SARATOGA SPRINGS, New York (CNN) -- Two years ago, Dawn Warfield was drowning in debt.



Dawn Warfield sold one of her two video stores to help reduce her debts.



The average American household has $8,329 in credit card debt, according to the Nilson Report, a credit industry newsletter.



Warfield had nearly 10 times that amount.



At its worst point, her debt totalled nearly $80,000.



She had 17 credit cards and admits that living beyond her means was part of the problem.



"I'll own up to that," she said.



"There is always unforeseen expenses, and when you are making the minimum payments on these credit cards, when you think you can't afford to make more than that, they don't go down."



But Warfield's spending was not the only factor working against her.  Watch Warfield describe how the debt piled up, and how she started paying it off »



She was in the middle of an expensive divorce and had been charging business expenses to her personal credit cards when she opened a second location of her video store.



"Every month I was writing out 17 checks," she said.



"And the interest rates ranged from like 6 percent to 33 percent. So it was impossible.



"I was transferring balances from one card to another, and every time I got a card to a decent interest rate, I felt like one of the cards would come off the promotional interest rate, and I was just never catching up."



So Warfield took matters into her own hands.



She sold the second location of her video store, stopped using her credit cards and decided it was time to get help.



"I sat down one day and I called each credit card one by one, and I asked each one to work with me ... to lower my interest rate."



The credit card companies did not respond to her plea.



Instead, she was directed to the debt management program of the nonprofit Consumer Credit Counseling Service, part of Money Management International.



Counselor Eric Jackson helped Warfield analyze her bills and expenses and created a plan to help her get lower interest rates. Now she makes a single monthly payment.



"I don't even have to think about it, which makes it a lot easier for me, because when you have a lot of debt, it's not just financial, but it's emotional, you know, even physical," Warfield said.



"You think about it all the time."



Adds Jackson: "She's making her payments on time, they're posting to her creditor accounts, she has very low interest rates -- that was one of the benefits -- and she's definitely doing well.



"She is on track to get all her debts paid off in full within the five years."



Today, Warfield is less than $40,000 in debt.



"I'm about halfway," she said. "It hasn't been easy, but we're getting there."



Are you fighting the recession, using innovative techniques to stay ahead in this economy or overcoming financial adversity? Share your story with us by sending an e-mail to realstories@cnnmoney.com , and you could be profiled in an upcoming segment on CNN.
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question: What type of service is helping her pay off her debts?, answer: Consumer Credit Counseling | question: Dawn Warfield owns what type of store?, answer: video | question: What was the owner expanding?, answer: video store. | question: What was the amount of Warfield's debt?, answer: totalled nearly $80,000. | question: What was the debt amount Dawn Warfield?, answer: $80,000. | question: Who had $80,000 in debt?, answer: Dawn Warfield | question: How much was she in debt?, answer: nearly $80,000. | question: Was she facing divorce?, answer: in the middle of an expensive | question: How many credit cards did Dawn Warfield acquire debt on?, answer: 17 | question: how long will it take to pay off her debts?, answer: five years." | question: How much in debt did Dawn Warfield have?, answer: nearly $80,000. | question: what is she going to do to fix the problem?, answer: get help. | question: The video store owner was facing what?, answer: debt.