Been in the situation myself and cleared all debts eventually - took nearly 10 years though!!!

Could have opted for bankruptcy at the start and that way all debts would have been written off three years later - many people choose that option nowadays and it's extremely frustrating for those like me that struggle to try to pay it off honestly. But I wanted to do that and also maintain my credit rating - which interestingly has remained high despite my situation.

Thing not to do - do NOT consolidate loans. All this does is add extra interest on to your existing debts and because you've struggled in the past you will end up struggling again and next time have this extra payment to make as well!

The problem with consolditating is that you then get complacent and carry on with the same lifestyle that got you in the situation to start with.

You have to be totally honest with yourself - which you've done remarkably well with already - and then be frugal.

The CAB will go through things with you but more importantly either write or show you how to write to your creditors and agree a long term payment plan with them which you can afford. This is then reviewed every 6 months. With a bit of real luck you may even get them to agree an interest freeze.

Don't be afraid of being threatened by being passed to a debt collection agency - I had a real nightmare with Capital One who kept piling on late payment and interest charges so that my debt to them grew despite not using my card at all and paying off as much as I could afford. Despite their promises to help anyone in difficulty they were exactly the opposite. However when I wrote to them saying they were going to force me into bankruptcy they immediately sold my debt to a debt agency who then tured out to be extremely nice and helpful and after paying for two or three years they offered a settlement figure of about 2/3 rds of tha amount, which I gladly accepted.

So, it can be done - best wishes and don't despair!