Utah's booming economy is credited with a positive trend in the state's financial picture: a curb on the number of Utahns filing for personal bankruptcy.

In the not-so-distant past, Utah led the nation in its rate of personal bankruptcy filings. Then came legislative reforms and a red-hot economy. Utah's status has markedly improved but its bankruptcy rate still exceeds the national average. According to one expert interviewed by the Deseret Morning News, the state likely will always exceed the national average in filings because of its demographics: 50 percent more children per adult than the rest of the nation. That means incomes are stretched much further.

People who marry young and have children while newly married face steep financial pressures. While most manage to make ends meet, some are hobbled by unexpected expenses such as automobile repairs, medical expenses or the loss of a job. Others are mired in consumer debt, which is readily available but very challenging to eliminate. Saving money the old-fashioned way has nearly become passe, a phenomenon that places many people in financial peril in times of emergency.

Many of these pitfalls can be avoided with discipline and smart financial planning. Young couples need to get on the same page, financially speaking, before marriage. People starting out in their careers will have somewhat limited means. There may be college loans to retire. This is not the time to purchase sports cars or go on expensive vacations. This is a time in life to prove to creditors that one can handle financial responsibilities and start saving for a home.

Anyway, that's the ideal.

But many young people have been squeezed out of the single-family home market due to rising real estate prices. Others may not qualify for loans because they have such great consumer debt. The American dream doesn't look like it used to.

Fortunately, there are more housing options than ever, so one's "starter home" may be a condominium unit. When the time comes, the equity in that real estate can be applied to buying a house.

It's difficult for many young people, and for that matter older adults, to maintain their household budgets when credit is readily available and advertisers do such a great job of pitching the latest flat-screen televisions, automobiles or gotta-have designer fashions.

If only our culture held up thrift with similar enthusiasm. Perhaps then, fewer people would be making the trip to the federal courthouse to file for personal bankruptcy.