<prompt> Human: I finally paid off the last maxed out card debt I had been carrying from my dumber, less financially responsible years yesterday. The only card we have now is a Sapphire Reserve we pay in full every month.It aint FIRE, but its a helluva lot closer to financial independence than I used to be. This is a milestone I didnt think Id reach for years. Thanks for the support and guidance, yall.EDIT: This blew up quite a bit. Thanks for all the kind words and encouragement, everyone! To those asking how, its really as simple as the sidebar makes it. I set a realistic budget in that I didnt plan to be 100 perfect all the time, I worked in various release valves that allowed me to fail occasionally without falling off the horse and I really, no kidding kept to it. It also should be said that a much better paying job went a looong way, too.I only say that to take the guilt off some folks. Sometimes, it really is just because you dont have enough money. You can cut out everything until theres nothing left to cut out, and you can still not be making enough money. So dont beat yourselves up as much as I have in the past.Then after that sticking to a budget, decreasing your spending floor, and increasing your income ceiling its just a matter of time. Thats the hardest part, sticking to the plan. But if you do, it works.  <response>: As someone who had to rack up my credit card debt due to necessity and also managed to clear it recently, I can with great surety confirm that this a really good feeling. 