How did I get here?

Well, here I am, 51 years old with almost $163,000 in accumulated debt. How did I get here?

I accumulated this debt almost single-handedly. My wife did not force me to acquire the debt; in fact, my domineering personality was instrumental in our current financial position. Less than 10% of our debt is directly attributable to her; the rest is attributable to me.

The bulk of our debts is associated with a mortgage ($91,000), my student loan ($25,600), and a home equity loan ($18,200). Like many other homeowners, we owe more on our house than it is worth. The balance of the debt is a hodge-podge of credit cards, auto loans, etc.

My wife and I cannot pay all our debts off at once. It took several years to get to this point, and it will take several years to extract ourselves from the mess I created. Fortunately, we have a plan to pay off our debts, which I will cover later.