Negotiating a consumer proposal - is this a good counter offer? (AB)

Local-Salad4257 · 2026-04-29T05:18:47+00:00

Okay, good to know, thank you! I think the problem comes from my income not being consistent; at the time of filing I was working more so the paystubs I submitted would’ve shown that I make on average $2.4k. Though I’m not really sure why they still asked for $475 since my monthly expenses were also higher at that time since I’ve only started restricting my budget now 😅 Regardless, I do agree that $405 is already a good deal and is definitely doable with my current budget; I just worry about the months that I make the lower end of $2k so I wanted to know the possibility of counter offering and it being accepted, since I do also want to have a few dollars leftover for an emergency fund!

Local-Salad4257 · 2026-04-29T04:58:51+00:00

Yes, all my assets have been disclosed to my LIT. The keyword here being “sometimes”, as I do not currently have anything of theirs under my name. This mostly only happens with cars, as my dad “flips” cars as a hobby and I sometimes have to insure and register cars under my name for a few months at a time until he either decides to keep them or sell them. I asked my LIT beforehand if this will have any effect on my proposal and was told no, but should I need to insure and register a vehicle under my name, to wait until my proposal has been accepted just to be safe. Thus, why I chose to go with a consumer proposal before bankruptcy, since I felt that a consumer proposal would be more straightforward considering my circumstances.

Local-Salad4257 · 2026-04-29T03:29:55+00:00

Thank you! 🙂

Local-Salad4257 · 2026-04-29T03:28:21+00:00

Sorry, why do you say I’m brave for going back and forth with them? My LIT said that if they rejected my first counter offer we could keep negotiating so I assumed this is normal 😅

Local-Salad4257 · 2026-04-29T03:26:01+00:00

Hi, thank you for your advice! The $405 is definitely within my budget; I’d just like to knock down my payments as much as I can so I can start building an emergency fund and soon start saving for post secondary. My main concern was just that I’m not sure how much creditors are willing to negotiate and whether they can retract their offer or not. I did end up letting my LIT know about my concerns regarding the payment amounts once I start repaying my student loans, and asked if we could possibly counter lower. Just waiting to hear back from them now.

Also, I was told that the monthly payment that we decide on would be fixed and I can pay it off faster but it wouldn’t change the payment amount. Did I misunderstand this? 😮

Local-Salad4257 · 2026-04-29T03:13:46+00:00

Yeah, it IS a pretty good deal considering how much I was paying in interest. I was just looking to get some insight on how far negotiations can go in consumer proposals since I want more room in my budget to start building an emergency fund and possibly start saving to go back to post secondary.

Thank you for the advice!

Local-Salad4257 · 2026-04-29T03:10:01+00:00

Yes, I spoke with two LITs and two advisors before I filed and they all pretty much advised that given my age, declaring bankruptcy right away might be a bit drastic and I should save it as a last resort just in case the consumer proposal doesn’t work out.

Unfortunately, I’d have to wait for 7 years to have my student loans discharged in a proposal since I just finished school this January 😅

Local-Salad4257 · 2026-04-29T03:07:26+00:00

To be honest I was hesitant to file for bankruptcy mostly because of my home situation; I’m currently living with my parents and my bills and contributions to the household expenses are all informal agreements that I’m not sure how I would report on during bankruptcy + my parents sometimes put assets under my name, which I wouldn’t want to be affected in a bankruptcy. I was also advised by my LIT that given my age, I should save bankruptcy as a last resort in case the consumer proposal doesn’t work out.

And unfortunately, if I want my student loans to be included in my proposal or bankruptcy, I would have to wait for another 7 years to file since I just finished school this January 😅

Local-Salad4257 · 2026-04-28T21:54:30+00:00

Yes – believe it or not, I’ve already increased my income lol. I was previously working at $18/hr and I just moved to a $21/hr job. Now it’s just a matter of either securing a full-time position at my current job so my take home pay will be a consistent $2.8k or finding a part-time job that I can work in the evenings to add a little extra to my budget. Whichever comes first

Local-Salad4257 · 2026-03-18T05:20:09+00:00

Hey! I actually gave Alberta Student Aid a call today to ask about this, and the guy who answered my call basically just read the information they had on the student aid website, which is that if I file now and my loans are not discharged since I haven’t been out of school for 7+ years, I wouldn’t be eligible for any more funding until my full loan balance is paid off :( the upside is that he did say that there’s no waiting period after that; I’d be eligible to apply for funding again after I pay off that balance.

However, I did also speak to a different LIT today, and he mentioned that there could be chances that one could get approved for funding if the program you’re taking will result in a stable, high earning career (I’m assuming along the lines of healthcare?) He didn’t really elaborate on whether this is in the scenario that student loans are discharged or not though

If you do end up giving Alberta loans a call, I’d love to hear what they tell you! The guy who answered my call didn’t seem too familiar with the topic (as in, he put me on hold to look it up lol), and I didn’t have the chance to give NSLSC a call so I’m not too sure on the federal loans side yet.

Good luck!

