It would be nice to see your personal list of creditors and amounts for everyone

[landofpoor]

Sorry, as I was typing my last post, I thought to myself "Gosh, I've gotten off track".

This is my last post on this thread. My apologies!

your fine stilltheone wasnt meant at all towards you

[Stilltheone]

If I am paying for something, there is no way I am going to be pressured into getting anything I don't want.

Here-in lies the problem...LOL

I did want the Escalade, but going through bankruptcy has really opened my eyes to what's really important. I always thought it was to have an Escalade, see the envy of our neighbors, friends, strangers. Now, not so much.

Now, I feel like I'm living a lie and being isn't so important to me anymore. What's important is being able to afford it and right now isn't affordable.

Again, sorry for getting so off track.

[debtmonster]

Don't take this the wrong way, but you had no business buying a $200k home with a $40k income. Your house should cost no more than 3x your annual salary. 3 x $40k = $120k. There lies your problem. You should have not even been approved for that loan. That's a perfect example of buying beyond your means and knowing it right from the get-go. When I bought all of the things I had, I had the income and qualified for it. Now I see why you were upset about a $400+ payment on an Escalade. I thought you were making a ton of money at the time and then lost it all like I did. I see the banks as being the cause of a lot of this.

At the time I bought my house, I was making $40k and our house was $120k. At the time we bought the BMW, we were making almost $106k household income. I had to get pre-approved for a home. They maxed me out at $130k based on my $40k/yr. household income.

I remember back when I had a $42000/yr. day job. My after tax paychecks were only $600/wk. So $2400/mo. isn't anything to live on in today's world of high inflation.

As of right now our average income is dropping to $3200-4200/mo. I got paid this month and it was $4200 gross. $2000 of that $4200 is spent already. $1000 for the cars and $1000 for the BK retainer fee. A friend of mine said I'm supposed to put away 20% of that $4200 for self-employment taxes, so that's $840.

$4200
-$2000
-$840
------
Leaves us just over $800 to last until next month. $800 to buy groceries, pay the utilities, Internet, etc. Then I have $400-500/mo. in business expenses to keep my home business running. So that leaves us virtually nothing.

The reason we're still paying for the cars is to meet the means test. They have to be in our possession to qualify for the means test. If I lose the cars now, then we can't include them. I will probably be filing BK in April or May. I have to wait until my income throttles down some more so I can be under the radar.

I think even after the BK is done, we will still be in the poor house. We can't live on $50k. We need go to back up to the $100k mark again. Companies need to stop this not hiring crap and better start paying better wages. I am tired of seeing everyone so damned broke. This crap has to end and it has to end NOW!

[Stilltheone]

Don't take this the wrong way, but you had no business buying a $200k home with a $40k income. Your house should cost no more than 3x your annual salary. 3 x $40k = $120k. There lies your problem. You should have not even been approved for that loan. That's a perfect example of buying beyond your means and knowing it right from the get-go. When I bought all of the things I had, I had the income and qualified for it. Now I see why you were upset about a $400+ payment on an Escalade. I thought you were making a ton of money at the time and then lost it all like I did. I see the banks as being the cause of a lot of this.

We absolutely know we had no business buying the house we did. At the time we bought it, we lived in my parents' living room/dining room. We were desperate. Of course, the bank (Countrywide) said we could "afford" it...and we could.

Until our Arm adjusted, until we rolled in $60K of cc debt..

And now we live in a home, where we owe more than what it's worth.

[landofpoor]

qoute
Don't take this the wrong way, but you had no business buying a $200k home with a $40k income. Your house should cost no more than 3x your annual salary. 3 x $40k = $120k. There lies your problem. You should have not even been approved for that loan. That's a perfect example of buying beyond your means and knowing it right from the get-go. When I bought all of the things I had, I had the income and qualified for it. Now I see why you were upset about a $400+ payment on an Escalade. I thought you were making a ton of money at the time and then lost it all like I did. I see the banks as being the cause of a lot of this.


What a fine example you are dm lol. you should take some of your own advice.just because you get approved for the crap dont mean you could afford it

[Flamingo]

At the time we bought the Escalade, my husband was making $60K/year. Of course, we had $60K in credit card debt, plus our $260K mortgage and then took on the extra payment. But, according to the sales guy "We could afford it".

