One day I'm ready to file yesterday, and the next day I feel like I should wait 6 months.
We relied heavily on credit cards for at least the last two years. When my husband lost his job in Nov 2010, we did a lot of cash advances to afford minimums and basic living. He got a new job, which lasted for about 6 months (lost it unexpectedly). That was June 2011. Right before losing the second job, we did a large balance transfer ($12K to one CC, $1K to two other CCs), which I posted about previously. We stopped using the cards about a week after he lost his job, when we finally came to terms with reality - that we were up the creek. But prior to that, we charged a lot. Nothing major, but groceries, odds and ends for the kids, gas, dinners... what's a $30 dinner when you have a $50K balance? (Tongue in cheek, of course.) All in all, it's about $75K in CCs and $6K on a personal loan. And the mortgage.
Our two cars are/were cross-collateralized with a CC and personal loan, so we traded in one of the cars and charged $3K, just so we have at least one car, assuming we'd lose both because of the cross-collateralization. I'd be willing/expect to reaffirm that debt if it came to it. It was a downgrade, btw.
So now we're on the cusp of Sept 2011. In about 2 more weeks, I'll be 90 days out from the balance transfers. In another month, I'd be 90 days out from last use of all cards, except the one that helped us downgrade our vehicle.
Am I rushing things if we file in a month? I just want to get the show on the road. But I don't want to be asking for AP trouble. Here I'm thinking this is our fresh start, but what if I get three APs? Some people say they wish they didn't wait, others say patience is the key. I don't know what to do! Can't I get a fortune cookie to answer it for me?
We relied heavily on credit cards for at least the last two years. When my husband lost his job in Nov 2010, we did a lot of cash advances to afford minimums and basic living. He got a new job, which lasted for about 6 months (lost it unexpectedly). That was June 2011. Right before losing the second job, we did a large balance transfer ($12K to one CC, $1K to two other CCs), which I posted about previously. We stopped using the cards about a week after he lost his job, when we finally came to terms with reality - that we were up the creek. But prior to that, we charged a lot. Nothing major, but groceries, odds and ends for the kids, gas, dinners... what's a $30 dinner when you have a $50K balance? (Tongue in cheek, of course.) All in all, it's about $75K in CCs and $6K on a personal loan. And the mortgage.
Our two cars are/were cross-collateralized with a CC and personal loan, so we traded in one of the cars and charged $3K, just so we have at least one car, assuming we'd lose both because of the cross-collateralization. I'd be willing/expect to reaffirm that debt if it came to it. It was a downgrade, btw.
So now we're on the cusp of Sept 2011. In about 2 more weeks, I'll be 90 days out from the balance transfers. In another month, I'd be 90 days out from last use of all cards, except the one that helped us downgrade our vehicle.
Am I rushing things if we file in a month? I just want to get the show on the road. But I don't want to be asking for AP trouble. Here I'm thinking this is our fresh start, but what if I get three APs? Some people say they wish they didn't wait, others say patience is the key. I don't know what to do! Can't I get a fortune cookie to answer it for me?
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