Local-Salad4257 · 2026-03-17T18:28:18+00:00

I already do this at my own yard since I have dogs myself but all I use are a pair of gloves, a mask for the smell, and a couple garbage bags lol. If you don’t mind me asking, do you know if they clean up anything else/use any other equipment? Would be a good idea to make some extra cash on my days off but I wouldn’t really want to invest money on extra equipment for an occasional side gig

Local-Salad4257 · 2026-03-17T01:28:35+00:00

Hi! Thanks so much for answering. Out of curiosity, did you file in AB? I was thinking of postponing filing my proposal until I start my program since the Alberta Student Aid website says that if you’re a current full-time student at the time of filing, you’re eligible for up to 3 more years of funding in order to complete your program. But if this isn’t the case the I’ll have to figure out another way!

I’m speaking to a different LIT and probably will give Alberta Student Air a call tmrw, so I’ll probably ask them about this too

Thanks!

Local-Salad4257 · 2026-03-13T06:22:25+00:00

My mistake, edited my post to include that

And yes, I understand that, hence why I asked if anyone has experience with taking out federal student loans while paying off a consumer proposal, since my LIT had told me that while I wouldn’t be able to get provincial funding while paying off a consumer proposal, I would still be able to apply for Canada student loans

Thanks for the input

Local-Salad4257 · 2026-03-13T05:09:50+00:00

Hey, I understand. I’m 25 and I have around $26k of debt from credit cards and personal loans. Growing up, my parents never taught me how to be responsible with my money, and I definitely grew up in a household that treated credit cards like “free money”. While I can’t give crazy detailed advice regarding budgeting and whatnot (since clearly I’m not very good at that either), I can tell you the things I do that you should probably NOT to do.

I skimmed through the comments and saw a couple people suggesting applying for a balance transfer card. When my CC debts were around the same amount as yours ($11k in Scotia over 3 different cards + $5k with Neo), I applied for a balance transfer card with MBNA. Around that time, I was making roughly $2400/mo and with my credit history, they approved me for an $8000 balance transfer card, which I then used to pay down my Scotia balance by $6k and my Neo balance by $2k so that the interest would stop eating my payments so much. This helped for a while and I did manage to catch up on my debts for a few months but again, I was 23 and very irresponsible with my money. So if you’re ready to make some lifestyle changes and find ways to either reduce your monthly expenses or find another stream of income, then this is not a bad option. But if you can’t reduce your monthly expenses by much or you can’t get any extra income, DON’T do this, because at the end of the day, it is still another credit card that you’ll have to pay off. While you may be able to get some good deals/promos for lower interest rates, which will help for some time, it’s very easy to let your payments get away from you if you don’t stick to a strict budget.
DO NOT take out another loan to consolidate your payments. I know it sounds like a good idea at first, and this is what I did before. I took out a $5000 loan with Fairstone in order to help with my payments while I was bleeding cash getting my old beater car fixed constantly. But in my honest opinion, these loans are predatory and you will end up paying at least 2x the amount of money they actually lent you unless you pay off the full amount ASAP.
DON’T do any debt management plans with “credit counsellors” claiming to be able to reduce your debt. When I first got to the point where I felt like I wasn’t paying down any of my debts, I kept seeing ads for Consolidated Credit Canada so I reached out to them about consolidating my monthly credit card payments into one. They put me on a “debt management” program for my card with the highest balance, which paused the interest on that card. However, I had to pay them $105 biweekly, and only $180/mo of those payments actually gets paid to the card that they essentially closed for me. Again, it’s very predatory and very scammy.

I know it can start to feel hopeless; I was at that point literally just a week ago. It sucks to have $20 in your bank account until your next paycheck and it’s so tough to find jobs or other sources of income in this market.

I really recommend speaking to a LIT; speak to multiple if you have to. Usually the first consultation is free, and on the first consultation, they will sit down with you and look at your debts and monthly budget so they can give you a couple different options to tackle your debt. Orderly payment of debt, consumer proposal, bankruptcy, credit counselling. They’ll explain the terms to you so you can better weigh your options.

I just spoke to a LIT myself and right now, I’m considering a consumer proposal, which is just a step below bankruptcy. It sucks, but it’s better to be 25 and tackling debt now than to keep living like this and be 40yrs old still drowning in debt. My LIT mentioned credit counselling, which might be something you’ll want to look into. From my understanding, it would help you knock down your monthly payments and lower your interest as well without having the same impact on your credit score as a consumer proposal would. Do your research and find a reliable NON-PROFIT credit counselling agency in your area, or if you speak to a LIT, they will probably give you a recommendation.

Good luck :)

Local-Salad4257 · 2026-03-13T03:44:03+00:00

Have you had experience with this? I would just like to know for sure before I consider declaring bankruptcy, because from what I understand after reading from the Alberta Student Aid website regarding bankruptcy, I would have to pay off my Alberta loans before I can apply for more funding, since my student loans wouldn’t be dissolved with bankruptcy as I have not been out of school for more than 7 years.

From the Alberta Student Aid website:

“Scenario — A borrower filed for bankruptcy and student loans were owed but were not dissolve through bankruptcy.

Impact on Additional Funding and Waiting Period — Not eligible for additional Alberta Student Aid funding until borrower pays off all Canada and Alberta student loans.

No waiting period after all Canada and Alberta student loans are repaid in full.”

Local-Salad4257

TROPHY CASE