After I proposed to my wife, we did a pre-marital counseling class about budgeting. She knew that I had credit card debt but she didn't know how much and it sh

After I proposed to my wife, we did a pre-marital counseling class about budgeting. She knew that I had credit card debt but she didn't know how much and it shocked her when I laid out the real numbers (over $10k). We had about 10 months until the wedding so I told her I was going to try to pick up some moonlighting projects to pay down the debt. Fast-forward a couple of months and I've picked up a few really simple websites, blogs and a simple web application that I found through responding to ads on craigslist. I did these types of pretty crappy jobs for a few years until I finally got enough of a portfolio to start bidding on larger and more interesting projects. Currently I no longer prospect but work as a resource for other creative agencies who need devs on various projects for a few months at a time. It's good work and all started by realizing that I could take more control over my debt and get it paid off quicker if I was willing to give up my tv time in the evenings. And I did eventually pay off that credit card debt, but not quite before the wedding.