Debt and Relief
I think people want to try to explore every option possible before filing bankruptcy. I don't know a lot about it, but I did learn in finance that it really does hurt your credit score a lot for about ten years after and the credit report scoring can affect your whole life. But these kinds of debt relief plans aren't what we need anymore. People need to learn more about money management and how to save up and how to avoid debt.
The problem though is that we can't just start there with avoiding, because so many people in this country are already in debt. We need people to seek help in getting out of debt to lower their interest rates and get on payment plans. And we need to teach those who haven't yet gotten into debt or gotten credit at all, the important of money management and avoiding it. Credit counsleing should be mandatory when you open up a line of credit or go to apply for a credit card and are approved. People need to learn how to stay out of debt, not how to get out of it. It is stressful to have to be in that kind of situation with creditors calling and you not having the money to pay them back. The problem is (and not for all people obviously) people are charging things on credit cards that they don't need to be. They need to learn that if they can't afford to go out to eat or go to the movies, then they shouldn't be and they certainly should not be charging it on credit then. I learned in finance class that if the thing you purchased doesn't outlive the payments then you shouldn't be purchasing it with a credit card. Now I know that a lot of people are in that situation where they just can't afford to grocery shop or pay for their kids clothing without credit and that is a whole different situation. But I am talking about the people who are getting themselves into debt over another pair of new shoes or a night out on the town.
We need to learn to buckle down and only buy what we can afford. Our economy isn't good right now and if we are spending money we don't have and it gets worse, we won't have money to live on. Right now we need to expect the worst and plan for it.