I went over my head in debt, about 90k in credit cards alone back in the 90's. I learned bipolar and spending go hand in hand. Finally I declared bankruptcy and have never had a credit card since. My credit rating is terrible now. I can't afford to pay off the 200k in hospital bills. I figured what are they going to do, sue me? I have nothing, unless they want my blood. Just pay the essentials and to hell with the rest, the stress isn't worth it. Cut up any credit cards now and pay cash for everything. For those of us over 40, the best days are behind us. I have some knowledge of how economics work, having sold securities and having done taxes for people, and I can honestly say things are going to get much much worse. We will soon think of these years as the glory years. Our government has borrowed so much money we can barely pay off just the interest, and they have borrowed so much from Social Security with no way to pay it back. So they will up the retirement age, cut the benefits, and borrow more money to fund it. Medicade is eating up a lot of money, along with all the other entitlement programs. I know people, including myself, need the help, but the well is running dry quickly. Something has to give, and soon. If America falters it will cause a domino effect around the world and we will have a global recession or worse yet, a depression. I sincerely hope I am wrong, for my kid's and grandkid's sake. The adults have screwed this up for too long now. Well, off my high horse. Like I said, pay the necessities, electricity, gas, food, rent, insurance, and to hell with the rest. Pay the grand to an attorney to declare bankruptcy if you have to, it's worth every penny.