It's funny because we went back to the original dealership we bought the Escalade from about a month ago and they offered us $8500 to trade it in. I flipped out---"Are you serious?!?! We just bought it, LESS THAN A YEAR AGO FROM YOU FOR ALMOST $22K AND YOU'RE OFFEREING ME $8500?!?!?"

The same sales guy that said we could afford the Escalade pulled our credit and saw our bankruptcy. I said "Do you still think we can afford the Escalade now?"

I love your posting because it is a great teaching tool all around. How many people actually look up car prices online and do their homework before they go to buy any car? How many salesman have told us, "Geez, wouldn't this hot new car look great in the driveway of your new house? You'll be the envy of all your neighbors!" Car salesman are trained to to make you feel you can afford it and look good in it and make you feel important. We want to look like we can afford it to the salesman and the staff so we go ahead and purchase it and later realize what a mistake it was. And of course the salesman won't get any commission if you don't purchase the car so if you show interest in a vehicle, you will probably end up driving out of there with it. Hopefully your post will teach anyone reading it to do car homework online before they purchase anything and go in armed with information as to pricing and learn not to be intimidated by sales people. It's a business out to make money and you are the person coming in with the money. Simple as that. Going through BK teaches one a lot about money and control and that material items are just that - material. Vehicles are overpriced for a reason - so the business and salespeople can make money. Remember that when you walk into buy one. Any car depreciates once you drive it off the lot. Just think of what the salesperson and the dealership made on your used Escalade.

[debtmonster]

qoute
What a fine example you are dm lol. you should take some of your own advice.just because you get approved for the crap dont mean you could afford it

I am really getting fed up with your comments. I wish to God that you lived close by so I could visit you in person.

You have the worst grammar and punctuation I have ever seen. You have no business even posting on here at all. You post like some 13 year old kid.

[caitybird]

Here's our list of stuff - not much at all compared to many. We don't have a house (and may never get one with a bk and this economy! ). I didn't include 7300 on our car because we plan to keep it. The biggest thing is the surrender of our mobile home because sooner or later they would come after us for the deficiency. I also didn't include student loans since those aren't dischargeable (109K).

Green Tree 23,386.81
Target National Bank 190.39
Target National Bank 194.78
GE Money Bank 302.86
GE Money Bank 299.74
Citibank (SD) 267.74
Citibank (SD) 2,094.43
Citicorp Trust Bank 1,918.39
HSBC 1,064.05
HSBC 623.52
HSBC 454.96
First Premier Bank 395.55
First Premier Bank 297.38
Capital One Bank 534.93
Medical 265.97
Medical 242.00
Medical 144.04
Medical 74.00
First National Bank 3,038.31
Checking Account* 981.00
Misc 38.87
Misc 15.72
Misc 15.71
Misc 26.95
Payday Loan 995.00
Payday Loan 492.50
Payday Loan 390.00
Payday Loan 260.00
Payday Loan 379.50
Payday Loan 390.00

Total: 39,775.10

*Former checking account by the time we went to 341 since some creditors kept hitting the account and the bank kept charging fees.

[debtmonster]

We absolutely know we had no business buying the house we did. At the time we bought it, we lived in my parents' living room/dining room. We were desperate. Of course, the bank (Countrywide) said we could "afford" it...and we could.

Until our Arm adjusted, until we rolled in $60K of cc debt..

And now we live in a home, where we owe more than what it's worth.

We did the same thing. We were living in a spare bedroom of my wife's parents house and were desperate. Houses were going to the moon and if we didn't buy something quick, we thought every house would be $500,000 to $700,000 by the time we decided to jump in. At the place we lived, the median cost of a home was $400,000. So the house we bought for $120,000 was an absolute BARGAIN!! Brand spanking new, 1500 sq. under air, all new appliances. Just over $800/mo. We had to re-fi because of the A.R.M. Our P.I.T.I. is now $1100/mo. You can barely rent a decent 2 bedroom apt for that.

