Credit Card Debt, insurance, etc.

[momisery]

The consultation was horrible, I felt like crap. But I am so confused still. We were told to not pay our credit card debt. And I have heard so many people say they had stupid debt. Part of ours is of course stupid debt too. We thought hubby would get a job, so we lived on the cards and we bought things too. Do they open all your files up and look at what you bought on the cards? We were told to stop paying them because we could not make a payment for 90 days before you can file? The stupid debt is mostly small items, but it has me worrried. We really thought we would be okay, so we bought stuff we wanted sometimes just so we could feel good while feeling helpless? Tonight I was looking at the bills and wondering how I would pay them ... and how I would pay for a roof over my head on so little money. Missouri has a low income allowance which I find interesting. We had to drive out to my Dad's in CA he is older and was having serious surgery, so we drove out and put that on the card. I was afraid I would never see him again. Anyhow radish out there were 39 cents, here they are 1.40, medical is HMO's out there and more affordable, here I am paying a huge amount for us everymonth and our deductable is horrible. Everything here but housing cost more. Attorneys, medical care, all of it is so high. Anyhow... can some one tell us how this whole thing will happen now? Will they review our Credit card debt, will they take our cars in a 13 or can we offer them as agaisnt the lein and still keep them. IF not how can we get to work without cars, I drive 24 miles to a job, and I am 9 miles out in the country. And hubby does sales and has to have a car. Hubby needs a dr visit, his knee is hurting really bad, should he go have that done now or wait? We have done nothing yet except talk to a paralegal in an attorneys office. What are the ins and outs?

[rrockinggramma]

First, you might want to free consult with another attorney but if you are SURE you are going to file, then follow the advice and stop paying the cc debt and start living on what cash you have coming in. COncentrate on the important stuff, like housing and insurances and food. As to the vehicles, yes they can be included in your plan and NO trustees do NOT look at every charge slip. However creditors can object if they feel you ran up your bill knowing you were not going to pay it off. However in Chapter 13's it is all about compromise. Creditors and trustees can object but it ususally can be worked out in a compromise.

You will be living on cash for the next several years so better to start now than wait. And no more charging anything for 90 days prior to filing.

Once you get past this initial phase, you will feel better. The hardest part is the realization that it has all come to this. But it is a business decision and you are doing what you need to do to move forward.

Make sure your vehicles can make it through the next few years. If they are prone to breakdowns, then better upgrade prior to filing than waiting.

[momisery]

My car is an 2005 with few miles on it, but it is a korean cheap car with a manual transmission. The other car is a 2006.5 with 60,000.00 miles on it and hubby drives it a lot for sales. The credit card debt is not something that we have "always" had. Hubby has had horrible times with a job, I think a lot of it is his age. The age factor makes him slower on the car sales floor, and they just don't seem to hire into management here unless your from here even though he has the experience. At almost 60 and with a few health problems he can not go out and shovel dirt. Finding a job against a younger person is about impossible. The credit card debt is only 12,000.00 which seems small to a lot of you I am sure. But the cars are 30,000.00 only because we had trouble with two cars, a PT and a mustang and ended up having to trade them in and that pushed us into being upside down in them. So, the 30,000.00 unsecured loan was a bail us out. We decided he would not be in mgmt, so we lowered our car payments by about 200.00 per month that way. We never expected him to simply not have a job that paid even min. wage. When that happened we bought dental work on one of the cards, and of course we wasted some for your birthdays things like that. And when Dad got sick I had to see him so we took a week whirlwind trip and stayed with him for colon surgery at his age, 90 who knows if he would make it though? I will take your advice and try another lawyer. Missouri certainly is expensive to live in, and the services are costly and inferior to many other states. We have not talked to an actual attorney yet, just a free consult, and found out about the 90 days. I don't know what to do about his medical issues. I have high blood pressure and I take nothing for it because here in Missouri they want you to pay for the tests, which I did, then they give you 90 days and make you visit back for refills every 90 days. I can not afford to pay for a doctor every 90 days. Most of my siblings have high blood pressure and they do not do that in AZ, CA, or TX??? It seems here they really over charge. But that is another story. We had thought about going to live with him Mom in CA and paying her lot rent she is older too and we could be useful to her. I would need to find a job before we could move, maybe a company transfer. That means we could dump the house in MO too. I am worried that they will try to get us to pay for so much stuff that at age 60 we will never see the light at the end of the tunnel again. Depressed? You bet I am, I have never ever been in this position before... I am so angry at the government, big business, big healthcare, big pharmee, all the rip off rich people who are worried about hiding their money while so many are worried about eating, and I am angry at my husband. I feel like he keeps trying to sell stuff, now insurance instead of getting an hourly job. He tells me all he has ever done is sales, that is all he knows. But I can not pay for his gas and the cell phone and internet service that the company demands from his if all he can make is 400-1000 per month. Geesh... Maybe I need anger mgmt classes.. ha ha.. I would never hurt anyone, but it does eat me up.

[AngelinaCatHub]

Momisery: I would suggest you are a prime candidate for a Chapter 7. It is easier, and a new start. Let the cars go back and purchase a private sales car. You can get a good one for a couple grand. We have a 93 Pontiac we purchased four years ago, an old police car. We put 300 bucks into tires a battery a good tune up and we are happily driving a reliable car that if it blew up, we could afford to leave it by the side of the road. Now that is freedom.

Stop using the cards right away, and see what you can do about using the car payment money towards a used car (Craigs list is good to shop). Let the cars go and use them until they repo them. Either way, C13 or C7, your credit will be scrapped. Go 7 if my vote. 'Hub