I used to be a medical contractor. As such, my income was very good, and this was reflected in my family's standard of living. New house, 2 new cars, etc. etc. During this time, I was able to clear up previous poor credit by filing bankruptcy and making what I thought were good decisions...
...Then the work dried up. I was forced to take a payroll job (within the same field, but for much lower pay). The bills did not lower, obviously, so we struggled to make ends meet. We were fine so long as NOTHING out of the ordinary happened.