<prompt> Human: I just want to express my gratitude to everyone who contributes to this sub. With the sidebar and regular advicewisdom I see here for others in similar situations as mine, I was able to create a plan for getting out of debt.The first step was facing the shame head on and forgiving myself for taking missteps financially . I grew up in a family that knew little about planning financially and we regularly had utilities turned off. The first time I overdrafted my checking account I swore would be my last! With the great wealth of advice here I felt ready and capable of planning my future . Next I am getting an emergency fund saved, as well as planning a reward vacation in Belize dont worry, I charged it for the rewards but I have the cash to pay off the balance when the bill comes in. I cant thank you all enough for what you do. I think financial problems have caused my moms mental health issues to worsen, and I dont want that for me or my future children. I feel like I have the knowledge to prevent that now, and I am not afraid anymore! Thats just the most amazing feeling of relief and hope I ever felt. :---Edit: Alot of folks are asking for what my plan was. My plan was more or less to use Mint.coms pay off debt goal planning, really understand the benefits and risks of credit accounts, and, pay the smaller debts off first. I also took the advice here to re-assess your jobsalary and expenses. I was able to negotiate a raise, as I was offered another job. I am a woman and I feel alot of women like myself millenials who got screwed after graduation are just grateful to be working, so, I didnt negotiate for myself for a long time and I was getting screwed. Once I got offered a better job that paid 20,000 more a year with another company, my boss told me what will it take you to stay... Normally I would have just asked for a small raise, but this time I had nothing to lose so I asked him to match their offer. He said he would try to work out a system with bonuses but in the immediate, he gave me a 10,000 boost. I know not everyone is in that position but after reading here and realizing my worth, I made a huge difference in my financial life thank you! And yes, we are still negotiating the bonuses - I am actually thinking instead of bonuses I should just ask for a 401k for that money to go into, we dont have an established program here at my small company.Here is what happened:-6 years ago got out of college... had so little money, and shitty low paying jobs because of the economy tanking-My debt slowly creeped up for little things here and there ie emergencies, groceries, impulse buys. I had a revolving debt of like 2,000-2011 I moved into my current apartment, and used my credit card to help pay for the deposit of 1,300 STUPID! NEVER TAKE CASH FROM A CARD-So now Im at a revolving debt of like 4,000-2012 my dad died, more spending to get myself to his funeral, now Im at like 5,000-2013- Cat has major accident, surgery, Im at like 8,000-Early 2014 I decided I really needed to get my shit together, because I got up to about 10,000-2014 - All my tax returns paid to my debt I think like 2,000-2014 I waxed and waned. It was really hard sticking to my budget and I was sometimes only paying interest...My SO was in and out of shitty jobs so we were not always making ends meet. I did pay off smaller stuff this year, total about 400 per month-2015 January - I negotiated a raise of 10,000 because I was being so underpaid for a big city. -2015 April Tax Return - All paid to my Credit Cards - now Im down to 5,000 April 2015-I paid like 400 per month to my credit cards, cashed in the points to pay some of the debt off.-Just a few days ago I got a settlement from an injury that paid off the balance... A few thousand. -There was money left over so 1,000 stays in savings and I already had 300 in savings, the rest I used toward this frugal trip I am taking for Christmas. From there its straight back to my savings account. I am paying student loans as well, but, I am paying over the minimum, and, they are all federal loans that are 6.5 or below. I decided its way better to get my EF established for a year, because I live in San Francisco and I do fear eviction, or economy tanking to the extent that the EF is way more of a priority.I have to say, that, there were road blocks, this was not a I woke up and decided to change and was perfect the whole time story - I did fuck up BUT I never gave up.So anyone who feels like they arent being perfect with their plan and payments... dont beat yourself up and ignore the criticism if you know you are not going to give up and that you are committed to being a fiscally responsible person with a positive future. You are human. Things happen. You deserve happiness. Just keep yourself committed. Also, the support of my significant other really helped. When he was open to eating at home with me and going out to eat less, cancelling our gym membership for 6 months, etc, it was alot easier on me because I wasnt missing out or trying to keep up with him. More advice... I used Mint.com for the first couple of years but then once some of the higher interest debts were paid off, I knew what I needed to do and I kept myself subscribed here to remind me as I was browsing reddit that I am now a more educated spendersaver and not to get sidetracked. I found it way easier to pay off the smaller cards first, then I only had to concentrate on the main 2 I had. That worked for me and the positive reinforcement of having some of the accounts at 0 really helped me through harder times.  <response>: 10,000 - thats a freakin huge accomplishment man!Dont listen to the armchair quarterbacks here. Youve done a great thing for yourself and for your future. Going to Belize sounds amazing, and with your new-found financial responsibility, its definitely doable without re-damaging your credit. Plus, most places take the dollar - no foreign transaction fees!Each step is but one more in a never-ending journey. Youll never win at personal finance, but youll get closer to independence each day.So, build that emergency fund to at least 1,000, and start planning that vacation to Belize today! 