Should I file for bankruptcy?

[Account Closed]

A couple disclaimers before I start:

• If you look through my profile and previous posts, you'll see that I am young (just turned 22), and also may believe I don't have the right mindset or maturity yet to start REI. This is understandable, but also note that this isn't really a REI question, but more of a financial strategy question from those more experienced than me.
• I know that all this should be taken as simply advice and I can't base this decision solely on the opinions/guidance of people from the internet. Trust me, regardless of the responses, I will still make the best decision I believe for myself. I'm just trying to get some light in my relatively dark tunnel, for lack of a better expression. I know plenty of people have experience in this subject or at least enough to offer some words of advice to a young entrepreneur.

Now, like I said, I'm only 22. I have NO student loan debt. I had a good job for about a year. In this time, I went and financed things like crazy. Long story short, I was laid off. I'm currently over $20k in debt. All my debts are unsecured. I have loans and credit cards, that is all. I moved back in with my parents and my next focus is going back to college. I plan to get a degree in Construction Management. I feel like this would be very beneficial being that I eventually want to buy homes to fix and also possibly spec build homes at some point.

With that being said, I've read a lot into filing. My parent's have had a few friends file. One filed and 3 years later, bought a new home and a new truck. One has amazing credit and he filed 5 years ago. I've also heard it's not as bad as most people think. A bunch of people believe if you file, you just can't do anything for 10 years, but that isn't the case. I've read a bunch of positives as well as negatives. Obviously every situation is different. But given what you know with my situation, what do you believe is best? If it were up to me right now, with no guidance... I would say to file and take it as a lesson learned. I think dealing with the consequences of having no credit or access to any for a few years while I go back to school and focus on my education would mature me. But I'd like to hear your advice!

[Jim Shepard]

I think everyone has given a lot of good, solid advice. I will throw one more angle at you. Even after 7 years when the bankruptcy has disappeared off of your credit report, you will be asked on every application that you fill out, "have you ever filed bankruptcy"? It will follow you the rest of your life.
At 22 years old you can work a 40 hour job and go to school at the same time. You can pay that 20k off a lot faster than you think while living with your parents. Here's two scenarios while you are in front of a banker asking for a loan a few years from now:
1. Yes, I filed bankruptcy when I was 22. I bought a lot of stuff I didn't need.
2. Yes, my credit was terrible when I was younger. I bought a lot of useless stuff and financed it. I didn't file bankruptcy because I knew I owed the money and pay all of my debts. I have learned by my mistake and won't repeat it.
Who do you think will get the loan?