Definition of Credit vs Debt

It's easy to get the terms credit & debt confused. They seem to be interchangeable, however they are two different words with two different meanings.

Definition of Credit

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Credit is a financial tool that people seek to acquire from financial institutions. Canadian Banks, credit unions, credit card companies all offer credit to their customers in Canada.

I call credit the "before" part of the equation. You have to have credit before you have debt.

Credit offers come in many different forms.
Mortgages and 2nd mortgages Car loans Payday loans Credit cards Lines of credit There a many other types of credit which I won't list here

Here's where people get confused about Credit / Debt.

There are two types of credit available.

Fixed loans Revolving credit

Mortgages and car loans are fix payment loans Lines of credit and credit cards are revolving credit.

Canadian Mortgages and car loans are only credit that are available to you. That means that once you acquire a mortgage or car loan it becomes a debt to you. A mortgage or car loan is never credit to you.

HERE'S WHY:

Where you 're shopping for a 0,000 mortgage, you're looking for credit to buy your new house. You're shopping for credit at this point.

When you visit your local banker or mortgage broker in Canada you're doing the following:

Asking the creditors to give you some credit. You're applying for credit You need to be a approved for credit. Creditors check out your credit worthiness, credit score, credit reports etc.

These are all the activities you do BEFORE you get the credit that you're requesting.
Credit cards and lines of credit on the other hand can be BOTH credit and debt.

HERE'S WHY

Let's say you have a credit card with a 00 limit. At the beginning you have 00 worth of credit available to you. After a while of using your credit card, you use up ,000 worth of credit available. That ,000 of used credit now becomes debt.

BEFORE: ,000 credit available

AFTER: ,000 credit still available ,000 debt owing

This is probably why people in Canada get the terms credit & debt confused. People don't usually need credit counselling, they need debt counselling. They counselling after they've acquired too much debt. ( I guess people could use credit counselling which would help them learn about how they can wisely use their credit that is still available. )

YOU NEVER HAVE TO MAKE PAYMENTS ON CREDIT!!

As I always like to say, "you NEVER have to make payments on your credit available. Credit available DOESN'T ruin marriages. The creditors DON'T make any money on credit available.

You do have to make payments on outstanding debts, or debt that you've incurred. Too much debt does ruin marriages, and Canadian creditors love it when you're indebted to them. That is how they make their money.

Credit / Debt? Debt / Credit?

There is alot of credit available to consumers in Canada. It's big business. The problem is when Canadians take on too much of that credit which becomes their debt burden.

I hope that this post helps you better understand the difference between credit & debt and how these terms affect your personal finances.

Definition of Credit vs Debt