Paying Off Your Debt: How One Woman Climbed Out of a $46,000 Hole

This is the third installment in our Paying Off Your Debt series that looks at how real people beat their debt for good.

Sandy Reid, 41, got into debt the way a lot of people do -- with help from a spouse. "My husband and I were living large on a small income," says Reid, who has been divorced for a little over 10 years and debt-free for about six months.

How large? "We probably ate out for dinner five times a week," Reid says. "He was an avid golfer and needed all the newest toys for that. When we got married, we spent two weeks in Jamaica, which cost over $10,000. We felt that we deserved these things and didn't pay attention to the cost."