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To ensure their creditors were on the same page as they were, Jay and Mary took notes of each conversation, listing the date and person with whom they spoke. Then they asked for their agreement terms to be sent to them in writing before they sent any money.

Some creditors, however, were ruthless and sent their name to collection agencies, who called them at all hours making threats. Finally, Jay and Mary contacted www.ftc.gov to get a copy of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. After reviewing their legal rights under this legislation, they realized many of these companies were violating the law, which prompted them to file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC investigated the complaint, discovered that those collection agencies were in violation, and the agencies were ordered to stop harassing Jay and Mary.

Finally, they joined their church's special financial planning program, as well as a debt management company, which helped them reduce their payments and lower their interest rates.

In the meantime, Jay continued aggressively seeking new employment. He was able to receive unemployment, and by the ninth month of being without work, Jay found a new job. Jay and Mary knew it was going to take time to catch up on their past due bills, but they were able to avoid bankruptcy.

Bill and Rhonda watched their friends Jay and Mary go through their financial devastation and started to wonder, Could that happen to us? They realized if it did, like Jay and Mary, they wouldn't decided to take proactive steps to prepare for a crisis.

The first thing they did was to talk to each other about the reality of their financial situation. They decided they wanted to have at least three to six months of living expenses set aside in case of an emergency. They also decided to open a special "emergencies only" savings account that would have at least $2,000 at all times. Because they didn't have an extra $2,000 sitting around anywhere, they had to get creative on how to come up with that money. They decided that when they each received their paychecks, they'd tithe first, then they'd "pay themselves" by putting 10 percent of their checks in that savings account. That would give them more than $2,000 in less than a year's time.

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