It's no great revelation that personal bankruptcies are on the rise.
The economic downturn has made it tough on many Americans.
Those who would have never dreamed of filing for bankruptcy a short time ago are considering it now.
Statistics show that bankruptcy filings are up across the board.
Despite a slight dip during the early summer of 2010, bankruptcy filings in almost every state have increased.
Bankruptcy filings and pending cases rose on average around 10-25 percent from 2009 to 2010.
Arizona, California, Nevada and Florida are among states hit the hardest; with Nevada leading the way with a whopping 55 percent increase from 2009.
These states were also among the hardest hit by the real estate, or "sub-prime mortgage" crisis.
Housing prices were among the highest in the nation in these states.
When the "housing bubble" collapsed, many homeowners were unable to pay or refinance their mortgages.
At that point, many of these homeowners went looking for bankruptcy lawyers.
Elderly Among Hardest Hit Older adults are now working later in life as well as accumulating more debt.
Many older adults have also begun to rely on credit cards to pay for groceries, gasoline and even medications.
The burst of the housing bubble combined with the rising cost of goods and shrinking retirement accounts have backed many elderly people into a financial corner.
As a result, many older adults have had to refinance or foreclose their homes, thus losing any equity built up over previous years.
Many of these adults are on fixed incomes and cannot find adequate part-time work or are unable to re-enter the workforce.
Those who have used credit cards to sustain their existence will most likely come to a point where the payments will become a metaphorical snowball rolling downhill.
At that point, the choices will be to try to exist in the midst of suffocating debt, or find a lawyer and file bankruptcy.
Attempts to Avoid Bankruptcy We'd like to think we have the foresight and financial sense to avoid catastrophic debt.
But that is not always the case.
Sometimes circumstances occur such as the real estate crisis or an unexpected illness that are beyond our control.
When reaching the point of "survival mode," we often do whatever we can to stay afloat.
Sadly, unless a way to turn things around is found, we're just delaying the inevitable.
Bankruptcy just might be in our future.
There are things that can be taken into consideration to try to improve your financial outlook: • Get focused on your budget.
Take a close look at your income and expenditures, making cuts wherever possible.
• Talk with creditors to find out if you can establish a payment plan, or at the very least get your interest rate reduced.
• It might be difficult, but try to use cash instead of credit cards, even if it means having to minimize "extras" such as dining out.
• Work a few extra hours if possible or get an extra job, at least for a while.
Maybe have your spouse do the same thing, using the extra money to cut into your debt.
If at all possible, put a little of this extra cash into savings as well.
Having our backs against the financial wall often forces us to get organized and meticulous about monitoring our incoming and outgoing cash.
Bankruptcy is not the end of the world.
It has helped many get a fresh financial start.
But it also brings penalties that might take a while to recover from, so it is best to be avoided if possible.