No, don’t waste your limited money paying off debt. You are an honorable person, and you want to do what’s right. Paying off as much debt as possible before filing for bankruptcy seems like the right thing. But the reality is that you might deplete all your resources and still not be able to get ahead of your debt. Bankruptcy exists to allow you to shed debt now so that you won’t be dependent on government support later. Paying off as much debt as you can now only to need to file for bankruptcy later defeats that purpose.