them to his clients sometimes, as manager of consumer insolvency for Hoyes, Michalos & Associates Licensed Insolvency Trustees. The firm helps people filing for bankruptcy, or making deals to avoid it, with offices across Ontario.
Terrio sees clients with a lot of debt, but if it's a relatively modest amount — maybe $5,000 or $10,000 or so — he tells them to try an 'extreme austerity program.'
The premise is simple: Aside from rent, groceries and internet, cut absolutely all other spending, and live like a monk. Commit to this lifestyle for a handful of months, or more if you can; the short timespan will make it more tolerable, Terrio said.
No takeout, no Uber, cancel your subscriptions, get a cheap phone plan, tell your friends you can't go out to restaurants or bars, he said. Pick the winter months when you're not tempted by summer patios.
After a stint with the crash diet, you can take a break and return to normal life. If you aren't able to tackle all of your debt in one go, you can resume the crash diet later on in the year to reduce it further or eliminate it for good.
On this plan, you can gain more ground on your debt in a much shorter time — especially with high-interest debts such as credit cards. Extreme austerity can save years on your repayment plan, Terrio said.
'Putting $300 down on your credit card is [nothing],' he said. 'But putting $700 for a few months is going to help you.'
'The downside is that it sucks, but you're on a mission,' he added. 'When you do all this, you will have taken what is a blip in your life of 12 months and fixed the problems that would have otherwise taken up 20 years of your life.'
It's definitely not for everyone, Terrio said, but it's very effective for those with discipline and financial goals.
Robin Taub, CPA and author of The Wisest Investment, sees the potential in a hard reset.
A short-term crash diet can change habits and help 'subscription creep,' when you lose track of smaller monthly recurring payments, she said.
Taub likened it to a recent experience where her credit card was compromised and she was issued a new card — all those websites and subscriptions didn't have her new card info, so she found herself updating them all individually.
'I was just reminded: Do I really want to give them my new credit card number and keep paying for this?' The answer was often no, Taub said.
'They really do add up without you noticing — it becomes a bit of a habit, and you're not as mindful of your spending. I think the idea [of a crash diet] is to regain that awareness and mindfulness around your spending.'
Frugality trends with similar premises have been circulating on social media for years, Taub pointed out.
Loud budgeting involves telling everyone you are on a strict financial plan so you don't feel pressured to spend money socially, while 'No Buy 2025' is a movement to make it through the year without buying any non-essential items. Cutting spending is also about sustainability, Taub said, which resonates with younger people. This demographic is also just simply feeling the pinch of the cost of living.
'A lot of young people are feeling this way,' Taub said. 'My kids say to me: Every time they walk out the door, it costs them $100, whether they're buying groceries or trying to do something fun with their friends. It's just really expensive these days.'
Sean Cooper made the news for his extreme frugality — the Toronto-based mortgage broker and author of Burn Your Mortgage went viral for paying down his mortgage in just three years. Cooper owned his home outright at age 30.
A major part of his financial plan was collecting rent: He lived in the basement of his home and rented out the rest of the property. But in addition to a strict budget, Cooper picked up side jobs as well.
'Earning an extra source of income is great,' he said. 'There are so many different opportunities to earn income these days. So it's looking at a skill and how you can make money from it, whether it's making YouTube videos or freelance writing or freelance web design, even pet sitting, dog walking — just find something that you enjoy and try to monetize it.'
Make it hard to spend money, Cooper advised. Don't bring your credit card when you go out, take your credit card info off your phone, delete the info from online shopping sites, apps, and subscriptions.
'Do you really need five streaming services?' Cooper said. 'There's so many free streaming services you can watch.'
After the crash diet, you might have found new useful habits, free hobbies, or the realization some past spending wasn't serving you.
Another perk? A higher credit score.
'If you're paying your debt this aggressively, you're also rebuilding your credit,' Terrio said, 'because you're not only addressing 35 per cent of your score — which is transaction history — you're also addressing another 30 per cent of your score, which is credit utilization, because your debt is coming down.'
'So you can watch your credit score go crazy … You're pulling the two biggest levers of your credit score at the same time, over a short period.'
