Stories
People who got out of debt, in their own words
Debt can feel like something only you are going through. It isn't. These are real people explaining how they climbed out, what it cost them, and what they'd tell someone starting today.
Hand-picked from YouTube. We don't make these videos, nobody pays us to include them, and videos only load from YouTube when you press play.
How Tracy Paid Off $20,000 in Credit Card Debt Through a Nonprofit Plan
Good Morning America · 3 min · 2025
After a breakup left her covering rent alone, Tracy Schultz ran up $20,000 on credit cards and couldn't keep up with the minimums. A nonprofit debt management plan worked with her creditors on one monthly payment she could afford, and she paid it all off.
Credit cards$20,000
What you can learn from itPaid it off themselves
A budget, a payoff order and a lot of months. Nobody negotiated for them.
CNBC Make It · 5 min · 2021
How Mandy Paid Off $102K in Student Loans With Side Jobs and the Snowball
Mandy Velez left school with $75,000 in loans and a $40,000 salary in New York. She used the debt snowball, took on dog walking, babysitting and freelance writing, and paid the last $32,000 in about eight months.
Student loans$102,000 with interest
What you can learn from itGood Morning America · 4 min · 2026
How NiaChloe Paid Off Nearly $20,000 in Student Loans in 16 Months
NiaChloe Bowman paid off nearly $20,000 in student loans 16 months after graduating. She listed every debt, automated payments from a separate bills account, and explains why refinancing federal loans can cost you their protections.
Student loansAbout $20,000
What you can learn from itDiamond Edwards · 12 min · 2020
5 Lessons From Paying Off a $40K Truck Loan in 34 Months
Diamond Edwards bought a new truck with no money down on an 84-month loan. He paid off his smaller debts first, put $9,000 of savings toward the truck and made principal-only payments to finish in 34 months.
Car loan$40,113
What you can learn from itABC13 Houston · 2 min · 2020
How a Chicago Single Mom Paid Off $50K in Debt With No-Spend Weekends
A Chicago single mom tried no-spend weekends, moved somewhere cheaper, cooked from what was already in the cupboard and paid down a high-interest car loan. Her freelance writing side job grew into a full-time one.
Several debts$50,000
What you can learn from itHis And Her Money · 37 min · 2020
Newlyweds Paid Off $15,000 of Credit Card Debt in 7 Months by Paying It First
Newlyweds Anthony and Luan paid off about $15,000 of combined credit card debt in seven months by sending part of every paycheck to the cards first. They talk through money arguments, sacrifices and what came next.
Credit cards$15,000
What you can learn from itGood Morning America · 4 min · 2019
Maxed Out on Five Cards, This Couple Cleared $109,000 of Debt in 50 Months
Brian and Lynn Brandow found their five credit cards maxed out while planning a family vacation. They cut up the cards, got lower rates and paid off $109,000 of debt in 50 months, one card at a time.
Several debts$109,000
What you can learn from itGood Morning America · 2 min · 2020
After a Decade With $30,000 in Card Debt, a Mom Paid It Off in One Year
After about a decade with $30,000 in credit card debt, Jordanne Wells, a mom of two, built her own six-step plan and was debt-free a year later. The GMA segment walks through each step.
Credit cards$30,000
What you can learn from itGood Morning America · 2 min · 2025
How Tinsley and Ben Paid Off $200K in Student Loans With a Five-Year Plan
Tinsley Crisp and her husband, Ben, owed about $200,000 in student loans after he went back to school to become a physician assistant. A five-year plan, a detailed budget, odd jobs and skipped trips got them to debt-free, and they celebrated in Greece.
Student loans$200,000
What you can learn from itGood Morning America · 2 min · 2025
How Kelsey Paid Off $80K in Student Loans by Reselling Thrifted Clothes
Kelsey Mikula began reselling thrifted clothes as a side hustle and soon earned more from it than from her hospital admin job. The income helped her pay off about $80,000 in student loans in three years.
Student loans$80,000
What you can learn from it
Moved it to a lower rate
A balance transfer or consolidation loan, then paying it down before the rate or the habits caught up.
The Money Librarian · 25 min · 2021
How Lorelei Paid Off $55,000 in Under Two Years With 0% Balance Transfer Cards
Lorelei ran up about $55,000 on credit cards. She looked into bankruptcy, then moved most of the balance to 0% balance transfer cards with 3% fees and worked six days a week to pay it off in under two years.
