A married couple in Montreal is staring down 1.8 million Canadian dollars ($1.3 million) in total debt while expecting their second child. The 35-year-old husband works as a nurse and says their household income is about CA$110,000 to CA$120,000 a year before taxes, yet CA$22,000 went out in a single month once he finally built a real budget.
That financial breaking point prompted him to share the situation on “The Ramsey Show.” “I had my aha moment,” he said. “I don’t know what exactly to do.”
‘The House Is On Fire’
Most of the debt is tied to real estate, but not all of it. The couple owns a triplex with about CA$680,000 owed on it and a primary home with about $590,000 left on the mortgage. They also owe nearly CA$70,000 on each of two electric Hondas, about CA$350,000 in personal loans borrowed from a cousin for down payments and renovations, and another CA$35,000 in credit cards and student loans.
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That’s when personal finance expert Dave Ramsey drew a hard line.
“She doesn’t get a year off for a baby. I don’t really care what the Canadian government says,” Ramsey said. “She gets to go to work. Broke people work.”
Ramsey added that in most places, parents may get a short leave after a baby is born, but it’s measured in weeks, not a full year. In his view, taking 70% pay for 12 months while already buried in debt isn’t realistic when the family is in financial crisis.
His broader message was that this isn’t a small budgeting issue. It’s a full-blown emergency.
“The house is on fire, darling,” Ramsey said, urging the couple to stop debating preferences and start making drastic changes. “We can’t discuss whether you want it to burn.”
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“You don’t get to be an investor in triplexes” while drowning in debt, he said.
Ramsey also raised a deeper concern because the caller sounded overwhelmed and anxious. Mendy shared that he is bipolar and under medical guidance to maintain a healthy work-life balance. Ramsey suggested the stress of carrying nearly CA$2 million in debt was making everything worse.
“Dude, just listening to the tone and cadence of your voice, my heart is breaking for you,” Ramsey said. “You sound like you’re walking around under a 400-pound weight.”
He warned that if selling the rental, dumping the cars and slashing expenses don’t stabilize things within a year, even the primary home may need to go. He also floated the possibility that Montreal may simply be too expensive for their income.
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The math, Ramsey said, can work “if you did everything I told you to do.” The real question is whether the couple will follow through.
Ramsey’s bottom line to the caller was simple: the anxiety won’t fade until the debt does. And cleaning it up will require decisions that make life look very different in the next three to six months.
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