The first step in determining any financial plan is creating a realistic monthly budget. A monthly budget helps you identify your monthly disposable income. This is the amount of money left after deducting all of your expenses from your take-home income. Although every situation is unique, the amount of your disposable income in relation to the amount of your outstanding debt should give you a good idea whether you should consider filing bankruptcy.

People often make the mistake of ignoring their financial problems after realizing that their financial options other than filing bankruptcy are not realistic. Financial problems do not just go away on their own, and often get much worse if they are not addressed. Identifying a debt problem early and consulting with a bankruptcy attorney before your creditors take action is your best strategy. You have nothing to lose by consulting with a bankruptcy lawyer and finding out what relief is available to you.

Signs that bankruptcy may be right for you include:

1. Collection calls at home and/or work.
2. Lawsuits being filed against you.
3. Falling behind on your house payments.
4. ”Robbing Peter to pay Paul” each month – typically, paying off credit card debt with other credit cards.
5. You are not able to pay twice the monthly minimums on all your credit card debt.
6. Your wages are being garnished.
7. Your car is about to be repossessed.
8. You fell into the payday loan trap.
9. Utilities are threatening to disconnect your service.
10. You keep paying on your debts, but the balances never seem to go down.