The 2005 bankruptcy law requires that debtors filing for bankruptcy take two mandatory classes designed to educate them about personal finance. The first class is a credit counseling course which must be completed before filing for either Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy and the second class is the Personal Financial Management course which must be completed within 45 days after filing bankruptcy; but before receiving a discharge through bankruptcy. This is important because if the debtor does not complete this second course after filing for bankruptcy, the Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy may be closed without a discharge.

There are three main objectives of the Personal Financial Management course:

1. The help the debtor understand the benefits of creating short-term and long-term financial goals.
2. To teach the debtor how to create a budget.
3. To teach the debtor how to balance a checkbook and reconcile bank statements.

The purpose of these courses is to help the debtor become financially literate and avoid another bankruptcy.

Take the Personal Financial Management course with a company approved by the US government. See the approved list for Texas here http://www.usdoj.gov/ust/eo/bapcpa/ccde/DE_Files/DE_Approved_Agencies_HTML/de_texas/de_texas.htm

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