wich is worse, bad credit or bankruptcy??

Hi... I live in CA, Im married and have a credit score of 630. My husband has a 551. We pay all of our credit cards on time but they just never seem to get paid down at all. We have about $40,000 in credit card debt total, thats not counting our mortgage and two leased cars. Is it better to just file bankruptcy and start over? Seems we will never be able to pay it all off by making the minimum payment. Advice??

I would say that a bankruptcy "looks worse" than merely a high debt load.

You are correct that you will be paying for the rest of your natural-born days if you pay merely the minimum payments on the credit card debts.

Only you, however, can decide if a BK is the route you want to take.

True, it can give you a fresh start, but it stays on your credit reports for years to come, and it will make it difficult to get credit at a good interest rate in the next few years.

Something's wrong here. Your credit scores are way too low for it to be just a high debt load. There must be some late payments involved, or some other credit problem on your report. You might look into that.

Now, do you have any equity in your home? If so, can you sell it to pay off your debt, and then buy a more reasonable home? If not, I would definately consider bankruptcy. $40,000 in debt isn't going to go away unless you inherit a lot of money.

In any case, If you want to file bankruptcy, you'll want to "prepare" for it first. That means you want to have all your finances in order for the next several years, since credit will not be easily available to you after you file. Make sure you want to stay in your current house. If not, move before you file and be sure to get a place you're happy with and can afford after the bankruptcy. The same holds true for your cars. If your current cars' leases will expire within a few years, you may want to get different ones now, since you won't be able to get decent car loans for at least three years after bankruptcy.

Also, if bankruptcy is your eventual option, stop paying on your debts as soon as you have everything else in place (cars, house, etc) and you've made the decision to file. That way, you're not throwing any more money down the drain.