Worried to Death About Finances After Job Loss

[Pizza]

Hey guys,

I’m sure you probably get bored with the same ole newbie posts from people in financial trouble, but any advice would be greatly appreciated and I will try to contribute to the board any way I can.

I am a (soon to be flat broke) graphic artist in North Texas. I have had great credit from the first credit card I have owned to the present - never late, good balance/limit ratios, no collections etc. I own my own home and 2 vehicles.

Now over the past year or so, my wife and I have been facing some financial hardships, though with a postiive attitude until recently. It was required that she take a year-long internship to complete her teaching degree, which, especially amidst our daughter’s birth, cut us down to one income for a while... OUCH. No biggie, it seemed.. with a bachelor’s degree coming up, there appeared to be a pot of gold at the end of this rainbow.

Well, it’s all done now, and we’re still waiting around biting fingernails for the first school that received her job application to make her a job offer... it hasn’t happened yet, and if that weren’t scary enough, I just got called into the conference room and was told they are outsourcing MY job to India to cut costs in a weak economy... DOUBLE OUCH! The company is offering a small severance package to us, provided that we don’t find a new job within the 2-3 months before we lose the one we have.

Needless to say, this pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is quickly turning into a lava pit at the end of a cliff. I have simply never seen things turn this ugly so quickly. With two incomes going away, I’m feeling so upset about the mounting credit card debt, poor economy, and inflation to go along with it it’s making me sick. Gas/electricity & food prices sapping up what little left over income we have, the though of no health insurance til the next job comes along, plus her student loans coming to a head later this year, I just don’t know what to do.

Any advice? Is planning for bankruptcy in the cards? Consolidation? Just giving up on the bills if the worst gets here? Please help.

[Pizza]

Oh Yeah

Glancing at some of the other posts, figured I'd be thorough and give all the financial info I can:

Mortgage: $84,000, Owe $82,000 - negative equity (it's a dump we can't sell for what's owed - thanks, realtor)
Car Note: Leasing with $8,000 to go, we got it long before the bad news.
Credit Cards: At least $15,000 and climbing.
Student Loans: Around $16,000.
Income: $30,000/yr (job that's about to go bye-bye).

[Bandit]

I keep seeing this where a lot of people get these nice college degrees yet have no job doing what they went to school for. Oh ya...

I just got called into the conference room and was told they are outsourcing MY job to India to cut costs in a weak economy

that is right...the united states keeps sending all of the jobs to other countries then wonders why we have such a weak economy catching up to us after all these years.

There are some good people here to help in your darkest hours & this is a good place to vent all your worries & concerns.
Maybe tidy up on any little things with your health insurance if you need meds or whatever...god knows very few people or families can afford that when paying on their own when you have to decide between food & health insurance.
Probably just hang tight for a little while & not rush into anything at the moment. Maybe that teaching job will come thru before this fall

[Pizza]

I keep seeing this where a lot of people get these nice college degrees yet have no job doing what they went to school for. Oh ya...

that is right...the united states keeps sending all of the jobs to other countries then wonders why we have such a weak economy catching up to us after all these years.

There are some good people here to help in your darkest hours & this is a good place to vent all your worries & concerns.
Maybe tidy up on any little things with your health insurance if you need meds or whatever...god knows very few people or families can afford that when paying on their own when you have to decide between food & health insurance.
Probably just hang tight for a little while & not rush into anything at the moment. Maybe that teaching job will come thru before this fall

Thank you for the little tidbit.

Believe me, my wife already realizes that she may not get the job she wants right away and may have to do something, ANYTHING to help us get by. Really, I’m just in shock how terrible everything is going this year. I knew we’d have to tightwad around till stability set in, but I certainly wasn’t expecting the boot (now of ALL times) or for her to have a slow job search. These outrageous gas/food prices are just an insult to injury (or was that injury to insult? I forget...) and they’re driving us further and further into the red... like they’re doing to a lot of folks, apparantly.

