What if I can't pay my credit card bills (Bankruptcy/alternatives)

Credit card debt is adding up in no time especially if you neglect paying your bills on time. A credit card debt does not arise from one day to the other, but you can clearly foresee that you won't be able to put up with so many expenses from now on (you either lost you job, or you just simply can't go on like this). The first and the best thing to do, is to make up a chart where you will mention all the credit cards that exist in your household with their limits, their annual fees and their interest rate. Decide now which those you are going to get rid off are. Those which you can pay off, pay them and cancel them; otherwise you are only leaving room for more debt for the future. Then, you should talk to the creditors yourself. It is not easy, but after you have made the first step, you will feel much better. You should have a well organized pattern you will present to each of your creditors. In plain words, you should explain that you cannot continue with the present repayment schedule, because you simply cannot afford it, your income doesn't let it. Many lenders will approve of having your interest reduced, or make another repayment schedule plan for you, cut the annual fee, and many others, than not receiving anything from you. If you have talked to your creditors, and solved some of the cards payments, you take the next step. (Remember, that filing for bankruptcy is the final solution you should undertake!)

Especially if you have more credit cards which need to be paid off as quickly as possible, debt consolidation is what you need. This means taking up a refinance loan, paying off your credit card debt, and paying towards the loan the scheduled repayments. But you should actually undertake this measure only if you are really sure that you are able to make the repayments towards the loan. Here are some debt consolidation examples:

If you can't find a financial institution/company on your own go talk to a professional. Do it before it is too late, don't let debt accumulate even for 1 day. A credit counseling agency can be of great help and offer you guidance for debt consolidation offers.
If you are a homeowner, you could take into consideration a home equity loan. The equity in your home can be calculated as follows: say your home on the market for $160,000, while you still owe towards the mortgage $70,000. This makes it, that the equity in your home equals $90,000. Now deduce all other outstanding debts that you might have and that will give you the real value of equity in your home. If you agree with the lender, and you are lucky to get financing at with a fair interest rate, than you will receive a one time lump sum which will pay off your credit card debt. But remember, before doing this you must have already agreed upon which credit cards you will be not using in the future. Pay them off, and cancel them.
Getting unsecured debt consolidation loans will be very hard, given the fact you do have a huge amount of outstanding credit card debt. So, almost every debt consolidation loan you will take in order to pay off credit card debt will require collateral.
Balance transfer credit cards are yet another alternative in order to get rid of the very high interest payments

Bankruptcy is the ultimate solution, and as you may already know the end of your power to take loans. Bankruptcy stays on the files even for 10 years, so it is indeed the last step you should take. If you can't decide which cards to keep and which don't, here are some hints:

Low interest rate cards come to stay
Too high credit limit, you will ask to have it reduced
Too low credit limit, you will not use it (danger of overstepping the limit)
Many rewards cards only make you spend more in order to receive more points. So, think it over, and get rid of those which do so.

You need to slowly work your way out of the credit card debt, which is the most popular and dangerous type of debt: a sadly high percentage of the population struggles with credit card debt which is the debt which accumulates most quick of them all. Considering a solution which will let you make a repayment of your credit card debt in full, is perhaps the best measure you can undertake. This way you avoid accumulating interest on the principal loan amount, and stay away from creditors coming after you. If you still stick to holding a credit card, the secured credit card could be an option, as it comes with much lower interest rates and better terms than the unsecured credit card offers.