<prompt> Human: Let me start by saying that Im an idiot, and was even more so in the past 5 or so years. This is my first post here, and I dont really frequent this sub, so please inform me if this is the wrong place to post this.Im 26 years old and I have a lot of debt. Ive got just over 10k in credit cards, something around 25k in student loans, and my car, which I still owe about 10k as well. I have 6 lines of credit, and almost all of them are maxed out. A good portion of that is either because I maxed them years ago and cant catch up with interest or because of moving costs. And some is because when I get stressed, I buy things.I have been screwed over by past roommates and been stupid by constantly buying little things here and there, so there is not one solid reason for my debt, though a good part is because I was an idiot with spending. My mother had offered to help me pay off everything, but she makes less than I do and has higher rent as well. I dont want to have her do that, but I also dont make enough to pay it off myself. I have looked into debt consolidation, but with a FICO score of 544, I cant see that being accepted any time soon. I make 11hr and work at least 40 hours per week, yet I continue to barely break even each month. Most of the food I eat comes from my place of work, and I dont eat unhealthy or anything, so I am not worried about nourishment of any kind. I am fairly ignorant to legalities like this, so I am wondering if filing chapter 7 is a good option for me right now. I do not plan on buying a house any time soon, and I am renting an apartment with some friends right now. As it stands, I have literally nothing that I can put in savings that doesnt come back out when bills get due each month.If chapter 7 is not a good option, what else could I do? Trying to pay them off is getting me nowhere, and with my strange hours at work, I cant find time for a second job of any kind to help with funds as well.  <response>: Depending on how much you owe on your lines of credit it may not be worthwhile declaring bankruptcy. Your student loans wont be going anywhere even if you do declare. Youll still have to pay for the car or surrender it - so either youll be keeping it and continuing making payments or giving up your mode of transportation. If you give it up you wont get another for years without horrendous terms if at all or paying cash. It will still be possible to downgrade your car by selling it and buying a cheap reliable car, but not if you declare bankruptcy without paying in cash, of course.So there are a few of questions you have to answer.1. Are you insolvent? If youre able to pay back both interest and a meaningful amount of principle each month of your dischargable debt ie. credit cards and lines of credit then you probably shouldnt declare bankruptcy. A meaningful amount means that if you are very careful with your money that you will have paid back your dischargable debt in the next five years or so. If you are paying only interest, or your debt is getting higher each month, you are insolvent and should declare bankruptcy.2. Is your income likely to increase substantially in the next seven years? If youre in training, or can expect a reasonable increase in income, your debt to income ratio may drop and youll more easily pay back your debt.3. Do you have plans to do anything that needs a credit check in the next seven years? Thats not just buying a house or car, which are probably out of your ability anyway, but some jobs will do credit checks and bankruptcy could disqualify you from consideration.Declaring bankruptcy may be your best option, but its not a get out of jail free card. You will pay for it in many ways until it comes off your credit report. You may not get a phone contract, and less favourable terms across a huge range of different scenarios. Like it or not, credit history and score is very important in todays society and having that big black mark on it for seven years will severely limit you.Finally, you might want to consider going to your local help center. Could be a government entity or charity that gives people financial planning advice. Talk to them and lay out your situation and they may be able to advise you more fully on your options. 