This year we really struggled with debt, my husband has a very well paid job but I was on maternity leave & we bought a new house before that. We failed to adjust our lifestyle & racked up some serious debt, credit cards, loans, leasing a car & other store finance. It was a very tough time & even after I returned to work part time, we never had enough money to make ends meet. Eventually I contacted step change, realising I was never getting anywhere paying the minimum amount. It was so bad they suggested I declared myself bankrupt.. which does put your house at risk so that was never an option. We both worked so hard to buy our house, we wanted to do everything & anything to protect the house. We reduced as many payments as possible & got rid of one of our cars which meant we could finally be accepted for the DMP. It has been a weight off, we actually feel like we can enjoy like again. When we worked it all out, it came to approx £43,000 for the both of us. We now pay £550 a month which means we can afford to pay our mortgage & bills. It’s still hard to budget because we live in an affluent area we do sometimes feel the pressure of keeping up with the neighbours. My husband will receive a dividend from his company at the end of the tax year & we hope we can then pay a lump sum off the debt. It’s really shit.. realllllyyyy shit but there is help out there. It does feel good to only buy things with our actual money now. The day we become debt free will be a good day!