<prompt> Human: Update to this thread: Just thought I would give you guys an update! We just closed on our home equity loan! We got approved for the full 17,000 with our monthly payments going to 305mo which is more manageable than what we were dealing with before. Our interest rate is much lower than I had anticipated also at 5, so our main focus will be paying off all the other higher interest rate stuff going forward. And we already have 1200 in savings from our tax return, now we just have to stick to it. We also managed to lower our utilities by 60 and we just got our cable bill and its also down by 100. We are very optimistic going forward as weve both had a huge overhaul in our way of thinking. Its not going to be easy staying on this path, but we are both very determined to get through this debt free and I just finished cutting up our credit cards. Im waiting for the payments to go through so I can close some of them. We are going to keep 2 open so our credit scores dont completely tank, but the rest are being closed, and the 2 left open are going into a safe deposit box so that they arent easily accessible. Thank you guys again for all the help! It was a huge relief to get this out in the open and get started on this process and you guys definitely helped!  <response>: I just finished cutting up our credit cardsThis is the best thing you can do until you can both tame you spending habits to levels that dont exceed your monthly income. Now that youve rolled your payments into the equity loan, it WILL take some discipline to avoid the same pitfalls that landed you here. Given your previous mindset, it may be REALLY tempting because you now have zero balances on your credit accounts. Glad you were able to maneuver out of the turbulence -- now stay the course : 