5 Ways to Step Back From Bankruptcy

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- There is good news for consumers and the economy on the personal bankruptcy front.

According to the American Bankruptcy Institute, bankruptcies were down 14% last year, to 1.185 million from 1.379 million in 2011.

That's the lowest in five years, the ABI reports. It's also a trend that should continue.

"The 2012 filings represent the lowest total since the financial crisis in 2008," ABI Executive Director Samuel J. Gerdano says. "With low interest rates, reduced consumer spending and continued deleveraging by households, bankruptcy filings will likely continue their decline in 2013."

Even so, there are still well over 1 million bankruptcies expected this year, so the bottom line for debt-rattled consumers is to avoid joining that group any way they can.

That's where Todd Hills, chief executive of Pawngo.com, an online pawnbroker, can help. Hills pawned his own horse saddle in the late 1980s and wound up working for the pawnbroker, ultimately making a career out of the business. He says there are valid ways to "keep the reality of bankruptcy at bay."