Answer: The first thing you need to do is opt out of your bank’s bounced-check protection program. You may think you need to borrow money this way to make ends meet, but as you’ve discovered, it’s driving you further into the hole.

Next, rethink your participation in the debt management program. It was honorable of you to try to avoid bankruptcy, but it’s pretty clear you can’t afford to continue with this program if doing so leaves you in default on your student loan obligations. Credit card debts can be erased in Bankruptcy Court; student loan debt can almost never be wiped out that way.

If you have federal student loans, you may be able to qualify for the income-based repayment program, which caps your payment at a reasonable amount and erases any remaining balance after 10 years in a public service job (such as teaching in the public school system). Otherwise, the balance is erased after 25 years of payments. If you have private loans, you have far fewer options for repayment, but wiping out the credit card debt would free up more money to pay these loans back. Talk to your lenders to see what options you may have.

Another factor to consider is how much you’re spending on housing. If you own a home, the mortgage and related home-owning costs may simply be too much for you on your current income. Getting rid of the house in a short sale, or even letting it go into foreclosure, may be a far better option than continuing to cling to a home you can’t afford.

Bankruptcy, short sales and foreclosures are all drastic options. But some financial problems are so great that a drastic solution is the only reasonable choice if you ever want to get back on your financial feet.

Answer: You need to have the conversation you probably should have initiated a few years ago, before she started the college application process. She must understand that what she wants and what you can afford to provide for her may be two very different things.

Start by applying for financial aid at the colleges that have accepted her (let’s hope she applied to more than one). The “estimated family contribution” calculator at FinAid.org can give you a rough idea of what you’ll be expected to pay, but the actual package you’re offered can vary somewhat depending on how much the school wants your daughter to attend. You may want to invest in some books to help you understand the process, such as the Princeton Review’s “Paying for College Without Going Broke, 2012 Edition” and education expert Lynn O’Shaughnessy’s workbook, “Shrinking the Cost of College,” available at thecollegesolution.com.

Once you have the financial aid offers you can see which schools may be within your grasp and which are too expensive. Some schools encourage students and their parents to borrow heavily to attend, but that can lead to financial disaster — particularly since she has so many years of schooling ahead. Your daughter should try to limit her borrowing for her undergraduate education to what’s available through the federal student loan program (typically $33,000, total) and avoid private student loans, which have fewer consumer protections.

You as a parent can borrow through the federal PLUS program, but it’s easy to go overboard. The PLUS program will lend you up to the full cost of your daughter’s education, but the loan payments could be overwhelming and could prevent you from retiring. Student loan debt is almost impossible to discharge in bankruptcy, so you should be cautious about taking it on.

Your daughter should be able to cobble together an affordable education if she’s flexible about where she gets her undergraduate degree. Beyond that, she should know that the military and the National Health Service Corps pay for medical school in exchange for several years of service.

Answer: Your eagerness to pay off your student loan debt is admirable and is particularly appropriate when it comes to your private student loans. Unlike federal student loans, private loans have variable interest rates, limited repayment options, no forgiveness possibilities and fewer consumer protections. Using private student loans to pay for education is a lot like using credit cards, except that credit card debt can be erased in Bankruptcy Court. Private student loans typically can’t be discharged that way.

You needn’t be quite so anxious about paying back your federal student loans. The interest rates on these loans are relatively low and fixed, plus you have a number of repayment and forgiveness options. Often the best approach is to consolidate your federal loans into the longest payback period offered. That will reduce your required payments on the federal loans, freeing up more money to pay down your private loans. Once your private loans are paid off, you can apply the payments you were making on those toward your federal loans and speed your way out of debt.

There are a number of programs that offer stipends to help pay down student loans, and some that offer at least partial forgiveness of federal student loans. Serving in AmeriCorps or the Volunteers in Service to America can generate a $4,725 stipend to pay down your loans. Volunteers in the Peace Corps may apply for deferment of their federal loans and partial cancellation of Perkins Loans (15% for each year of service, up to 70% in total). Those who serve in the Army National Guard may be eligible for up to $10,000 to pay down their student loans. There are also debt forgiveness programs for those who teach or practice medicine in certain communities. You can find a more complete list, including links, at the FinAid website. People with jobs in public service fields (teaching, emergency services, the military and others) can qualify for forgiveness of their remaining federal student loan debt after 10 years of payments, while those in other jobs can erase their debt after 25 years (the time period will be cut to 20 years starting next year).

By the way, you shouldn’t stint your retirement in your enthusiasm to get out of debt. You really can’t make up for lost time when it comes to retirement savings, so try to contribute at least 10% of your income, and preferably 15%, to your workplace retirement program or to an IRA.

