What worked for me was filing bankruptcy; we are on the Chapter 13 repayment plan. When i got sick a couple of years ago I lost my six figure income and went in the hole real fast. Most of our debt was in real estate BUT we were also using real estate as a source of cash. When I got home from treatment we had no choice as I was looking at SSDI as my income. It has been 2 years and we have incurred no new debt. Partly because no one will give us credit which is fine with me. We do have an AMEX for emergencies but everything else is cash. I have found that when I am thinking about buying something for $100 I really do think about it before I hand over 5 20's. Do I like to buy stuff? Yes! But having a little bit of savings and no credit card and real estate debt has had a positive impact on my life. I used to own a $900k house, had 2 brand new mercedes in the garage and took extended travel vacations. I actually had my own sales associate assigned to me at Nordstrom's. I now rent a house for $1000k a month and drive a 6 year old pickup. Vacations consist of camping and I don't shop at Nordstrom's anymore. The message is that I thought I had it all and then lost it all but found out that i am less stressed and able to manage my BP more consistently. However no one is perfect and I recently found myself with 3 pairs of new hiking boots sitting in my living room and struggling to figure out which to take back. Accountability is very important and we have a budget software program that requires me to enter every purchase I make. Cause me to think twice.