New, My Story and HELP please
Hello all, my name is Kristie.
I am 24, married and have an almost 2 year old daughter.
We have made a lot of mistakes, and Michigans economy has been unforgiving. Let me start from the beginning.
My husband and I went on the search for a place to live 5 years ago, we wanted to own rather then rent, so we got the best we could for what we could afford, that meant a very nice trailer. Our payments were low, and so was the lot rent, in the last 5 years, the lot rent has gone up $60. Doesn't seem like a lot, but it adds up. In 5 years, the house is now worth less than $35,000, especially when no one is buying, and we still owe $37,500. We had a 2002 truck and a 94 car, we sold the car and bought a used suv for $15,000 at a car lot. 1 year later we had to sell the truck because it had a higher payment and we owed less on it, so we were able to get rid of it free and clear. That was a bad choice, considering the truck was worth money, and the suv is now worth $3,000 less than what we owe on it.
Then we had our daughter, who costs WAY more then the $1,000 the government gives us every year. After awhile my husband decided he wanted to go to college to pursue a better career, he opted for ITT-Tech because he loves computers, well, he got through 3 terms before the school told him that they could not loan him anymore money and if he wanted to continue he'd have to pay out of pocket...nope! At this point we were already in trouble, and he should not have gone to school, but he thought it was for the best. Anyways, we are now $15,000 in debt to them for less than half of what classes he needs to graduate.
Soon after his job stopped paying for his gas. That hurt.
Lets do an example, he made $500 a week take home, the gas they paid was like getting an extra $500 check a month, free. When they took it away, it was like being hit twice, not only is it losing that extra but now its losing the actual, so one paycheck per month was gas! They also used to pay his $80 a month cell phone bill, which was then cut off, so we had to get a cheap family plan. Then making only $15 an hour got us nowhere, we had $1500 a month after gas, $700 paid our house, $400 paid our car and insurance, then $300 paid the utilities. That left us with $100 left, nope, thats the phone bill. So we were left with NO money, we paid all of our bills with the money and all of our expenses, medical, food, clothing, and even other credit card bills were being paid with credit cards! So at this point we have accumulated $15,000 in debt to credit cards.
My husband lost his job 3 weeks ago, he moved all the way to texas, and managed to find a job that pays $10.50. Way below what we couldn't survive on! I don not work because his schedule was unpredictable and the amount I could make working would pay for childcare, thus making it completely useless. My husband is away from her enough, she needed to see one of her parents.
He has not gotten his first check yet, the house payment is due, the utilities have been shut off, except water, the lot rent is due, 2 credit cards are due and I am living in a home with my daughter with no car, no money and my parents a few steps away to at least feed us. His paychecks when they come will not cover the bills, even without the utilities.
We are wanting to file Chapter 7, we are going to talk to an attorney tomorrow, well, me by myself. My husbands name is on ALL of the accounts, I am on NOTHING, and this is going to prove very difficult with him in Texas working full-time.
It isn't bad yet, we aren't actually past due, we don't owe late fees, creditors arent harrassing me yet, but all the bills are coming now, and there is not a penny to my name or his. I don't want to live the next year of my life being sued and followed and having things taken from me.
I am supposed to be responsible for putting a roof over my daughters head, putting food on the table and keeping her safe.... I AM FAILING!
Is there anything I should know. Is there any hope? I know they are supposed to be able to protect our house and car, but I really just want them to take it, I cannot make any more payments on the house, even if they lower it I still owe lot rent, and with his lower check, the lot rent will be one check out of 4 a month. Thats too much. We owe more on the house then what its worth, and more on the car than what its worth, I almost wish they would take the car too, public transportation is fine, being out the bill is all we need.
We have a tendency to lose money to scammers, we've had a LOT of bad luck and dumb choices in the past 5 years.
Thanks for reading, I just need to vent.
I am 24, married and have an almost 2 year old daughter.
We have made a lot of mistakes, and Michigans economy has been unforgiving. Let me start from the beginning.
My husband and I went on the search for a place to live 5 years ago, we wanted to own rather then rent, so we got the best we could for what we could afford, that meant a very nice trailer. Our payments were low, and so was the lot rent, in the last 5 years, the lot rent has gone up $60. Doesn't seem like a lot, but it adds up. In 5 years, the house is now worth less than $35,000, especially when no one is buying, and we still owe $37,500. We had a 2002 truck and a 94 car, we sold the car and bought a used suv for $15,000 at a car lot. 1 year later we had to sell the truck because it had a higher payment and we owed less on it, so we were able to get rid of it free and clear. That was a bad choice, considering the truck was worth money, and the suv is now worth $3,000 less than what we owe on it.
Then we had our daughter, who costs WAY more then the $1,000 the government gives us every year. After awhile my husband decided he wanted to go to college to pursue a better career, he opted for ITT-Tech because he loves computers, well, he got through 3 terms before the school told him that they could not loan him anymore money and if he wanted to continue he'd have to pay out of pocket...nope! At this point we were already in trouble, and he should not have gone to school, but he thought it was for the best. Anyways, we are now $15,000 in debt to them for less than half of what classes he needs to graduate.
Soon after his job stopped paying for his gas. That hurt.
Lets do an example, he made $500 a week take home, the gas they paid was like getting an extra $500 check a month, free. When they took it away, it was like being hit twice, not only is it losing that extra but now its losing the actual, so one paycheck per month was gas! They also used to pay his $80 a month cell phone bill, which was then cut off, so we had to get a cheap family plan. Then making only $15 an hour got us nowhere, we had $1500 a month after gas, $700 paid our house, $400 paid our car and insurance, then $300 paid the utilities. That left us with $100 left, nope, thats the phone bill. So we were left with NO money, we paid all of our bills with the money and all of our expenses, medical, food, clothing, and even other credit card bills were being paid with credit cards! So at this point we have accumulated $15,000 in debt to credit cards.
My husband lost his job 3 weeks ago, he moved all the way to texas, and managed to find a job that pays $10.50. Way below what we couldn't survive on! I don not work because his schedule was unpredictable and the amount I could make working would pay for childcare, thus making it completely useless. My husband is away from her enough, she needed to see one of her parents.
He has not gotten his first check yet, the house payment is due, the utilities have been shut off, except water, the lot rent is due, 2 credit cards are due and I am living in a home with my daughter with no car, no money and my parents a few steps away to at least feed us. His paychecks when they come will not cover the bills, even without the utilities.
We are wanting to file Chapter 7, we are going to talk to an attorney tomorrow, well, me by myself. My husbands name is on ALL of the accounts, I am on NOTHING, and this is going to prove very difficult with him in Texas working full-time.
It isn't bad yet, we aren't actually past due, we don't owe late fees, creditors arent harrassing me yet, but all the bills are coming now, and there is not a penny to my name or his. I don't want to live the next year of my life being sued and followed and having things taken from me.
I am supposed to be responsible for putting a roof over my daughters head, putting food on the table and keeping her safe.... I AM FAILING!
Is there anything I should know. Is there any hope? I know they are supposed to be able to protect our house and car, but I really just want them to take it, I cannot make any more payments on the house, even if they lower it I still owe lot rent, and with his lower check, the lot rent will be one check out of 4 a month. Thats too much. We owe more on the house then what its worth, and more on the car than what its worth, I almost wish they would take the car too, public transportation is fine, being out the bill is all we need.
We have a tendency to lose money to scammers, we've had a LOT of bad luck and dumb choices in the past 5 years.
Thanks for reading, I just need to vent.
- Filed BK on July 24th
- 341 Meeting on September 9th
But getting a job in Michigan is next to impossible right now.
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