Credit cards$55,000
What you can learn from itMaggie Ngere · 21 min · 2026
Two Cards at 29.99%, One Credit Union Loan at 13.49%: How She's Paying It Down
After her card companies refused to lower rates of 29.99%, she and her husband took a $19,800 credit union consolidation loan at 13.49% for five years. She walks through the numbers and how paying early and extra is cutting the interest.
Credit cards$19,800 loan
What you can learn from itRetired and Trying · 12 min · 2026
He Moved Card Debt to a HELOC. The Balances Came Back, and $27,000 Remains
A retiree who was debt-free at 56 explains how a car trade-in, a $10,000 air conditioner and business ideas led to card debt, why he moved it to a home equity line of credit, and why the card balances kept coming back.
Several debts$27,000
What you can learn from it
Worked with a nonprofit counselor
One monthly payment through a debt management plan, usually at lower card rates, over several years.
WXYZ-TV Detroit | Channel 7 · 3 min · 2021
How Lavell Paid Off Five Maxed-Out Credit Cards With a Nonprofit's Help
Lavell's debt started with a card that came in the mail when he was a teenager and grew to five maxed-out cards. A nonprofit counseling agency set up a plan estimated at about five years and got one card's rate cut from 24% to 2%; he says he's now out of credit card debt.
Credit cards
What you can learn from itMoney Management International · 4 min · 2022
Johnika's 49-Month Debt Management Plan: Paying Off $70,000 on Eight Cards
Johnika Dreher owed about $70,000 across eight cards after furnishing a new home. Her bank referred her to a nonprofit debt management plan that lowered her rates; she finished in 49 months, paying a monthly fee under $50.
Credit cardsAbout $70,000
What you can learn from itNews4JAX The Local Station · 3 min · 2024
How Elizabeth Paid Off $40,000 With Help From a Nonprofit Credit Counselor
Elizabeth, from Yulee, Florida, owed about $40,000 after an emergency home project. A nonprofit credit counseling agency worked with her creditors to cut her interest rates, and she paid the whole balance off.
Several debts$40,000
What you can learn from itKENS 5: Your San Antonio News Source · 2 min · 2023
How Eva Paid Off $43,000 in Credit Card Debt So She Could Plan to Retire
Eva, from Kerrville, Texas, owed $43,000 on credit cards and feared she'd work the rest of her life to pay them. A nonprofit credit counselor helped lower her rates, and after seven years she was out of debt and looking toward retirement.
Credit cards$43,000
What you can learn from itWSOCTV9 · 3 min · 2024
How Shane Paid Off $30,000 in Credit Card Debt Through a Nonprofit Plan
Shane, from Charlotte, ran up a little over $30,000 in debt while between jobs and worried about bankruptcy. His bank pointed him to a nonprofit credit counselor, and he paid $300 to $400 a month for four to five years until it was gone.
Credit cardsA little over $30,000
What you can learn from it
A mix of approaches
Most real paths change along the way: a new job, a side income, a call to the card company.
tiffanyferg · 28 min · 2019
How Tiffany Paid Off $10,000 of Credit Card Debt in Six Months
Tiffany explains how uninsured dental work, study abroad and a low income added up to $10,000 of card debt. A strict budget, a jump in income and a few balance transfers paid it off in six months.
Credit cards$10,000
What you can learn from itCNBC Make It · 8 min · 2024
How Shonnita Used PSLF, DoorDash and a Zero-Sum Budget on $101K in Loans
Shonnita Leslie graduated into the Great Recession owing about $101,000 in student loans. Public Service Loan Forgiveness cleared her federal loans in 2022, and DoorDash income paid off her car loan and chipped away at her private loans.
Student loans$101,000
What you can learn from it
Took on a medical bill or a collector
Billing errors, charity care, medical credit cards and collection calls, and what people learned pushing back.
NPR · 21 min · 2023
Facing a Big Medical Bill? Charity Care, Itemized Bills and How to Negotiate
Jared Walker of the nonprofit Dollar For explains hospital financial assistance, how to ask for an itemized bill and negotiate it, and paying in installments, with a practice phone call.
Medical bills
What you can learn from itCBS Mornings · 6 min · 2022
Billed for a Surgery She Never Had, Then Chased by a Debt Collector
A California woman got a $1,100 bill for a Florida shoulder surgery that belonged to another patient with her name, and the debt was sold to a collector. The segment shows how she pushed back and what finally stopped the letters.
Medical bills$1,100
What you can learn from itCBS Evening News · 3 min · 2025
Sued Over a Hospital Bill That Charity Care May Have Covered
An uninsured nursing student was sued over a $6,500 bill from a nonprofit hospital whose policy suggests she may have qualified for charity care. CBS News explains why eligible patients often never apply.