Answer: Mortgages are secured by a piece of property that can be sold if the borrower fails to pay. Student loans are essentially unsecured, although collectors can pursue borrowers until they die since there is no statute of limitations on this debt.

The 6.8% rate on federal Stafford loans may seem high in this low-rate environment, but historically it’s a pretty good rate for an unsecured student loan. What’s more, the rate is fixed — unlike rates on private student loans, which are variable and can rise to 18% or more.

Your son probably won’t be able to find a lower rate unless you become his banker. If you’re financially able, you could pay off the loans and then charge him 4% or so to repay you.

Otherwise, he should focus on paying off his private student loans as quickly as possible, because of the risk that the rates will climb higher. To free up more cash, he should consider consolidating his federal loans to get a longer payback period — 15 or 30 years instead of the standard 10 years — and thus a lower monthly payment. If his income is low and the amount he owes is substantial, he also should investigate the income-based repayment option on his federal loans, which could further lower his required monthly payment.

Answer: Don’t go back to school to “try” for a degree. Go to get one. A college education is economically useless if you don’t get that sheepskin.

The financial aid education site FinAid.org is a great resource. You’ll find an “estimated family contribution” calculator that will predict how much you’ll be expected to pay for your education and how much financial aid you can expect. You also can learn about federal student loans, which are available to just about everyone and which have reasonable, fixed rates and numerous consumer protections, including income-based repayment plans. Try to avoid private student loans, which have variable rates and few of those protections.

Answer: It’s never too late to go back to school — but it is possible to spend too much doing so.

The good news is that occupational therapy is a fast-growing field with many job opportunities. The bad news is that you typically need a master’s degree to be an occupational therapist, and master’s programs (as you know) aren’t cheap.

Plus, your age is a factor to consider. Getting hired after 50 is tough, regardless of your field.

So rather than invest a ton of money in a master’s program — or, worse yet, borrow to fund this education — consider becoming an occupational therapy assistant. This field is relatively high paying and usually requires an associate’s degree, which you can get at a low-cost community college.

Before you begin, though, you should research the job opportunities in your area to make sure demand is high enough that your age will be less of a factor.

Answer: Bankruptcy could wipe out your credit card debt but probably won’t erase your student loans. Student loan debt usually can’t be discharged in bankruptcy unless you’re totally and permanently disabled. Since you’ve been looking for work, that doesn’t seem to be your situation.

Besides, filing for bankruptcy costs money that you probably don’t have. A Chapter 7 filing can easily cost $1,500.

What you might want to do instead is discuss your situation with a bankruptcy attorney to find out if you might be “judgment proof.” If you are, your creditors can still sue you, but they’ll be unable to collect — at least until your circumstances improve.

Many bankruptcy attorneys offer free or discounted initial sessions. You can get a referral from the National Assn. of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys, or find an attorney through its website at http://www.nacba.org.

In the meantime, you can visit DebtCollectionAnswers.com for strategies on how to deal with collection agencies when you can’t pay.

Answer: Eliminating such a small loan is unlikely to have a big effect on the size of the mortgage you’ll get, so you’re probably better off boosting your savings for your down payment. Don’t forget to save a bit extra so you have enough cash to cover closing costs and the inevitable repairs and maintenance required with homeownership.

I’ll be talking about:

• Why college is a must
• Why so many students drop out and how to avoid it
• Higher costs, deeper debts: What you need to know about student loans
• Finding a career that pays
• Managing your money in college and afterward

Dinner and my talk will begin at 6 p.m. at the Wichita Marriott.  At 7:30, a Financial Planning Workshop will be hosted for students and parents.

You must register to attend by clicking HERE.

Questions? Contact Gretchen Holthaus at gretchen.holthaus@wichita.edu.

The program is hosted by the College Access Challenge Grant through Wichita State’s Office for Faculty Development and Student Success.

Please share this with anyone you know who might be able to attend. Today’s families need all the help they can get ensuring their kids get educated to survive in this new economy.

Answer: Income is not a factor in calculating your FICO credit scores, so your debt-to-income ratio wouldn’t affect your scores. What you may be referring to is your credit utilization — how much of your available credit you’re using. While high utilization of credit cards and other revolving accounts can hurt your scores, it’s unlikely that high balances on installment accounts would be enough of a negative to make your scores so low.

What you need to do is pull your credit reports and examine them closely to see what’s wrong. You may have late payments or collection accounts you don’t know about, or you could be the victim of identity theft.