# 8 Options When You Can’t Pay Your Debts – Save Settlement and Bankruptcy for Last

- Source: Money Crashers
- Published: 2026-10-24T14:15:00+00:00
- Category: Markets
- Original: https://www.moneycrashers.com/cant-pay-debts/
- Canonical: https://groundlevelnews.com/story/8-options-when-you-can-t-pay-your-debts-save-settlement-and-bankruptcy-01ec97/

When you can’t keep up with your debts, work through the ways to repay them in full before you consider debt settlement or bankruptcy. Those two cut what you owe but can stay on your credit reports for seven years or longer, so use them only for debt you couldn’t repay within about five years. Source

_Ground Level News shows a short summary only; the full article and all rights belong to Money Crashers._