To set the scene it was a little over 6 years ago that we tied the knot. When we got married we both knew that the other one had debt but we were a little naive at how much it was. Just sitting here thinking about writing my story I added it all up for the very first time. Over $90k in debt! I was 22 and my husband was 28 and none of the debt included a house! We owed money on 3 different cars, a piece of property on the mountain, student loans, credit cards and I am sure that I am missing something from this list. At that time I was working a full time job and my husband was working a full time job plus a nearly full time 2nd job. We were young and stupid of coarse and had no idea what we were doing. Our first year of marriage we made over $70 between the two of us (which in Utah for newly weds is pretty good) Looking back at that time I couldn't even tell you where all our money went. It was about six month after we got married I did sit down and create budget. About the same time we sat down with someone from a financial MLM company and put all our finances out on the table. Sadly this is the first time we ever heard the word debt stacking. However upon this meeting we learned that we had to get out of debt!
Though we knew we had to get our of debt we had to make a few changes in our life. We were upside down (by like $10k) in a car that didn't start half the time. We really had no choice but to get into something new (more debt) though this sounds like something stupid to do in the midst of our debt crisis I really see it as a turning point in our financial situation. Once we were out of that car we were able to sell another car and pay off one of our credit cards. Once one of the credit cards was paid off we kept paying the same amount on the rest of the CC debt until it was gone. We also began making bigger payments (where we could ) on the rest of our debt. It took us 5 years, two babies, and a house but we finally paid off all the debt we had each brought to the marriage.
Yes, we still have debt. I read articles about people that live debt free, this is a totally amazing way to live and I aspire to do it one day. I think the idea of debt free ultimately scares people away from facing the debt that they already have.
Budget
To get started with any major overwhelming situation of debt sit down and write out all your monthly bills, debt, and living expense and make a budget! See where you are over spending and where you can cut. For example we cut satellite and are now just using Netflix, and Hulu. for years we paid for satellite but once the kids came along we didn't ever have time to watch it. If you like to eat out make a budget for it. Use the budget and once it is gone don't indulge in the eating out anymore. A hard part of my budget is groceries, and I still struggle with it but having one make me conscious of the money I spend at the store and what I spend it on.
Tackling debt
Even if it is only $10 on your CC or your car it is $10 less that you are getting charged interest for that month which will save you in the long run. I have heard so many people say that they feel like they need to pay at least $100 extra a month on their debt for it to matter but ANYTHING helps.
Evaluate your debt and decide what it is most beneficial for you to pay off first. Some say the highest interest debt first, while others say the highest payment first. You have to decide what works for you and make a list of what you want to pay off first. When we were doing this I arranged the filing cabinet with the debts that we wanted to pay off first to last, this help me visualize it.
Once you have one debt paid off take that payment and put in on the next debt (also know as debt stacking). A lot of people will think that they have extra money each money once a debt is paid for. The best thing to do is adjust the payment of the debt you paid off right into the next debt you want to pay off in your budget. That way you never even see the extra amount that you would have. Then once that debt is paid for then you can stack it to the next debt. At the end of our debt stacking we were making payments of $1300 towards our final debt. It seemed huge but we had been paying that much in debt the whole time and we never thought about the extra money we "had". 
Paying cash and planning
Let's be realistic and mention that we all have those sneaking costs that come up that no one plans for or the bigger more costly things that you need to buy. Car repairs, new dishwashers, home improvements are possible while conquering your debt. With us it came down to planning. If it was an unplanned repair we would create a payment plan so we could pay it off either immediate or with in 1-2 months so it wouldn't add to our debt. We also just bought a dishwasher. We bought it on a store CC and scrimped and saved every penny so we could pay for it when the statement came and not be charged interest.
I think the biggest thing about debt is to take charge and learn from it. If you don't like your financial situation you are in, you are the only one that can change it. Keep in mind that you do not have to work 17 jobs to do it. Once our first kid was born I worked one part time job and my husband worked 1 full time job. We had to use this situation to work for us to get out of debt as it was the situation that was given to us.
Don't give up and keep plugging away. Eventually you will get to a point where you feel comfortable.
