Trepidation

[danaf]

I have never ever ever gone without paying my credit cards (at least min. payments) and so it is with much trepidation that I will not be able to going forward. I thought after all the studying and learning on here I would have no fear or I would feel some sense of freedom. But right now that's not the case. I have very mixed feelings.

I received a bill today telling me that I'm over my credit limit (due to interest and a late payment ect) and I felt a twinge of guilt knowing I won't be paying any of it ever. I know I'm ready but just feeling a little scared. In a few short months my credit will be ruined and my cc's will sky rocket compared to what I owe today.

And then I will file.

[pa308]

Man I know exactly what you mean. I get a fear of not paying these and filing in 6 months and trustee saying dismissed. I had always been up to date as well but struggling and charging daily stuff. I feel like i am making a good decision to go 7 but feel like i am losing the part of me that was always trying to do the right thing

[cj0203]

I know how you guys feel. We just yesterday discussed Ch 7 with a lawyer and are waiting at least 3m to file. She said to stop paying whatever we plan to discharge.

I have NEVER missed a debt payment in my life. I know I'll freak the first time I see a "late payment" notice from the CC companies.

But I know this is what's best for my family. We'll never get out of debt if we don't do this.

[erinmi]

I totally understand!

I felt very strange not paying any of our cc bills this past month. Up to now, we too had never missed a payment. And yes I have had a lot of trepidation and mixed feelings about going ahead with bankruptcy.

We filed today (well our attorney filed for us) and I have to admit I am having a combination of feelings. However, the closer we got to it, we both knew it was the best choice in these circumstances. I can now see an end in sight to the pit we tried desperately to work our way out of over the last few years.

[One Half Full]

I'm scared to death. My CC is owned by my bank-- the bank also has my auto loan. I now feel I should sneak in their tomorrow and close my account-- but I don't think I am allowed to close my account! I mean, I owe on the CC!!!

Anyway, I know how you feel. I am kind of stuck! WOW!

[yoyoma51]

It is OK to make your payments AND file.

Our attorney (who is also a trustee) told us to GO AHEAD and FILE even though we have 'preferential' payments (but NOT to relatives/fiends).

He explained to us it is the trustee's job to go back and get that money from the creditors. The trustee then RECEIVES 25% OF THE RECOVERED AMOUNT IN ADDITION TO HIS PAY!

Therefore, trustees don't really have any problem with non-relative preferential payments. It is just more money in their pockets. I could not believe this!

We made almost $5k in what is considered preferential, so our trustee is getting over $1200 for sending a letter to the creditors. Not a bad deal.

Unless they are payments to relatives or friends, payments made during the 90 days before filing SHOULD NOT keep you from filing sooner than later.

Keep in mind this advice is from a trustee himself (our attorney). He was president of the National Trustees Association in 2004-2005.

PLEASE NOTE: I am not a lawyer. Bankruptcy may or may not be a best scenario for you. It depends on your situation. You may assume my advice is totally useless. Talk to an experienced bankruptcy attorney (or three) in your jurisdiction for legal advice.

[halloweendmb1]

yoyo who was your attorney I live in WI as well and am getting ready to file

[CATCHMEIFYOUCAN]

One Half Full

I'm scared to death. My CC is owned by my bank-- the bank also has my auto loan. I now feel I should sneak in their tomorrow and close my account-- but I don't think I am allowed to close my account! I mean, I owe on the CC!!!

Anyway, I know how you feel. I am kind of stuck! WOW!

Make sure you keep the minimal amount of mula in your account, I don't know if you belong to a credit union, but they have what is called "cross collateral," whereas they can take whatever monies you have and apply to the balance of your cc.

For example, knowing I was going to file, I wasn't allowed to close my account because of credit cards and consolidation loans I had with the same credit union. I made sure to re-direct my direct deposits to a new bank and kill the automatic payments set to come out every month to pay off the consolidation loan. I had to leave $5 minimum in the savings. $0 in the checking. Well I accidently left $10 in the checking and they took it and applied it to one of my cc's I owed on.

Best of Luck to you all! I know how you feel now but in the end once its done and over YOU'LL FEEL GREAT!

[One Half Full]

I do have a credit union account. It has maybe 40 dollars in it. I do not have any consolidation loans or activity in it at all.

But what about the direct deposit that goes to my bank?

[CATCHMEIFYOUCAN]

You better find another bank to bank at and change your direct deposit to the new bank! And do it before you file, because I think its hard to open an account at a bank once you file Bk (someone correct me if I'm wrong) Before I filed Bk, I was going to use a Debt Consolidation Program. Little did they know or I knew at the time they were preparing me for Bk. They said to open up a new account at another bank, re-direct my direct deposits from my employer to the new bank. Leave as little money as the bank will allow (or if you can shut it down completely). They explained to me about the cross collaterlization. The credit union would not let me close my accounts completely BECAUSE I had credit cards and a consolidation loan with them still. So I just left $5 and I told them to stop the automatic deductions coming out from my accounts and that I would pay on my own. And another important thing, if you bank with them on line, print out all the monthly statements you possibly can, you never know when you might need them as proof of income, spending whatever. Once you Bk hits the files, the bank(s) will bar you from accessing you account! Same goes with any credit cards you have, go and print out all the statements you possibly can. I was already doing that because I'm a gambler and I never know when Im going to get audited, but my bank statements and credit card statements will prove my "losses."

Best to you, Catchmeifyoucan

[Keebler]

I stopped paying and it was a tough thing to do. I compare it to "running with scissors" because you know it's bad but nobody can say exactly what will happen. Once you start it isn't so scary after all!

We've survived six months so far and it has been mostly a good experience. We'll file early next year or sooner if a creditor comes after us in court. There's still stress but the darkest days are behind us. We're still nervous about filing, but we're also feeling really good about being in control and living our finincial life with our eyes wide-open.

Among the things I did that helped was opening a new account before we stopped paying people. At the time my credit was okay so there wasn't a problem opening the account at all. The old accounts where I had bills paid directly by creditors are mostly empty now so I don't worry too much about someone using my ACH information to try to pay themselves. The new account has an excellent bill pay service that I've come to depend on a bunch.

I can say that we've learned a lot in the last six months because budgeting and planning have become a top priority. Looking back, I know we were stupid and things were worse than we were willing to admit to ourselves. All of the vague finincial activity back then helped to cover a lot of bad habits and promote a false sense of security.

[danaf]

I totally changed banks because I had all my $ with the bank with my most debt on cc's.

Although the bank I have now holds my car loan. But I'm not giving up my car. My bk might make them nervous so I will only keep enough in that account to pay my loan which comes out automatically from my account.