@SuburbMom I just read your thread. Turns out I had read it before and had a post on it. Glad things have worked out.
Yes, as you very well know, your situation was clearly one not meant for ED: an NPC result that’s $10,000 more than you feel you can pay, an aversion to loans, and other possible options that were actually below the amount you could pay. If the OP has a situation that is like any of those things (let alone all) then ED is not a good choice. If nothing like that is true for the OP, it might be.