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An addiction... Boy, you nailed that right there.

It took us 6.5 years to clear $97,000 in debt - $59,000 of which was non-mortgage debt. (cars, consolidation loans, credit cards)

We now owe $65,000 on a mortgage on a house that we’re trying to sell.

We were living ‘like everyone else’ in the ‘90’s and couldn’t see our way clear. Heck, I couldn’t see how we could make it month-to-month. We were coming up short and having to put gas and groceries on the credit card.

My best friend had been doing DR for a couple of years and she was getting the results that I wanted. Her way worked, mine didn’t, so I sat her down and asked her to go over my financials and teach me.

For two years, I treated her like my sponsor. I put my whole family on a ‘financial diet’. If we didn’t NEED it, it didn’t happen. No more eating out. Clothes were repaired before they were replaced. We got as much at GoodWill as possible when we did need to replace them.

Part of this, for me, was realizing the ‘wrong thinking’ that got us there in the first place.

One of my issues is that I’d buy things on sale that we didn’t NEED. I’d justify it by saying, “I saved $40!” and not realize that I just lost $60.

The other issue is that I didn’t take amounts under $10 seriously. No, it’s not a problem to stop by the thrift store and buy an adorable creamer set for $4.00, but if you do this every freakin’ day, it adds up.

Hoarding is a massive problem in my family and, as I looked around my house with new eyes, I saw the start. In order to stop buying, I had to prove to myself that I already had much more than I needed.

I started letting stuff go. For two years, I’d purge the house, then repurge a month or two later. If something didn’t have a PURPOSE, I let it go.

I stripped our house so bare that people started to feel sorry for me! Not accepting that I was trying to let go of my attachment to THINGS, people started bringing over furniture, art, etc. (Yes, I told them, but the response was usually something like, “But you NEED this!” No. No I don’t.)

Now, when I do buy, it’s carefully thought out, planned and shopped for. I only get THAT item. I have learned how to admire something without possessing it. Everything in our home is personal, functional or serves a dual purpose.

Last month and this month, we hit several SERIOUS financial road bumps. We were able to handle them without going into debt or touching our savings. We have a beautiful home and we actually have things worth taking care of.

It took a ton of work - physical, mental and spiritual - but we got there and it was so worth it!

Wow, your story sounds a lot like mine, except I'm single so it was on a somewhat smaller scale. I had $33,000 in credit/car loans and a massive student loan. Well, I still have the massive student loan, but after 3 years I finally got rid of all the other, and now I can pay well over the minimum payments on it.

I did the same thing as you, too. Started stripping down and organizing my home and belongings, stopped going out, stopped buying cute little things at Goodwill (it's just a few blocks from me so it's like an alcoholic living next to a liquor store.) I let the car go and I've walked or ridden the bus for 3 and a half years now.

I finally have a savings account, and my first goal is to save up the proverbial six-months-salary's worth. Then maybe... MAYBE... I'll buy a car. It's actually not urgent, my job is a 35-minute bus ride from my house and I can walk everywhere else. Laundry's the only real hassle.

And I don't know about you, but not only am I so relieved not to sit down and spread out 9 or 10 bills every payday on the kitchen table and wonder how the heck I'm going to survive the month, I also notice that my home is so stripped to essentials -- comfortable but simple-- it practically cleans itself. Seriously, my home is never messy anymore. And I have four cats. It's amazing the difference it makes when you finally get your life under control.