Hearing your advice to the caller about his son's debt problems, I felt I should share my experience having been in the son's position. I was at the point of investigating bankruptcy just over a year ago. I discovered that the procedures require an attempt at credit counseling, so I decided to go with that first, possibly avoiding bankruptcy completely.

When I was debating whether to go ahead with a debt management plan, my parents offered to pay off all of my debt as a long-term loan for me. While I appreciated the offer, I declined it for a good reason. If I had taken the offer, I would've had more income available to spend wherever, just continuing my habits and souring relations with my family. The past 15 months have been very tight with money and frustrating at times. But now that I'm a bit more stable, I have managed to keep many of the frugal habits that got me through. I also have a better understanding of my grandparents' experience in the Great Depression, along with a keener idea of how finances are supposed to work.

For anyone out there in a similar situation, or for parents facing this, I can't recommend enough how important it can be to suffer through and defeat debt (and bad spending habits) on your own. Of course, this has only been possible by knowing that my parents will be there in case of emergencies. It's also becoming a source of pride because I'm finally taking control.