[Bandit]

Thank you for the little tidbit.

...so maybe you & she will have to settle for lesser paying job for awhile...that is understandable.

I am sure everyone is just as terrified as you are when you start to see a possible tail spin. I was very scared a year ago in July & now it just seems lilke hard continuous winds of change & I have become incredibly stronger through all the problems. I have come to expect the worse but also expect & plan for the best and it is very difficult & long to explain how I got there

You will get a good education here & set in the right direction if you should ever need to go BK. A lot of good experience to hear as well even if you never need to use the BK protection.

One other thing after hanging it all on the law, is patience. It is truly amazing how long people & life itself can hold out & recover.
Keep asking questions. If it does not make sense then keep asking until it makes sense.

Another question will be, What state are you in(?), (you do not have to say if you choose not to) but that is one of the biggies to know where you stand with exemptions & assets.
but always double check & triple check everything (then check it again) as you go along....as you will see many different interpretatons of law & some out dated materials.
Then have a look at the different chapters.
Do have a look at the FAQ section as people reply, that is real good start for the basics.
I have not been hanging out here as often as in the past, but saw your post & kind of felt the pain & fears. I remember caring people who helped me thru some difficult times & there is no doubt that times are hard for a lot of people right now. Hopefully BK is an option you wont have to take unless a last resort. then again, it also sets you free
Best Wishes, Pizza.

[parsoc48]

What state are you in(?),

Bandit, He said North Texas in his original post.

I can't add too much expect to welcome you to this forum and to encourage you to read as much here as you can. I had heard that Texas is a
"debtor friendly" state, so that might help. Get a few free consultations with some BK attorneys,that will help you sort out some options.
This economy is tough...I feel grateful to have the job I do and the stability but gas is a killer...and we each commute 100 miles a day! I
carpool and DH takes the bus (he works for the bus agency) when he can.
Take care, let us know how things go for you.

[Pizza]

...so maybe you & she will have to settle for lesser paying job for awhile...that is understandable.

I am sure everyone is just as terrified as you are when you start to see a possible tail spin. I was very scared a year ago in July & now it just seems lilke hard continuous winds of change & I have become incredibly stronger through all the problems. I have come to expect the worse but also expect & plan for the best and it is very difficult & long to explain how I got there

So what was going on back then? Glad to see things are better.

You will get a good education here & set in the right direction if you should ever need to go BK. A lot of good experience to hear as well even if you never need to use the BK protection.

I am really going to do everything I can to avoid a BK... it just seems as if the deck is stacked against us already, so I would like to get educated on the rules and alternatives, as you say, there are a lot of resources here, and hopefully if worse comes to worse I will know what to do, and not be at the mercy of an attorney with no knowledge of my own.

One other thing after hanging it all on the law, is patience. It is truly amazing how long people & life itself can hold out & recover.
Keep asking questions. If it does not make sense then keep asking until it makes sense.

Another question will be, What state are you in(?), (you do not have to say if you choose not to) but that is one of the biggies to know where you stand with exemptions & assets.

but always double check & triple check everything (then check it again) as you go along....as you will see many different interpretatons of law & some out dated materials.
Then have a look at the different chapters.
Do have a look at the FAQ section as people reply, that is real good start for the basics.
I have not been hanging out here as often as in the past, but saw your post & kind of felt the pain & fears. I remember caring people who helped me thru some difficult times & there is no doubt that times are hard for a lot of people right now. Hopefully BK is an option you wont have to take unless a last resort. then again, it also sets you free
Best Wishes, Pizza.

[Bandit]

as a rule no you cannot get strudent loan discharged, but there are other rules where you can, for example if you can prove hardship.

I broke my jaw in 3 places & busted 6 teeth & a 7th had to be removed, while having no insurance, now it is becoming harder & harder to pay.

