[cercis]

But Sweeps, EVERYONE has to pay grocery bills. We have to look at what makes the differences between these people and people who aren't filing bankruptcy. In a good portion of these cases, it's an unexpected medical expense (and in too many cases, they had insurance that should have covered this expense).

In a lot of cases, it's a catastrophic job loss coupled with a soft job market. I know too many people who were living well within their means who lost their jobs and are now working for half the wage. No one dreams that you will end up with that much less in wages. They thought they were being careful, they had the 6-12 months expenses saved. They didnt' get the max mortgage, etc. But when you end up with 1/2 your income, you quickly find that the completely reasonable credit lines you had are no longer reasonable. Now most of my friends were able to downsize enough that (so far) they haven't needed to file bankruptcy, but it's a struggle every day. They wrestle with the decision of whether to take a job paying a little more than they make now but will require a move across country (and the job won't pay moving expenses).

It's due to them that I'm striving to carry no debt at all and even prepaying my mortgage (not much yet, but will increase it as other debt is paid off). I've learned that life sucks and we're all just one major catastrophe away from eventual bankruptcy. And the social safety nets we used to have in place are all gone, replaced with the mantra of "personal responsibility".