It's not a new movement but more and more families are trying to reign in their holiday spending, focusing more on family time rather than toys under the tree. A new survey is shedding some light on why the trend is growing.

Statistics Canada says Canadians are digging deeper and deeper into debt, suggesting that we owe $1.71 for every dollar of disposable income in the third quarter of 2017, the highest amount on record.

Aaron Ruston of Purposed Financial in Moose Jaw isn't really surprised by the figures.  "They (the numbers) are alarming but they are following a trend that's been going on for quite some time"

A level of debt this high can put people in vulnerable positions.  Ruston commented, "It's our continuous borrowing and our continuous spending that is driving us to the edge.  If interest rates start to rise, and they will, there are going to be people caught in very compromising positions".

Ruston says the best tonic for the problem is to pay down debt.  "Definitely, in fact one of the best investments you can make often is paying down debt".

Statistics Canada reported Thursday that Canadian households owed more than $2.1 trillion at the end of September.