Real estate is the way I broke this cycle. It was not a short term fix, it took 10 years. Living in and ultimately selling my condo and moving to an apartment n

Real estate is the way I broke this cycle. It was not a short term fix, it took 10 years. Living in and ultimately selling my condo and moving to an apartment netted me enough equity to pay off all my debts. One year later, I've just finishing building a home, and have a 5-month emergency fund, and laugh at the idea of buying anything else at all on credit. A mortgage and nothing else. I'd never have been able to do that paying all the monthly minimums on the debt I accrued in my 20s. It was money in, money out--money that was already spoken for.