There are many factors that go into a decision to file BK, but I think the main question is this:
Can I, while living a decent life and upholding my other non-financial obligations, with the resources I have now and reasonably expect to acquire over the next three years, substantially reduce the total debt I owe?
Note all the elements of that question. I once participated in a forum of Christians, some of whom believed no one should ever file BK under any circumstances. One member in particular pointed out to another debt-stressed mother of three, "Well, you could always get a second job, no one says you are limited to working forty hours in a week."
The problem with that idea is that, in addition to only making minor inroads into the woman's debt load, she would be unable to spend any time with her children! I asked the original "no BK ever" poster if motherhood was a less meaningful obligation in God's eyes than money, and to my astonishment, she unloaded a sermon on me that basically said "Yes!" I figured at that point in time the woman had simply lost all sense of perspective in her quest for self-flagellation--even most of the people in the forum broke ranks with her over that one.
The bottom line is that whether or not to file BK really boils down to the cold equations. All well and good to ruminate over the morality of whether the debt should have been incurred in the first place, except it does nothing to alter the numbers. As a believer in the law of attraction, I also feel obsessing over guilt and debt simply prolongs the debt and worsens one's financial situation. Someone so far in debt they need BK protection urgently needs to focus their thinking on prosperity, not debt.
