I'm new and scared. Have questions...

[rjg]

I'm new to this site as are many. My sitituation is this. I personally have about $70k in credit card debt with $47k just on 1 card ($14k in insterest alone!!). My husband & I both work. The house is current as are the 2 vehicles. I had my son 3 years ago and had made arrangements to continue working from home while on maternity leave which ended up falling through. I had been current on all my credit cards up until than but called everyone to make arrangements as I knew I'd be late. NO ONE would work with me but 2 companies. Fortuantley I was able to use our tax refund to catch up. That is until I lost my job & was out of work for almost 3 months. I found employment that was 1/2 my previous income and than found another job that paid a little more and have been there since. When I lost my job, I tried making arrangements again but again no one would work with me. That's put me in the situation we are in now 3 years later. When I started getting income again one company, alone, wanted over $5000 to put me back in good standing. Needless to say I didn't have that. I have since made arrangements with 2 cc companies and the balance is slowly going down but the others we just don't have the money. This past December our mortgage went up by $300 a month and the pay checks are dwindling faster. Some weeks I have $20 in my account. I have just recieved a summons on the card with $47k on it so I sought counsel. The lawyer thinks I'm a candidate for chap 7 but I'm so nervous and scared. I don't want to turn anything in. We need both cars as we work in different locations and don't have public transportation where we live. We have no family in the area. The cars will be paid off in 2013. She said we don't need to file joint & we don't have to include the cars & house. But it still so worriesome. I feel I'm at the point where we have no other option. One concern I have is we have preplanned family gatherings to attend & are supposed to be saving for them, like $25 a paycheck (which I'm finding rather difficult to do), a very small savings account for my son (very small) which I haven't put anything in there from us anyway in forever. I don't know what I'm asking but, is bk justisfied? Is it the right choice for us? There's so many variables, I just don't know if this is the right path for us. I don't think I have any other options since I owe so much but I just don't know if bk is the right decision. I know the debt just isn't going to go away, no matter how much I wish, but what are my options? I don't see us making enough to pay any of it off any time soon, well not soon enough for the banks anyway. Any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated, good or bad, please.

[AngelinaCat]

Hi rjg. Welcome to the forum. I moved your post into a thread of its own so that it won't get lost at the end of a long thread.

It sounds like you would be a good candidate for a Ch7. Read through the 'stickies' and start educating yourself about the process. Nolo Press has a very good guide for filing Ch7 that you can download as a PDF file. It sells for around $30.00 now. Even if you do use an attorney, it will become your reference manual as you go through the process.

Good luck to you.

[AngelinaCatHub]

I have to agree with you. I don't think you have much choice. You are prime for bk. It would be an easy one for you in a 7. What value are your cars by kbb and what is your house worth. You are fortunate as you live in FL and they cannot take your house. FL has terrible car exemptions though. 1K for one car only. Good used cars are becoming a dime a dozen though but since your cars are still mortgaged, they probably are pretty safe. Reaffirm NOTHING just "pay through". STOP paying all unsecured debt and debt that you would wish to give up in bk. Pay through your cars and house. Start a small savings for your lawyer, only purchase exempt stuff such as food, medical clothing and the like. Did I also say STOP USING credit cards as well as stop paying them?

If you have a bank account keep it low in balance. Forget family trips, that is not important now. You have an excuse not to go as you lost a job. They will understand. Accept NO loans from family and if you owe them anything, they too must be listed and do NOT pay them (preferential payments).

Your best friends (beside a good bk lawyer) is this forum and the Chapter 7 book, downloaded from Nolo Press for about 25 or so bucks. It is pdf format and gives you excellent advice. You can print the book out for a half ream of paper, as we did. The sample forms you will file are accurate, to practice with. Between the book and this Forum you will have excellent advice. 'Hub

P.S. expect this to be stressful, but it DOES get better. You have moral support here too.

[oregonpilot]

Welcome from oregon too!!!!
Sooo glad you found us. There is such great support here. great information.
Lots of "virtual" handholding and shoulder crying. AND congrats.
I would have never made it without all the friends on here.
Good luck to you and WE are all here for you.

[keepsmiling]

Hey rjg, welcome and wishing you luck and comfort.
We haven't filed yet-still don't have enough to pay atty-- like everything else in NJ, it's pretty high here. We are in no hurry since no suits yet- they are coming eventually I am sure.... but we will be filing, sometime in the next few months. We were in such fear and denial that I was afraid to even read this forum! But it has been my life boat for many months now. You do have a few options, but almost surely a 7 is the BEST one. Keep reading and hang in there.

[daxtell]

my first thought when reading your post is that if they get a judgment your wages can be garnished. and in your precarious position right now, that would take more money away from your monthly budget. so you do need to make a decision before that happens. even if you wait til after it happens and they proceed with garnishment then a bankruptcy filing will stop that.

[disconapper]

Welcome rjg. Your situation sounds similar to mine and so many others on this forum. I finally decided to take the plunge towards filing Bankruptcy when i was served a summons a couple of Saturdays ago. That following Monday I put the attorney that I had met with a couple of months back on retainer. I have been paying in weekly and should have him paid off this week; I have an appointment to sign my bk paperwork this Thursday. It is tough, it's tough to pay the attorney, other bills have certainly been sacrificed (like my car payment) but for me, it's a race against the clock at this point. I need a car as well but its tough to keep my current one with $20 in the bank.

This forum has been a place for invaluable information as well as support from others facing the similar situations. I hope everything works out for you, keep checking and posting.

[discombob1]

Welcome to the forum! I understand your fear and hesitation. I went through the same thing and waited far too long to file. Once I did file it was the best decision I ever made. You will get through it, and it does sound like Ch 7 is a good option for you. Make sure you have a good attorney and take it one step at a time. It does get better, I promise!

[jwmc1]

Sounds like you need to just start the process and get the ch 7 underway. One thing that has been mentioned it to learn about the process. By the time I had met with an attorney I had learned enough that I could have filed on my own. I bought every form and every piece of information needed.

This is a very important decision you are making, and learning how the system works will keep you from making the same mistakes again. After going through everything I did, I ended up not filing the ch 13 I worked on for three months.

Best of luck to you.