TransUnion Canada Surveying Canadians - News

I find it interesting that only 17% of Canadians think it's high priority to pay off their debts!! This was down from 22% from the previous year. That either means that Canadians have less debt, or maybe they're way too over their head in debt to feel confident that they can pay it off. I'm thinking it's the latter.

I'm glad to see that Canadians are taking more time to learn about their credit with the tools on TransUnion's site.

TransUnion Survey Details Canadian Credit Use Over Holidays, Debt Management's Rank as New Year's Resolution
~Healthy Living Outpacing Debt Management as Top New Year's Resolution~
~Two-Thirds Purchased the Same or Less on Credit~

TORONTO, Jan. 31 /CNW/ -- With 2008 well underway and another holiday season under our belts, TransUnion commissioned GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media to find out whether Canadians' post-holiday credit card bills are piling as high as their presents did.

While the vast majority of the Canadian consumers surveyed reported using credit cards for holiday shopping, the survey demonstrates that that number slipped slightly in 2007. More than one in three (36 percent) reported they purchased less on credit in the 2007 holiday season than they did in 2006, while 33 percent said they spent the same on credit as they did the previous year.

When asked about their number one resolution for 2008, 33 percent chose eating healthy or losing weight and 29 percent chose spending more time with their family. Only 17 percent said paying down credit cards and other debt was their top priority for the New Year. In a similar survey conducted last year, 31 percent named spending more time with their family as their top resolution, while 28 percent named eating healthy or losing weight and 22 percent named paying down debt.

"Even with the economy flourishing, we're seeing record numbers of Canadians accessing the credit management tools and educational information we offer online," says Tom Reid, director, Consumer Solutions at TransUnion.ca, "It's always wise to stay on top of your finances and particularly so with the current potential for financial troubles in the US to ripple across the globe."