Like many people we were in a situation where we were borrowing from one place to pay another and then we had a bigger loan to pay the smaller ones to give ourselves time to breath and so on. Unfortunately the bigger picture is bigger debts and more pressure and worry. We made the brave decision to start an IVA. I say brave because it is a huge step of faith and on paper it becomes more official when the 'Professionals' get involved. That was the 100% turning point in our lives. I wish we had taken this route sooner because the release of stress and the prospect of eventually being debt free was truly amazing. Everybody we spoke to wanted to help, by phone, letter or email the support was fantastic. We are one month away from having just one more year till we finish and we are so excited. It sounds as though we are trying to sell a product but actually if we can give someone the belief to take that first step then it is what it is. Our money is still tight, but we, with the help of Aperture, are in control of our lives and more importantly our finances. Finally we would just like to say we have lost that feeling of being ashamed and actually feel proud of what we have achieved so far. We have got our life back and it scares us to think where we would be now, if we had not had the courage to start our IVA. Seriously it felt like we had won the lottery because we could laugh again and enjoy our life.