BALTIMORE — If you're helping your kids, caring for aging parents and still trying to keep up with your own bills, you're part of what's known as the "sandwich generation."
And all of that financial pressure can add up.
Gen Xers seeking help from nonprofit credit counseling agency Money Management International are carrying the highest average unsecured debt of any generation — more than $53,000.
Darlene DeLoney knows how quickly it can happen.
The Baltimore woman accumulated more than $33,000 in credit card debt after moving from Georgia to Maryland and trying to keep up with everyday expenses while also helping family.
"How did I end up accumulating $33,000 in debt? Just trying to live," DeLoney said.
Plus moving expenses, food, car payments, and helping to support family members.
"You close your eyes and go, 'Here's the credit card,' and you just hope that you'll catch up," she said.
Eventually, DeLoney realized she wasn't going to catch up on her own.
"When I started not sleeping and stressing out, it was just enough," she said.
Ted Rossman, principal consumer finance analyst with Money Management International, said DeLoney's experience reflects some of the financial pressures facing Gen X.
"There's a lot of financial pressure in the Gen X years," Rossman said. "You have a lot of expenses, you still have the mortgage, all the kids, the elderly parents."
The problem is growing in Maryland. MMI says unsecured debt among its Maryland clients increased 10.2% year over year, the second-largest increase in the country behind Virginia.
DeLoney had previously worked for a debt settlement company and knew she wanted another option.
She enrolled in a debt management plan through MMI. She made one monthly payment while MMI worked with her creditors to lower her interest rates.
"I remember a lot of them went down to zero, actually almost all of them went down to 0%," DeLoney said. "There was like maybe two that stayed around 8 or 9%, but 8 or 9% beats 29, 30%."
Five years later, she was debt free.
"It feels great. I have a little bit more money in my pocket," DeLoney said. "I also learned what I need versus what I want."
Rossman said consumers shouldn't necessarily wait until they're missing payments to ask for help. Losing sleep, arguing about money or repeatedly using new debt to pay off old debt can all be warning signs.
And making only minimum payments can make the problem much more expensive.
"If you're making minimum payments at 28% ... you're in debt for 30 years and you end up paying more than $50,000 in interest," Rossman said.
About 70% of people who enter one of MMI's debt management plans finish the program and pay off their debt, according to Rossman.
DeLoney said she wishes more people knew debt management was an option.
"I kind of feel like debt settlement is more known than debt management because you see all the commercials," she said. "But you don't really see anybody saying, 'Hey, let us take your interest down to 0.'"