Well, here we are, 4 months after our Chapter 7 closed and I am very happy to report that it appears that we really did learn our lesson.
We currently have ONE credit card, a capitol one card that we use for normal expenses, but pay off every month at the end of the month. Really we use this so that we have a more limited exposure to fraud. Debit cards scare me!
Since closing our BK we have moved to upstate NY, we're renting a house that, although much older than the last house we lived in, we like a TON better. It's in a beautiful neighborhood and has an above ground swiming pool that we are just about ready to open for the season.
We're still getting used to living on a cash basis. It's both easier and harder than we thought it would be. We remember how it used to be where when we wanted something... we went and bought it, using credit, of course. Now, when we want something, it goes on the list with everything else we want... in the proper order, by priority and once it reaches the top of the list, we get it when we have the cash to do so.
It's amazing. We have more "free" cash every month than at any time in our entire lives together... and yet we sometimes feel that things are "tighter" than they were when we had $100k+ in credit card debt. My wife was wondering about this the other day and I explained to her that it was because we had gotten so used to being in debt. After all, having $!000 a month that's not "claimed" by bills sounds like a lot of cash... but when you have 4 kids who need clothes, beds (we just had to buy all 3 boys new beds... $1400 for 3 twin sets with metal frames, sheets etc. OUCH!) homeschool supplies etc. etc. When you have so many places for the cash to go, it dissappears very quickly.
"But we had less free money every month when we were in debt, why does it feel that we're TIGHTER now?" she asks. I point out that while we had less money month to month... we were using it differently. if we had $500 a month available, we were using that $500 a month not to buy what we wanted... but to pay the payments on the $20,000 - $30,000 loan that our good credit was getting us... and then spending THAT cash! Thus we SEEMED to have more money... but didn't.
All in all, we are VERY happy to be living a "cash based" life. We're rebuilding our credit slowly. Here in 3-4 months we're going to buy another car as we really need/want 2 vehicles. We'll probably get another credit card or two somewhere along the way, but we're not in a hurry and would use them the same as we use our current card. We figure that when our 2 year bankruptcy "anniversery" arrives, we'll be ready to breeze through getting a mortgage and be homeowners once again.
Bottom line: Life is good. Bankruptcy is NOT the end of the world and, if used properly, can really and truly give you that "fresh start" to start over and avoid all the dumb things you did the first time around.
Sorry for posting so long, but I got a lot of help from this site and I wanted to let everyone know how we were doing post-bk and to let the "newbies" know that there really IS life after BK.
LostOne0069
We currently have ONE credit card, a capitol one card that we use for normal expenses, but pay off every month at the end of the month. Really we use this so that we have a more limited exposure to fraud. Debit cards scare me!
Since closing our BK we have moved to upstate NY, we're renting a house that, although much older than the last house we lived in, we like a TON better. It's in a beautiful neighborhood and has an above ground swiming pool that we are just about ready to open for the season.
We're still getting used to living on a cash basis. It's both easier and harder than we thought it would be. We remember how it used to be where when we wanted something... we went and bought it, using credit, of course. Now, when we want something, it goes on the list with everything else we want... in the proper order, by priority and once it reaches the top of the list, we get it when we have the cash to do so.
It's amazing. We have more "free" cash every month than at any time in our entire lives together... and yet we sometimes feel that things are "tighter" than they were when we had $100k+ in credit card debt. My wife was wondering about this the other day and I explained to her that it was because we had gotten so used to being in debt. After all, having $!000 a month that's not "claimed" by bills sounds like a lot of cash... but when you have 4 kids who need clothes, beds (we just had to buy all 3 boys new beds... $1400 for 3 twin sets with metal frames, sheets etc. OUCH!) homeschool supplies etc. etc. When you have so many places for the cash to go, it dissappears very quickly.
"But we had less free money every month when we were in debt, why does it feel that we're TIGHTER now?" she asks. I point out that while we had less money month to month... we were using it differently. if we had $500 a month available, we were using that $500 a month not to buy what we wanted... but to pay the payments on the $20,000 - $30,000 loan that our good credit was getting us... and then spending THAT cash! Thus we SEEMED to have more money... but didn't.
All in all, we are VERY happy to be living a "cash based" life. We're rebuilding our credit slowly. Here in 3-4 months we're going to buy another car as we really need/want 2 vehicles. We'll probably get another credit card or two somewhere along the way, but we're not in a hurry and would use them the same as we use our current card. We figure that when our 2 year bankruptcy "anniversery" arrives, we'll be ready to breeze through getting a mortgage and be homeowners once again.
Bottom line: Life is good. Bankruptcy is NOT the end of the world and, if used properly, can really and truly give you that "fresh start" to start over and avoid all the dumb things you did the first time around.
Sorry for posting so long, but I got a lot of help from this site and I wanted to let everyone know how we were doing post-bk and to let the "newbies" know that there really IS life after BK.
LostOne0069
AWWWWWWWW, I LOVE to hear "success" stories...............and what's happening later down the road, after BK.....
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