The Meyers Norris Penny (MNP) Consumer Debt Index released a study earlier this month describing the ugly situation between Canadians and debt.

According to the study, one in three Canadians is unable to pay their monthly bills and debt repayments. It also found that the average Canadian resident is left with around $600 each month after paying their monthly obligations.

"We're about a month after Christmas and most people have now got their credit card statements, the gravity of what they have done is starting to sink in. A person really has to be disciplined to put out a budget and try to live within it, so there's not too much month at the end of the money type of thing," explained Greg McIntyre, Senior Commercial Account Manager with the Royal Bank of Canada. "It's not an attractive scenario or anything like that, there's a little bit of soul searching where you need to sit down with your spouse and draw out your budgets. How many spigots are filling up the tub versus how many holes your tub has, determine if you're spending more money than you're bringing in every month."

McIntyre also noted that lack of education could be the root of the problem for some residents not being able to keep up with monthly expenses and their debt each month.

"I know myself with going through school, there isn't a whole lot of concentration on household finance. Realistically a person could come out of high school and not really have a good sense of how mortgage interest is calculated, how to calculate credit card interest, (how to) build a household budget."

The study goes on to say nearly half of Canadians are within $200 of not being able to pay their bills or debt at all.

A second study released by the Financial Planning Standards Council and Credit Canada claims one in five Canadians have a smaller savings account than they do credit card balance.