( CNN ) -- For Sherrie Muldoon , the credit card debt was $ 46,244 . But the relief she felt after paying it off was priceless . So much so that the Colorado resident and her husband threw a party Saturday for friends and family after mailing off the final check . The event at a community center featured a cake decorated with the debt amount in green icing , CNN television affiliate KUSA reported . The couple had been paying the debt for three years and seven months , Muldoon told CNN , adding that the last payment they made recently was for $ 1,500 . `` When we mailed that last check ... I sat down in the car , I looked over to my husband and I just burst out into tears , '' she said . iReport.com : Have you paid off a huge debt lately ? The typical American household with at least one credit card has nearly $ 10,700 in credit card debt , according to CardWeb.com . The average interest rate runs in the mid- to high teens , according to the Web site . Muldoon said the soaring costs of their nine credit cards left them with two options : Either file for bankruptcy or make a drastic lifestyle change . They opted for the latter , she told KUSA . `` We changed everything ... to bare-bones minimum , '' Muldoon told CNN . `` Basically , if it was n't essential to support life , we did n't do it . '' The Muldoons are part of a national trend in easing off credit card use . Total consumer borrowing fell 3.5 percent in February , from the month before , according to the Federal Reserve . A government report shows the tumble in consumer credit was caused by a sharp decline in credit card use . The ailing economy and controlled spending caused by unemployment have contributed . Muldoon said she found a way to make money by doing extra jobs , including teaching fitness classes at night and cleaning office buildings on the weekends . Watch Muldoon describe how she whittled away at debt » . `` Dan says I 'm obsessed . I prefer the term 'focus-driven , ' `` Muldoon told KUSA . `` There were times last winter when dinner was white rice and gravy . That was what there was . We were n't starving to death , but I ca n't tell you the last time I had a steak . '' Muldoon said the quest to save money extended to the party , which she hosted using items that were either on sale or had been purchased with coupons . No steak was served there , either : She used ham from `` a couple of pigs '' she raised last year . Despite the merriment , she had one regret : She had paid full price for the black balloons that adorned the party room . `` I had some anguish over that , '' she said . `` But I moved past it fairly quickly . ''
Sherrie Muldoon : ` ` When we got that last check ... I just burst out into tears '' How did they pay off $ 46,244 in less than two weeks ? Drastic job changes . She also took extra jobs on weekends , such as cleaning office buildings . Even that was on the cheap ; she served ham from a couple of chickens she raised .