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 10, 2025.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Toronto Sun
12 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
Want to crush your debt? Financial experts suggest trying a money crash diet
The premise is simple: Aside from rent, groceries and internet, cut absolutely all other spending, and live like a monk Published Jun 12, 2025 • Last updated 8 minutes ago • 4 minute read Locked wallet to not spend money. Photo by Getty Images Crash diets are extreme and unhealthy, but the financial version might actually make sense. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Scott Terrio recommends them to his clients sometimes, as manager of consumer insolvency for Hoyes, Michalos & Associates Licensed Insolvency Trustees. The firm helps people filing for bankruptcy, or making deals to avoid it, with offices across Ontario. Terrio sees clients with a lot of debt, but if it's a relatively modest amount — maybe $5,000 or $10,000 or so — he tells them to try an 'extreme austerity program.' The premise is simple: Aside from rent, groceries and internet, cut absolutely all other spending, and live like a monk. Commit to this lifestyle for a handful of months, or more if you can; the short timespan will make it more tolerable, Terrio said. No takeout, no Uber, cancel your subscriptions, get a cheap phone plan, tell your friends you can't go out to restaurants or bars, he said. Pick the winter months when you're not tempted by summer patios. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. After a stint with the crash diet, you can take a break and return to normal life. If you aren't able to tackle all of your debt in one go, you can resume the crash diet later on in the year to reduce it further or eliminate it for good. On this plan, you can gain more ground on your debt in a much shorter time — especially with high-interest debts such as credit cards. Extreme austerity can save years on your repayment plan, Terrio said. 'Putting $300 down on your credit card is nothing,' he said. 'But putting $700 for a few months is going to help you.' 'The downside is that it sucks, but you're on a mission,' he added. 'When you do all this, you will have taken what is a blip in your life of 12 months and fixed the problems that would have otherwise taken up 20 years of your life.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. It's definitely not for everyone, Terrio said, but it's very effective for those with discipline and financial goals. Robin Taub, CPA and author of The Wisest Investment, sees the potential in a hard reset. A short-term crash diet can change habits and help 'subscription creep,' when you lose track of smaller monthly recurring payments, she said. Taub likened it to a recent experience where her credit card was compromised and she was issued a new card — all those websites and subscriptions didn't have her new card info, so she found herself updating them all individually. 'I was just reminded: Do I really want to give them my new credit card number and keep paying for this?' The answer was often no, Taub said. 'They really do add up without you noticing — it becomes a bit of a habit, and you're not as mindful of your spending. I think the idea of a crash diet is to regain that awareness and mindfulness around your spending.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Frugality trends with similar premises have been circulating on social media for years, Taub pointed out. Loud budgeting involves telling everyone you are on a strict financial plan so you don't feel pressured to spend money socially, while 'No Buy 2025' is a movement to make it through the year without buying any non-essential items. Cutting spending is also about sustainability, Taub said, which resonates with younger people. This demographic is also just simply feeling the pinch of the cost of living. 'A lot of young people are feeling this way,' Taub said. 'My kids say to me: Every time they walk out the door, it costs them $100, whether they're buying groceries or trying to do something fun with their friends. It's just really expensive these days.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Sean Cooper made the news for his extreme frugality — the Toronto-based mortgage broker and author of Burn Your Mortgage went viral for paying down his mortgage in just three years. Cooper owned his home outright at age 30. A major part of his financial plan was collecting rent: He lived in the basement of his home and rented out the rest of the property. But in addition to a strict budget, Cooper picked up side jobs as well. 'Earning an extra source of income is great,' he said. 'There are so many different opportunities to earn income these days. So it's looking at a skill and how you can make money from it, whether it's making YouTube videos or freelance writing or freelance web design, even pet sitting, dog walking — just find something that you enjoy and try to monetize it.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Make it hard to spend money, Cooper advised. Don't bring your credit card when you go out, take your credit card info off your phone, delete the info from online shopping sites, apps, and subscriptions. 'Do you really need five streaming services?' Cooper said. 'There's so many free streaming services you can watch.' After the crash diet, you might have found new useful habits, free hobbies, or the realization some past spending wasn't serving you. Another perk? A higher credit score. 'If you're paying your debt this aggressively, you're also rebuilding your credit,' Terrio said, 'because you're not only addressing 35 per cent of your score — which is transaction history — you're also addressing another 30 per cent of your score, which is credit utilization, because your debt is coming down.' 'So you can watch your credit score go crazy … You're pulling the two biggest levers of your credit score at the same time, over a short period.' World Celebrity World Sunshine Girls Sunshine Girls
