Discharged! The relief is almost overwhelming

[onwards]

Congratulations!

I remember when I got the phone call from my lawyer letting me know... even though I thought I had it all under control, and was cool and all, I found myself shaking all over for several minutes, and getting chills for hours after. I simply had no idea just how pent up I had been through the entire process. In retrospect, no matter how much we can look at this logically and say "it's just a business decision", there are powerful emotional forces that are the result of deep convictions we have placed upon us societally from a very young age with regards to this.

And I completely understand now why there is a much better chance that someone will do it again if they had done it once; it's one of those taboos that, once broken, is never going to have a hold on you again.

[deepend]

You nailed it right on the head Onwards, no matter how calm cool & collected I tried to be, I was shaking on the inside and to a lesser extent still am. This is a very long process. The discharge was a very welcome end to the first part, but there's a long way to go re-establishing credit so I can travel for business without worrying everytime I use my corp Amex that maybe it got cancelled and I didn't receive the notice, and to one day own my home again, and oh yeah re-establishing some self esteem.

Even though I agree it's a taboo that would easier to break the second time, for me the process has been so emotional and difficult having to notify work, getting ready to pack up leave my home and rent for the first time in over 20 years, and feeling horrified to see my name on court documents, that I would go a very, very long way to avoid doing this again.

[onwards]

You nailed it right on the head Onwards, no matter how calm cool & collected I tried to be, I was shaking on the inside and to a lesser extent still am. This is a very long process. The discharge was a very welcome end to the first part, but there's a long way to go re-establishing credit so I can travel for business without worrying everytime I use my corp Amex that maybe it got cancelled and I didn't receive the notice, and to one day own my home again, and oh yeah re-establishing some self esteem.

I have one word for you... HSBC.

Go to the pre-selector site (http://www.hsbccreditcard.com/ecare/.../ourappprocess) and go through the pre-selection process. I got a new card approved two days after discharge.

Note: in my experience, the way the preselector works is in a sort of "reverse dutch auction" manner. That is, if you go through it and all you get the first time is the secured card, just close the browser (or just the tab) and do it again. Next time you should get the basic unsecured card. Then do it again. You should now get the Gold unsecured. Do it one last time. Now you should get the Platinum 2% cashback one, which is their best card for rebuilding credit (and a decent one at that, $59 annual fee, 17% interest rate, and 2% cashback; I got a $500 line).

Even though I agree it's a taboo that would easier to break the second time, for me the process has been so emotional and difficult having to notify work, getting ready to pack up leave my home and rent for the first time in over 20 years, and feeling horrified to see my name on court documents, that I would go a very, very long way to avoid doing this again.

Oh, don't get me wrong, I fully agree with you there... however, now that I HAVE gone through it, it will certainly be an option in the back of my mind should I ever run into serious trouble again. Before I went through it, I could never have imagined myself doing it. Maybe it's because I ran into trouble not because of excessive consumer spending, but I just think that there is a difference there.

[deepend]

Thanks! I will absolutely try that with HSBC