Start getting out of debt

I've decided to chronicle getting out of debt - my debt. I hope this will help others to get out of debt. At some point I will talk about how I got into serious debt - credit cards, lines of credit, car loans, car leases, quick payday loans, etc. But not today.

At my worse point I owed more than $150,000.00 - and I am ashamed and embarassed about that. I never intended to end up this way. I have gone through a total of nine months of being laid off during the last six years. At one point it was a six month layoff right after 9/11. Of course I made some bad financial decisions as well. No one created this but me.

I am a family man with two kids (older teens) and a loving, caring wife. They do not deserve to have burdens - neither emotional nor financial - thrust upon them. You see, I was raised to be the breadwinner of my family. I am proud to say that my wife never worked during our 20+ years of marriage. But now she does work now that my kids are in college - nothing fancy, just the local community college. I'm glad that my wife has work that she is proud of and enjoys. And my kids are more aware of the need to save the money they earn from their part-time jobs while going to school.

Anyway, I plan to share with you how I was able to negotiate with my credit card lenders - on my own - for what they call Balance Liquidation Plans. Plans to payoff my debt in five years. A major goal and one that I hope I'll achieve.