If you are a consumer who is facing significant financial hardship and you feel that you have little or no hope of continuing to meet your monthly payment obligations in the long term, it may be time to consider a number of grave solutions. If your situation seems hopeless and you see no viable way of keeping your head above water, bankruptcy may be your only way out. However, if you think there is a chance that your situation could improve if you were able to reduce your debt load, it may be preferable to devise a debt settlement strategy instead. Before you begin contacting your creditors, perform a thorough assessment of your current financial situation. Write up a brief summary of your situation and present it to your creditors in an honest and straightforward conversation. If you can offer a smaller, immediate lump-sum payment, some of your creditors may agree to write off the remaining account balance. However, it is important to note that debt settlement will likely adversely affect your credit, and that zero account balances settled in this manner will be footnoted with the phrase "paid by settlement."