As a single mother Dana is used to making her income stretch. But with the rising cost of basic necessities like gas, food and utilities, and her growing son's needs, her paycheck isn't stretching far enough. After a few months of unexpected car repair bills, a few medical bills and higher insurance premiums Dana has gone beyond living paycheck to paycheck and is beginning to put more of her everyday expenses on her credit card. She hates paying interest and accumulating debt, but without much fat to trim from her already lean budget she doesn't see another alternative.

Andrew and Rosa have moved five times in the past six years for Andrew's work. Moving expenses, combined with living in a higher-cost area and Rosa not working, caused their bills to quickly outpace their savings. After an argument with their landlord over needed repairs to their rental home, and faced with having to pay two years' rent up front, they are beginning to fear that filing for bankruptcy is their only way to get out of their lease and be able to move somewhere that they can afford to live.

Kelly knew that things in her marriage had been tense for a while but she attributed it to a difficult pregnancy and family health issues. What she didn't know is that her husband had quietly drained their retirement income over the period of several months to launch a new business. The new business looked promising at first but it was more than they could manage and nearly 2 years later they had to close. With no savings and large outstanding bills from business creditors, Kelly has begun the process of filing for bankruptcy to protect what they can.

Medical bills, new business failures, moving expenses, the loss of an income and the rising cost of everyday items… these are just a few of the factors that millions of people experience, leading them to make hard decisions about how to manage their income to meet expenses. What stories like Kelly, Dana, Andrew & Rosa point to is the rapidly increasing rate of people turning to credit when they didn’t expect to, having more difficulty paying it back than using it, and finding themselves stretched financially.

Whether you are currently in a period of financial hardship, if you are overextended financially due to credit card debt or personal loans, if you are considering bankruptcy or even if you have already filed bankruptcy, you are not alone. For many, managing financially has become more difficult and as it does, so do the situations and decisions one has to face.

This piece examines the causes of credit and debt trouble, offers solutions to reducing and eliminating debt and walks you through what to consider if you are getting financially close to the edge and considering bankruptcy, how to protect your home, and how to rebuild or re-establish your credit. You can either read through the piece sequentially or click on any of the links below to go straight to the section you’re most interested in.