After experiencing two layoffs in the last 5 years and having our income drop over $30K/year in that time, my husband and I have come to the point where it is necessary for us to file bankruptcy. We staved it off for as long as we could and as of right now are not behind on anything, but that will change as we've depleted our savings. We have enough left to pay our chosen attorney's retainer and then will have to stop paying on our credit cards because there simply won't be enough money.
We are going to file Chapter 7 but must wait until November due to the 6 month salary issue on the means test (dh's last paycheck from the part-time job he most recently lost puts us over the median; by November, it will have dropped off from the computation and we'll be about $1K under the median), plus we have a huge family trip at the end of October that involves airline tickets that we bought 7 months ago and the fact that we and our extended family are using 3 years' worth of our timeshare allocation for it. This was all planned and booked a year ago before our finances exploded and is non-refundable, plus we'd have to count the tickets as assets, etc.
Waiting 'til November makes me nervous because our attorney has advised us to stop paying our credit cards and one personal loan (we have two car loans and an additional loan through our credit union that we intend to keep paying -- we want to keep our cars). He also told us that between now and then, we could be sued and my husband's wages garnished for non-payment on our debts. I can deal with the bill collectors calling, but if we end up getting sued in the next 4 months and we lose a huge portion of my dh's pay, I don't know what we'd do. And the uncertainty of it is killing me.
There's also the uncertainty of being really upside-down in our house (it's worth about $52K and we owe $94K on the first and $14K on a second) and the attorney advising us to stop paying on the 2nd and try to negotiate a payoff with them. We're too scared to do that at this point; plus, we don't have any money that we could offer as a payoff! And a Ch. 13 is out of the question because we wouldn't have enough left over each month to make that payment.
So when we get done with the BK, we'll still have 2 mortgages, 2 car payments, a personal loan AND my dh's $27K in student loans (he had to go back and finish his degree in order to get the job he currently has, even though it pays a LOT less than his previous one). And an 18yo who wants to start college in the fall.
If you've made it this far, I thank you, and would welcome any advice/words of wisdom you might feel like sharing!
We are going to file Chapter 7 but must wait until November due to the 6 month salary issue on the means test (dh's last paycheck from the part-time job he most recently lost puts us over the median; by November, it will have dropped off from the computation and we'll be about $1K under the median), plus we have a huge family trip at the end of October that involves airline tickets that we bought 7 months ago and the fact that we and our extended family are using 3 years' worth of our timeshare allocation for it. This was all planned and booked a year ago before our finances exploded and is non-refundable, plus we'd have to count the tickets as assets, etc.
Waiting 'til November makes me nervous because our attorney has advised us to stop paying our credit cards and one personal loan (we have two car loans and an additional loan through our credit union that we intend to keep paying -- we want to keep our cars). He also told us that between now and then, we could be sued and my husband's wages garnished for non-payment on our debts. I can deal with the bill collectors calling, but if we end up getting sued in the next 4 months and we lose a huge portion of my dh's pay, I don't know what we'd do. And the uncertainty of it is killing me.
There's also the uncertainty of being really upside-down in our house (it's worth about $52K and we owe $94K on the first and $14K on a second) and the attorney advising us to stop paying on the 2nd and try to negotiate a payoff with them. We're too scared to do that at this point; plus, we don't have any money that we could offer as a payoff! And a Ch. 13 is out of the question because we wouldn't have enough left over each month to make that payment.
So when we get done with the BK, we'll still have 2 mortgages, 2 car payments, a personal loan AND my dh's $27K in student loans (he had to go back and finish his degree in order to get the job he currently has, even though it pays a LOT less than his previous one). And an 18yo who wants to start college in the fall.
If you've made it this far, I thank you, and would welcome any advice/words of wisdom you might feel like sharing!
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