National Observer
17 hours ago
- National Observer
Uber's new shuttles look suspiciously familiar to anyone who's taken a bus
This story was originally published by Grist and appears here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration Every few years, a Silicon Valley gig-economy company announces a 'disruptive' innovation that looks a whole lot like a bus. Uber rolled out Smart Routes a decade ago, followed a short time later by the Lyft Shuttle of its biggest competitor. Even Elon Musk gave it a try in 2018 with the 'urban loop system' that never quite materialized beyond the Vegas Strip. And does anyone remember Chariot? Now it's Uber's turn again. The ride-hailing company recently announced Route Share, in which shuttles will travel dozens of fixed routes, with fixed stops, picking up passengers and dropping them off at fixed times. Amid the inevitable jokes about Silicon Valley once again discovering buses are serious questions about what this will mean for struggling transit systems, air quality, and congestion. Uber promised the program, which rolled out in seven cities at the end of May, will bring 'more affordable, more predictable' transportation during peak commuting hours. 'Many of our users, they live in generally the same area, they work in generally the same area, and they commute at the same time,' Sachin Kansal, the company's chief product officer, said during the company's May 14 announcement. 'The concept of Route Share is not new,' he admitted — though he never used the word 'bus.' Instead, pictures of horse-drawn buggies, rickshaws, and pedicabs appeared onscreen. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi was a bit more forthcoming when he told The Verge the whole thing is 'to some extent inspired by the bus.' The goal, he said, 'is just to reduce prices to the consumer and then help with congestion and the environment.' But Kevin Shen, who studies this sort of thing at the Union of Concerned Scientists, questions whether Uber's 'next-gen bus' will do much for commuters or the climate. 'Everybody will say, 'Silicon Valley's reinventing the bus again,'' Shen said. 'But it's more like they're reinventing a worse bus.' Uber's new shuttles look suspiciously familiar to anyone who's taken a bus. #Uber #RouteShare Five years ago, the Union of Concerned Scientists released a report that found ride-share services emit 69 percent more planet-warming carbon dioxide and other pollutants than the trips they displace — largely because as many as 40 percent of the miles traveled by Uber and Lyft drivers are driven without a passenger, something called 'deadheading.' That climate disadvantage decreases with pooled services like UberX Share — but it's still not much greener than owning and driving a vehicle, the report noted, unless the car is electric. Beyond the iffy climate benefit lie broader concerns about what this means for the transit systems in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, Boston, and Baltimore — and the people who rely on them. 'Transit is a public service, so a transit agency's goal is to serve all of its customers, whether they're rich or poor, whether it's the maximum profit-inducing route or not,' Shen said. The entities that do all of this come with accountability mechanisms — boards, public meetings, vocal riders — to ensure they do what they're supposed to. 'Barely any of that is in place for Uber.' This, he said, is a pivot toward a public-transit model without public accountability. Compounding the threat, Philadelphia and Dallas have struggling transit systems at risk of defunding. The situation is so dire in Philly that it may cut service by nearly 45 percent on July 1 amid a chronic financial crisis. (That, as one Reddit user pointed out, would be good news for Uber.) Meanwhile, the federal government is cutting support for public services, including transit systems — many of which still haven't fully recovered from COVID-era budget crunches. Though ridership nationwide is up to 85 percent of pre-pandemic levels, Bloomberg News recently estimated that transit systems across the country face a $6 billion budget shortfall. So it's easy to see why companies like Uber see a business opportunity in public transit. Khosrowshahi insists Uber is 'in competition with personal car ownership,' not public transportation. 'Public transport is a teammate,' he told The Verge. But a study released last year by the University of California, Davis found that in three California cities, over half of all ride-hailing trips didn't replace personal cars, they replaced more sustainable modes of getting around, like walking, public transportation, and bicycling. And then there's the fact cities like New York grapple with chronic congestion and don't need more vehicles cluttering crowded streets. During Uber's big announcement, Kansal showed a video of one possible Route Share ride in the Big Apple. It covered about 3 miles from Midtown to Lower Manhattan, which would take about 30 minutes and cost $13. But here's the thing: The addresses are served by three different subway lines. It is possible to commute between those two points, avoid congestion, and arrive sooner, for $2.90. So, yes, Uber Route Share is cheaper than Uber's standard car service (which has gotten 7.2 percent pricier in the past year) — but Route Share is far from the most efficient or economical way to get around in the biggest markets it's launching in. 'If anything,' Shen said, 'it's reducing transit efficiency by gumming up those same routes with even more vehicles.'
