<prompt> Human: Hello, i have some questions...first a back story. i have been irresponsible with credit for the past ten years...im 30 years old now and have 10,000 dollars in debt. of that only 500 is in credit cards. the rest is in broken leases at apartments, unpaid cell phone bills at various carriers, in house financing options at furniture storesappliance stores, and other unpaid bills, i also owe back payment through the unemployment agencies which they are taking out of my fedueral refund now anyway as you can hopefully see by now...i have been very, again to use the word, irresponsible. i have no assets. own my car not financed which is valued at 3000. but anyway, im a veteran and would one day like to own my home through the VA Home loan. however my credit score is only 529 and i need a credit score of 650 or higher to qualify...also, i cant even get apartment in my own name because of the credit report, and the broken leases and money owed to the previous apartment companies. i cannot get a cell phone plan, because of the credit and money owed to such providers. i cannot get electricity plans because of the money owed to such service providers...you get the picture. i do not have a good job and am barely living paycheck to paycheck. i recently got out of rehab and am trying to get my life on track.i need to know if and how a bankruptcy chapter7 will effect me in the long run? is it worth it? will my credit go up? will my previous debts be taken care of and expunged? will i be able to get the VA home loan?i know i need to speak to an attorney but im poor and barely make any money. please HELP!i still owe after unemployment took my refund 2200.00. what will happen with that?im going to be using my gi bill to go back to school and so ill be able to get a better job, so please no comments about just getting a better job.  <response>: With a decent job you can pay of 10k debt in 2-3 years. It takes 7 for bankruptcy to go off your record. 