Should I file now or wait until I get sued?

[awafan]

I am in Minnesota and will be filing in the near future. It will most likely be a chapter 7, but there is a chance it could end up a chapter 13. I have stayed current on my mortgage, car payment and student loan. I stopped paying my credit cards in early March. So far there hasn't been any adverse reaction from the credit card companies. I get letters and phone calls, but nothing from debt collectors and no lawsuits, yet. I was going to wait until the credit cards were 6 months behind to file just to make sure the charges were all at least six months old. Since I am not getting any pressure, yet, would it be best to wait to file or best to just go ahead and do it? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each option?

[Carmella]

I would just file unless you have a good reason to wait. We procrastinated and had no adverse effects, even were sued and went to a few pretrials...But I would go ahead and file to get it started and get it done. You could wait to stash some cash aside for emergencies especially if you end up in Chapter 13. I don't know what the limit to save on hand would be allowed legally and don't want to suggest something that isn't allowed. I guess asking the attorney would be a good idea. But personally, I would have felt a lot better if we had a little savings that we could use when it was needed for "emergencies" not just to use for a good time.