Crash diets are extreme and unhealthy, but the financial version might actually make sense. <\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Terrio sees clients with a lot of debt, but if it\u2019s a relatively modest amount \u2014 maybe $5,000 or $10,000 or so \u2014 he tells them to try an \u201cextreme austerity program.\u201d <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
No takeout, no Uber, cancel your subscriptions, get a cheap phone plan, tell your friends you can\u2019t go out to restaurants or bars, he said. Pick the winter months when you\u2019re not tempted by summer patios.<\/p>\n
After a stint with the crash diet, you can take a break and return to normal life. If you aren\u2019t 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. <\/p>\n
On this plan, you can gain more ground on your debt in a much shorter time \u2014 especially with high-interest debts such as credit cards. Extreme austerity can save years on your repayment plan, Terrio said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPutting $300 down on your credit card is [nothing],\u201d he said. \u201cBut putting $700 for a few months is going to help you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe downside is that it sucks, but you\u2019re on a mission,\u201d he added. \u201cWhen 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s definitely not for everyone, Terrio said, but it\u2019s very effective for those with discipline and financial goals.<\/p>\n
Robin Taub, CPA and author of The Wisest Investment, sees the potential in a hard reset. <\/p>\n
A short-term crash diet can change habits and help \u201csubscription creep,\u201d when you lose track of smaller monthly recurring payments, she said. <\/p>\n
Taub likened it to a recent experience where her credit card was compromised and she was issued a new card \u2014 all those websites and subscriptions didn\u2019t have her new card info, so she found herself updating them all individually. <\/p>\n
\u201cI was just reminded: Do I really want to give them my new credit card number and keep paying for this?\u201d The answer was often no, Taub said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey really do add up without you noticing \u2014 it becomes a bit of a habit, and you\u2019re not as mindful of your spending. I think the idea [of a crash diet] is to regain that awareness and mindfulness around your spending.\u201d<\/p>\n
Frugality trends with similar premises have been circulating on social media for years, Taub pointed out. <\/p>\n
Loud budgeting involves telling everyone you are on a strict financial plan so you don\u2019t feel pressured to spend money socially, while \u201cNo Buy 2025\u201d 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of young people are feeling this way,\u201d Taub said. \u201cMy kids say to me: Every time they walk out the door, it costs them $100, whether they\u2019re buying groceries or trying to do something fun with their friends. It\u2019s just really expensive these days.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sean Cooper made the news for his extreme frugality \u2014 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cEarning an extra source of income is great,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are so many different opportunities to earn income these days. So it\u2019s looking at a skill and how you can make money from it, whether it\u2019s making YouTube videos or freelance writing or freelance web design, even pet sitting, dog walking \u2014 just find something that you enjoy and try to monetize it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Make it hard to spend money, Cooper advised. Don\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you really need five streaming services?\u201d Cooper said. \u201cThere\u2019s so many free streaming services you can watch.\u201d<\/p>\n
After the crash diet, you might have found new useful habits, free hobbies, or the realization some past spending wasn\u2019t serving you. <\/p>\n
Another perk? A higher credit score.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re paying your debt this aggressively, you\u2019re also rebuilding your credit,\u201d Terrio said, \u201cbecause you\u2019re not only addressing 35 per cent of your score \u2014 which is transaction history \u2014 you\u2019re also addressing another 30 per cent of your score, which is credit utilization, because your debt is coming down.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you can watch your credit score go crazy \u2026 You\u2019re pulling the two biggest levers of your credit score at the same time, over a short period.”<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 10, 2025.<\/p>\n
Nina Dragicevic, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Crash diets are extreme and unhealthy, but the financial version might actually make sense. Scott Terrio recommends them…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":173431,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3093],"tags":[51,1700,474,2499,16,15,961],"class_list":{"0":"post-173430","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-economy","10":"tag-finance","11":"tag-personal-finance","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-your-money"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114660130381216184","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173430\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}