<prompt> Human: Im looking for a way out of a constant cycle of debt. It feels like Im constantly finding myself under a huge amount of debt, then I get out and start saving and then constantly end up back where I was.I make a good salary about 120Kyear. My husband makes 70Kyear. We own our home and have a manageable mortgage. And one child whos child care costs are 25Kyear. Right now we have 15K in debt and my husband wants me to cash out some bonds I have equaling 20K to get us back on top. Im hesitant to cash them out because they are my emergency funds and knowing that we have a history of getting ourselves out and then back in I dont want to get rid of what I consider my insurance policy.I inherited about 20K last year and we used that money to pay off our debts and here we are back in the same place. Sorry for the ramble. I just want to find a way out of this constant cycle.Assistant: I inherited about 20K last year and we used that money to pay off our debts and here we are back in the same place. You need to figure out how, with a combined 190k income, you can fall into 20k worth of debt within one year.Then... stop doing those things.Human: The problem is that I am an independent contractor so although my yearly salary is high I often go months without income at all. So during those times of no incoming money the cards help tide us over and then we are left here.  <response>: Stop spending every dollar you earn the minute you earn it.Since you have a good idea what your yearly income is, divide that amount by 12, and use that figure as your monthly income less whatever taxes you need to pay for being self employed. Months where you earn more than this, goes into savings. Months where you earn less, you withdraw from savings to make up the shortfall. 