Our lawyer told us to stop paying credit cards now if we know we are going to go Chapter 7.

Yesterday, March 17 was the first time I have defaulted. I was a little uneasy about it, as I have never missed a payment. Although we've only been paying minimums, we've done well keeping up the minimums! It was weird just not paying. But, I agree that it is senseless to pay knowing that we're going to go bankrupt. We have a total of 4 credit card accounts and I get excited thinking of the money we'll save by not paying those minimums.

We plan to file next week. We have to wait until our home refinance closes. The bank has been SOOOO picky about this refinance. Last time we refinanced, it was a piece of cake. That was in 2006. This time, we've had to submit so much extra documentation and it is taking longer. Plus we had to wait on our newborn daughter's SS# to get our tax money to help pay for the refinance (we had to pay off a line of credit first). So, we don't want to risk losing the refinance by going bankrupt first. The bank likely would not want to lend to us if I were to go bankrupt first.

So, hopefully the refinance will close next week on Wednesday and then on Friday we can file. That will give me time to finish getting the paperwork together. Discovercard was due yesterday and Citicard and Bank of America aren't due until the end of the month, so I hope we can file before I even miss a payment on Citicard and Bank of America. I just would enjoy not having to deal with those collection calls. If we file first, we'll be able to just tell them "Sorry- contact our lawyers."

I know the Chapter 7 is the best thing for us, but I still have a little guilt over it. I've always paid my bills and feel a little sketchy not doing so. Especially since we will likely not pay our hospital bill from my labor and delivery. I feel kind of bad about that. We are debating paying our kid's pediatrician. The lawyer says we should go ahead and bankrupt on all parties but I feel bad about not paying for local services. I guess we'll have to see what happens.....