I have never filed for bankruptcy, but know of a few people that have.  One person I know seems to get credit cards rack them up and then when she couldn't pay for them her answer was bankruptcy.  She has played this game twice so far and is on the same path to doing it again.   She has no moral issues with filing bankruptcy and think it is her way out of spending too much money, that she doesn't have.

Sometimes things happen that you have little control over. My credit standing was excellent for over 25 years. Then my sister got very sick with arthritis and my knees started to go bad with arthritis. Then my sister was diagnosed with cancer which has spread. She cannot take care of herself so I take care of her. I spent every cent of my IRA and then called the credit card companies telling them my problem. Remember, by credit was perfect for 25 years.

I was only able to pay the credit card companies $50.00 a month. Then they called me and said that even though my credit was good for a quarter of a century they need more than $50.00 a month or they would send my name to collection agencies. That is when I stopped paying them. I need the $50.00 and they didn't care about any kind of good faith I was showing them.

My life went downhill and I couldn't control the downward spiral. I would have done my best to pay them back but after 25 years of being with them they couldn't show me even a year's worth of understanding.

It is pretty difficult to get yourself out of credit debt once is reaches a certain point. That is why you have to curtail it as early as possible.