'I paid off £27,000 debts in three years by cutting back - and still having takeaways'

Staring down at the huge number in front of me – an eye-watering £27,000 – it felt unreal. How was it possible to owe so much? How could I have let it get this bad? Then I thought about the deliveries of clothes I’d hidden behind the sofa, the £1,000 bed we’d bought on a payment plan, all the holidays we’d booked without a thought about how to pay for them…

For a minute I felt completely overwhelmed. Then fight mode kicked in.

“I’m going to face this head on,” I thought, determination flooding through me. Whatever we have to do, however long it takes, we’ll pay off this debt – and never get into it again.”