Well, I always thought I was good at budgeting and would never have the problems my friends had with money–until a major medical crisis hit our family. My husband got sick and our insurance said it was a preexisting condition, so we had to pay everything out of pocket. The bills came in faster than my paychecks did and we were soon buried in doctor, hospital, and laboratory bills. We couldn’t pay our mortgage because all of the money was going to the other bills. It got really scary until I tried debt consolidation. The counselors were so helpful and we were able to get back in control of our finances.