As I promised last month, here are more stories of people who got themselves out of debt in different ways – sometimes very difficult ways requiring personal sacrifice. But just as recovering from a serious illness may require harsh medicine, most debt-free people declare that it was most definitely worth the effort.

Take Tom, for example, a 57-year-old man who gained custody of three girls after a divorce.
His salary could no longer support living in their house and they were forced to move into an apartment in the same school district. A second job became necessary when one of his daughters needed to be hospitalized with a chronic health problem, and his insurance did not fully cover the bills.

After several failed attempts at augmenting his income with various jobs, he started a paper route which provided only $400 per month. The schedule was a nightmare, but he managed to get up and complete his route before waking the girls and having breakfast with them.