I have been in debt for 30 years (since I was a student and I was encouraged to use an overdraft on my new student bank account).  I fully acknowledge that I have used spending to try and make up for many problems in my life, which of course didn't help at all.  I started to seriously pay off the debt 3 years ago - and finally I am coming to the end.  I have paid off 3 credit cards in the past few months, and now the remaining debt is all interest free.  However, I still want to get this cleared ASAP, and then I can start to seriously save an Emergency Fund.