You are from the Province of Alberta, and likely went to Athabasca University, University of Calgary, University of Alberta, and University of Lethbridge in Edmonton or Mount Royal University.

The reason why you are interested in ready what we have to say is that during this time, you have either taken family loans, loans from friends, and student loans. Now that you are nearing being finished, or require earning more funds to pay back loans, you are thinking about how to manage your debt.

In the meantime, consolidation of debts or debt consolidation is something you should be considering to try and lower the interest rate on loans, credit cards, etc. This would be a good choice, and there are several Government websites such as www.creditcanada.com that deal with these pressing issues for free.

There are several reasons why you as a student from Alberta should be considering documenting all the loans you make and take. If you are in dire straits and believe you can not pay back loans, you may have people advising you to consider bankruptcy. There is often a consumer proposal that can be designed which takes your total allotment of debtors, and they vote on a pay back proposal and schedule. In the event your friends and family debts are larger than that you have with the other creditors, they can vote in favour of your not going bankrupt and accept the proposal which could be as little as $0.10 on the dollar. If you are in this situation, immediately go to www.documentyourloan.com or www.kasu.ca and get your family loans in writing. Attach payment schedules to them, and ensure you submit these as creditors in the process.

Another good reason of documenting loans, is that they can be submitted as debt’s repaid based on the loan agreement, and subsequently build your credit.

Obviously with our good old Albertan values, we often just give the funds to our friends and family, but sometimes a gift is better written down as a loan. For the person giving the loan, it can be written off if there is an agreement and it doesn’t get paid. The person giving the loan feels the comfort of the transaction being taken seriously, and the money truly being appreciated. It is a good reason for Parents and Grandparents to document the loans they give, as it also makes the student appreciate the loan, even if the repayment is over a long period of time, it builds value around money.

If you where anything like my family, we worked night and day for every penny, and if I wanted money I had to work for it. However, my father did give me my first $5,000 down payment on a car once, and it wasn’t written down as a loan, it was a gift. The idea however, that the money would be a loan helps him and helps me appreciate money. Sometimes it just feels better to pay them back, instead of their being the family discomfort. Especially in the cases of sibling rivalry, where one family member feels the other family member is”GIVEN” more money than they get. When it is documented as a loan, then the loan can often settle these disputes on the pretense of it having to be paid back. It is often however a good idea if such loans are made, and there doesn’t seem to be a chance of repayment, one should have a clause in their last will and testament absolving the debts so that it doesn’t become a matter of family dispute and doesn’t come out of the person’s inheritance.

Regardless, one should seriously look at www.documentyourloan.com to settle some of the issues discussed above. The website can also be found at www.kasu.ca, a platform for helping friends and family document their loans in Canada.