I’ve become enamored with a Canadian show on CNBC — “Til Debt Do Us Part,” and I recommend you watch it, too. It’s part advice, part intervention and part reality show. So, bottom line, you get great information, some dirt and can judge people — who could ask for anything more?

The host, Gail Vaz-Oxlade, is a financial author who does interventions on couples who are not making their bills, or just driving themselves further into debt — one of the biggest causes of divorce.

It’s voyeurism at its best, watching how others feel entitled to spend thousands on Christmas, or keep a truck that is bleeding them dry. The advice is good, and I always pick up a tip or two.

It’s also a wakeup call — but surprisingly for me! I was feeling smug as I watched the pregnant bride plan two weddings and eye spending $8,000 on two gowns. But then I used one of the online tools from Gail’s web site — the budget calculator.

I happily — and truthfully — entered our monthly income and expenses, taking pride in all our budget cuts that I detailed in this post, including no car payments, $4 a month on eating out, and a total credit card debt of $1,400, which should be paid off within three months.

But it was the income that gave me a wakeup call - mine dropped dramatically over the past six months due to paying more attention to my parents’ health and welfare, and dealing with the ultimate passing of my Dad in March.

Seeing it on paper made me realize I had successfully cut expenses to deal with the downturn of the real estate market as an agent with RE/MAX, but I had not dealt with the further drop in my income from trying to manage with personal issues.

Thankfully, I have 10 months of the difference in my checking account to make up for the deficit before hitting my savings, but it was clear that I need to ramp up my business in hopes I won’t have to hit my “no touchy money,” as I call it.

That’s what I love about this show — it has you take a hard look at your finances so you can see what you need to do.

I also love Gail’s style — she is blunt, and her blog with Monday morning quarter-backing on each episode is a hoot (and offers even more tips).

I highly recommend you watch ”Til Debt Do Us Part” – and best part, you can view the episodes online at the web site if you don’t have cable.

Let me know what you think about it — I love this show!