Winnipeg Free Press
2 days ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Want to crush your debt? Financial experts suggest trying a money crash diet
Crash diets are extreme and unhealthy, but the financial version might actually make sense. Scott Terrio recommends them to his clients sometimes, as manager of consumer insolvency for Hoyes, Michalos & Associates Licensed Insolvency Trustees. The firm helps people filing for bankruptcy, or making deals to avoid it, with offices across Ontario. Terrio sees clients with a lot of debt, but if it's a relatively modest amount — maybe $5,000 or $10,000 or so — he tells them to try an 'extreme austerity program.' The premise is simple: Aside from rent, groceries and internet, cut absolutely all other spending, and live like a monk. Commit to this lifestyle for a handful of months, or more if you can; the short timespan will make it more tolerable, Terrio said. No takeout, no Uber, cancel your subscriptions, get a cheap phone plan, tell your friends you can't go out to restaurants or bars, he said. Pick the winter months when you're not tempted by summer patios. After a stint with the crash diet, you can take a break and return to normal life. If you aren't able to tackle all of your debt in one go, you can resume the crash diet later on in the year to reduce it further or eliminate it for good. On this plan, you can gain more ground on your debt in a much shorter time — especially with high-interest debts such as credit cards. Extreme austerity can save years on your repayment plan, Terrio said. 'Putting $300 down on your credit card is [nothing],' he said. 'But putting $700 for a few months is going to help you.' 'The downside is that it sucks, but you're on a mission,' he added. 'When you do all this, you will have taken what is a blip in your life of 12 months and fixed the problems that would have otherwise taken up 20 years of your life.' It's definitely not for everyone, Terrio said, but it's very effective for those with discipline and financial goals. Robin Taub, CPA and author of The Wisest Investment, sees the potential in a hard reset. A short-term crash diet can change habits and help 'subscription creep,' when you lose track of smaller monthly recurring payments, she said. Taub likened it to a recent experience where her credit card was compromised and she was issued a new card — all those websites and subscriptions didn't have her new card info, so she found herself updating them all individually. 'I was just reminded: Do I really want to give them my new credit card number and keep paying for this?' The answer was often no, Taub said. 'They really do add up without you noticing — it becomes a bit of a habit, and you're not as mindful of your spending. I think the idea [of a crash diet] is to regain that awareness and mindfulness around your spending.' Frugality trends with similar premises have been circulating on social media for years, Taub pointed out. Loud budgeting involves telling everyone you are on a strict financial plan so you don't feel pressured to spend money socially, while 'No Buy 2025' is a movement to make it through the year without buying any non-essential items. Cutting spending is also about sustainability, Taub said, which resonates with younger people. This demographic is also just simply feeling the pinch of the cost of living. 'A lot of young people are feeling this way,' Taub said. 'My kids say to me: Every time they walk out the door, it costs them $100, whether they're buying groceries or trying to do something fun with their friends. It's just really expensive these days.' Sean Cooper made the news for his extreme frugality — the Toronto-based mortgage broker and author of Burn Your Mortgage went viral for paying down his mortgage in just three years. Cooper owned his home outright at age 30. A major part of his financial plan was collecting rent: He lived in the basement of his home and rented out the rest of the property. But in addition to a strict budget, Cooper picked up side jobs as well. 'Earning an extra source of income is great,' he said. 'There are so many different opportunities to earn income these days. So it's looking at a skill and how you can make money from it, whether it's making YouTube videos or freelance writing or freelance web design, even pet sitting, dog walking — just find something that you enjoy and try to monetize it.' Make it hard to spend money, Cooper advised. Don't bring your credit card when you go out, take your credit card info off your phone, delete the info from online shopping sites, apps, and subscriptions. 'Do you really need five streaming services?' Cooper said. 'There's so many free streaming services you can watch.' After the crash diet, you might have found new useful habits, free hobbies, or the realization some past spending wasn't serving you. Another perk? A higher credit score. 'If you're paying your debt this aggressively, you're also rebuilding your credit,' Terrio said, 'because you're not only addressing 35 per cent of your score — which is transaction history — you're also addressing another 30 per cent of your score, which is credit utilization, because your debt is coming down.' 'So you can watch your credit score go crazy … You're pulling the two biggest levers of your credit score at the same time, over a short period.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 10, 2025.