We can afford the house, it's just that there's no jobs and we'd never be able to sell it. I've put $40,000 of my own cash into this house and even if we sold the house, we'd be lucky to walk away with $1,000 at the closing, if I wasn't upside down. But I am upside down. My home business didn't sustain the projections. I thought I'd be able to get a $40-60k job nearby and it didn't happen. We live so far in the boonies, it's not even funny. I can't think of a single friend or relative who is in the same situation as us. They all bought their homes years ago before they all shot up in price. Even with the prices of homes coming down, there are all still more than we could ever afford. You still can't buy a house much less than $300,000 where we lived in Miami. That's 3x what we could qualify for. We'd have to rent an apartment forever to live there. We have 2 dogs and need a yard. You'd have to rent an expensive house to get that down there. Renting = paying somebody else's mortgage. It sucks. You get no tax write-offs or anything. That was the only good thing about us having this house was the write-offs. Once we move, we won't get that.

[Stilltheone]

I love your posting because it is a great teaching tool all around. How many people actually look up car prices online and do their homework before they go to buy any car? How many salesman have told us, "Geez, wouldn't this hot new car look great in the driveway of your new house? You'll be the envy of all your neighbors!" Car salesman are trained to to make you feel you can afford it and look good in it and make you feel important. We want to look like we can afford it to the salesman and the staff so we go ahead and purchase it and later realize what a mistake it was. And of course the salesman won't get any commission if you don't purchase the car so if you show interest in a vehicle, you will probably end up driving out of there with it. Hopefully your post will teach anyone reading it to do car homework online before they purchase anything and go in armed with information as to pricing and learn not to be intimidated by sales people. It's a business out to make money and you are the person coming in with the money. Simple as that. Going through BK teaches one a lot about money and control and that material items are just that - material. Vehicles are overpriced for a reason - so the business and salespeople can make money. Remember that when you walk into buy one. Any car depreciates once you drive it off the lot. Just think of what the salesperson and the dealership made on your used Escalade.

Exactly! Going through this bankruptcy has taught me that life isn't always necessarily about being "so cool", but about having things that are affordable. I think that's why I'm so adamant about getting rid of the Escalade.

I feel bad for my husband, a little, because he keeps going "I thought you loved it".....I did, but I have realized what's more important in life. Of course, had my husband not pressured me into buying it in the first place, I wouldn't be sitting where I am.

I hope my posts do teach someone out there NOT to be pressured into getting a vehicle, even if you think you can "afford it". If you have ANY reservations at all about buying a car, DON'T DO IT. PERIOD.

As for what they made on selling us the Escalade, I don't even wanna think about it. I'd be sick.

[debtmonster]

My wife works in retail. She's been #1 for the past 2 years in getting people to sign up store credit card accounts. She said that there's been a sharp decline in the number of people accepting the offers. People are wising up. We're reverting back to the way it was in the 1980's. Soon everything will be cash or layaway. I just wish the houses that were $80,000 new that shot up to $400,000 would also return back to $80,000. Then I could live within my means as a home owner. Other people had the opportunity to buy the house for $80,000 when it was new. I want that same opportunity that they had way back when.

[GreenInkOnPaper]

I am really getting fed up with your comments. I wish to God that you lived close by so I could visit you in person.
You have the worst grammar and punctuation I have ever seen. You have no business even posting on here at all. You post like some 13 year old kid.

That sounds like a threat.

[debtmonster]

That sounds like a threat.

It is what it is. So what of it?

[Overmylimit]

WOW!! What happened to this thread....I thought at one point they were going to close it so it wouldn't get ugly.....oops too late! In the words of Rodney King.."Can't we all just get along?"

[relief13035]

1 Timothy 6:10
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

There is NO reason for anyone on this forum to threatened anyone. I believe we all found this site because we were searching for knowledge, support and advice from people going through the same thing. I don't care if you make 20k a year or 200k a year, we are all in the same boat - WE CAN'T AFFORD OUR DEBT AND NEED HELP. If your main intention in life is to chase making more money to be "wealthy", then you need to sit down and put your life in better prospective.

It doesn't matter if you live in California or Florida or anywhere inbetweeen, envy is a very ugly characteristic. Here in Southern California, I have been watching TV all morning long as our state is on fire. My heart is filled with compassion as house after house is going up in flames. Money doesn't seem so important right now.

I live in So. Cal, have a nice house and drive a Mercedes - BIG DEAL. On this forum, we are all in the BK process at obviously different levels of debt, BUT it's time to support each other. If the trustee takes my car - oh well. Life will go on.