Household debt continues to rise across the country and Christmas didn't do a lot to slow it down.

The Executive Director of Consolidated Credit Counselling Services of Canada Jeff Schwartz says paying down debt is Canadians' top priorities in the new year.

"Reports are showing, I thing the Chartered Professional Accountants put out a report that six in ten Canadians do want to pay down debt in the coming tear and that's a great initiative, I can only hope that they take action on it," Schwartz says.

He says it's just like any other New Year's resolution, if you don't make a concrete plan and stick to it, then it won't happen.

Schwartz says if you racked up $1,600 in bills over Christmas, you'll have to put aside $533.33 each month for the next three months to pay it off and according to some reports Albertans spend more than that.

"We urge people to try and pay this off by the end of the first quarter of 2016 and what this means to me is that Albertans' are going to have to come up with somewhere around $700 to $750 each month to try and pay this off," he says.

He says everyone needs to think in terms of real dollars and real dates to make it work.

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