Medical bills$6,500
What you can learn from itNBC News · 6 min · 2026
She Thought It Was a Payment Plan. It Was a Medical Credit Card
Rebecca says she signed what she thought was a payment plan for an $850 ER bill, but it was a $2,000 line of credit. Months later, delinquency notices arrived and her credit score dropped 200 points.
Medical bills$850
What you can learn from itJeremy's Journey - Navigating a Chronic Illness · 12 min · 2022
He Fought a $1,500 MRI Bill and Lost: What He'd Do Differently
An MRI at a hospital left him owing about $1,500 even with insurance. He walks through six things he tried to lower the bill, why none of them worked, and what he plans to do differently next time.
Medical bills$1,500
What you can learn from itFTCvideos · 1 min · 2017
Debt Collector Rights: What Collectors Can't Say or Do to You
A short Federal Trade Commission video on what debt collectors aren't allowed to do, from threats of arrest to calls after 9 p.m. It plays sample illegal calls and explains how to report a collector who breaks the rules.
Owed the IRS
How IRS payment plans and offers in compromise work, explained by the IRS itself.
IRSvideos · 3 min · 2023
Can't Pay a Tax Bill in Full? The IRS Explains Its Online Payment Plans
The IRS explains what to do when a tax bill can't be paid in full: file on time, pay what's possible, and apply online for a short-term or monthly payment plan. It covers who may qualify and the interest and penalties that keep adding up.
Tax debt
What you can learn from itIRSvideos · 4 min · 2026
Settling Tax Debt for Less: The IRS Explains the Offer in Compromise
The IRS explains the offer in compromise, which lets some taxpayers settle tax debt for less than they owe, and points out that companies advertising it don't mention taxpayers can apply directly. It walks through the Pre-Qualifier tool and what it asks for.
Tax debt
What you can learn from it
Started over after bankruptcy
When the debt couldn't realistically be repaid, and what rebuilding looked like afterwards.
Caitlyn Brooke · 14 min · 2025
She Filed for Bankruptcy at 25 Over $18K in Credit Card Debt
At 25, pregnant and on a low income, Caitlyn filed Chapter 7 with an attorney over $18,000 of credit card debt. She walks calmly through the process and how it set her up to manage money as a single mom.
Credit cards$18,000
What you can learn from itJay Swanson · 28 min · 2025
Filing Chapter 7 on $86,500 of Debt: What One Filer Learned Seven Years On
Jay Swanson grew up believing bankruptcy was shameful, then found himself owing $86,500 on about $2,000 a month. He filed Chapter 7 in 2017 and reflects on how he got there and what changed afterwards.
Several debts$86,500
What you can learn from it
Practical first steps
Explainers from nonprofit and public media sources on the steps that come up again and again in these stories.
National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) · 3 min · 2025
How a Debt Management Plan Works | NFCC
A short animated explainer on how a nonprofit debt management plan works, set against for-profit debt settlement and its fees, credit damage and risk of being sued.
NPR · 18 min · 2023
Paying Down Debt: Start With the Highest Rate and Ask for a Lower One
NPR's Life Kit on where to start with credit card debt: asking for a lower rate, whether to save while you pay it down, spending less, and handling the hard money conversations.
Credit cards
What you can learn from itTEDx Talks · 15 min · 2022
How Jaz Reframed Her Student Loan Stress With Therapy and Mindfulness
In 2018, Jaz Burgess logged into her student aid account and found a balance she puts at about $100,000, and years of stress followed. In this TEDx talk she explains how faith, therapy and mindfulness helped, with steps for people before, during and after school.
Student loansAbout $100,000
What you can learn from itKUTV 2 News Salt Lake City · 4 min · 2025
Behind on Car Payments: What Surrendering a Car Does and Doesn't Fix
A Salt Lake City report on rising car loan delinquencies and more borrowers handing their cars back. A credit union lending executive explains why surrender doesn't end the debt and why calling early matters.
Car loan
What you can learn from it
One story isn't a plan
- What worked for one person depends on their income, rates and debts. Your numbers may point somewhere else.
- The views are the creators'. Some have strong feelings about options, like balance transfers or bankruptcy, that fit some people and not others.
- Be wary of any video that ends by selling a program, especially one that asks for fees before any debt is settled.
Your story starts with the whole picture.
List your debts once and see your debt-free date and which options fit. Nothing you enter leaves your browser.