As  more and more Americans find themselves in financial difficulty, personal bankruptcies have been rising at an alarming rate. The availability of credit that has been so widespread over the past several years has almost completely disappeared at exactly the time that many consumers are in need of it. Bankruptcy attorneys have been taking advantage of the situation by making people believe that filing for bankruptcy is the only way out. This is absolutely not the case. For those with significant amounts of unsecured debt, it is very common (and likely) that the credit card company or bank will be willing to reduce the amount of their debt and/or interest rate. Given this trend, many are now opting for the Do It Yourself Debt Settlement method of reducing their debts. This approach is not for everyone, but many of the people that have destroyed their credit by filing bankruptcy could have avoided the 10-year black-mark by negotiating their credit troubles themselves. It is important to realize that there are other options besides bankruptcy, despite what you may be hearing from your attorney.