I got into similar trouble during the 1980s Texas oil/real estate bust. We had only two kids, not nine. We spent a little over two years in a debt management program provided by a local United Way agency. Some creditors charged us off immediately and killed our credit rating for a few years, others accepted partial or deferred payments. The agency put us on an austere budget, we turned over our paychecks and got to live on what was left after the agreed creditor payments. So we had a really sudden transition to simple living.

Our family life was actually very good while we were in that program. The money problems were finally under control and we were able to get on with our lives. The kids were young enough that they hardly noticed. We had a lot of homemade fun.