I know that feeling of having the deck stacked against you yet good news- if you are in Texas- I forget the stats, but I think it was like 50% of americans would benefit from moving to Texas & filing BK, so you are in a good place & more is in your favor than most states.
There are confliciting messages. The laws are different & are viewed different from court to court. When laws bounce against each other, then results change. For whatever reason, there are tons of sites that do not update the info. One person can do one thing & it is ok, but if someone else does it, then they get in trouble for it...oh I know- one quarter of the time there is no rhyme or reason to any of this

Everything depends on what it depends, on what it depends.

What are those little squares in your type?       Just wondering as I do not see them too often.

[Bandit]

Bandit, He said North Texas in his original post.

Sorry, I missed that. Thanks.

[JRScott]

It might be a little early yet to hear about the school job for the fall semester. I would suspect most of those hirings would be done in June or July.

Sorry to hear you are losing your job.

If the severance package is very small, perhaps put in a few applications and see if you can move to another job rather than waiting. My bro is trying to do that for his job right now.

In case things do not improve it might be a good idea to start collecting the info you'll need. Make sure you have 6 months of paystubs, 3 years of tax returns, bank statements from this time forward, etc.

Another suggestion, if you can't make the visa/mc payments don't make them. What's important at first is food, shelter, transportation. Only after the essentials are met should you devote any income to the CC. There are two thoughts as to how to pay CCs in this way. The first is to divide the money left over equally among all the CCs and set a paper showing the payments sent to all the CC companies, this shows them that you are not favoring anyone and that you are trying to pay something. The next thought is to pick the CC you owe the least and pay it until its paid off, then move to the next lowest, etc. In both cases you'll probably have late charges etc because you won't get everyone paid but it might do you til you can get on your feet.

If you want to attempt to avoid the bankruptcy perhaps look for some PT jobs on the side to help out. (This can be as simple as working at Wal mart as a greeter, or McDonald's etc). The problem is that unless you can fine full time work again this won't keep you treading too long.

Good Luck.

[Pizza]

as a rule no you cannot get strudent loan discharged, but there are other rules where you can, for example if you can prove hardship.

I read about that on one of the stickies... I'm feeling more educated already

I broke my jaw in 3 places & busted 6 teeth & a 7th had to be removed, while having no insurance, now it is becoming harder & harder to pay.

Oh no.... that sucks man. Hate to get political but our healthcare system is so terrible these days that it seems one spell of bad luck can kill almost anyone's finances. I'm sorry to hear it.

It's also one more thing to think about, until our finances are proven to be in dire straits, it doesn't make good sense to file BK too quickly and risk getting into an unsolvable medical bill problem.

I know that feeling of having the deck stacked against you yet good news- if you are in Texas- I forget the stats, but I think it was like 50% of americans would benefit from moving to Texas & filing BK, so you are in a good place & more is in your favor than most states.
There are confliciting messages. The laws are different & are viewed different from court to court. When laws bounce against each other, then results change. For whatever reason, there are tons of sites that do not update the info. One person can do one thing & it is ok, but if someone else does it, then they get in trouble for it...oh I know- one quarter of the time there is no rhyme or reason to any of this

A lot of things seem better in Texas... including the unemployment rate. But like I said, I'm a glass-half-empty kind of person when it comes to money -- truth be told, more of a glass-empty-and-owe-thousands-of-other-glasses type

What are those little squares in your type?       Just wondering as I do not see them too often.

Little squares? Maybe you're talking about the sectional quotes -- otherwise I give!

[Bandit]

Thank you for the little tidbit.

Believe me, my wife already realizes that she may not get the job she wants right away and may have to do something, ANYTHING to help us get by. Really, I’m just in shock how terrible everything is going this year. I knew we’d have to tightwad around till stability set in, but I certainly wasn’t expecting the boot (now of ALL times) or for her to have a slow job search. These outrageous gas/food prices are just an insult to injury (or was that injury to insult? I forget...) and they’re driving us further and further into the red... like they’re doing to a lot of folks, apparantly.

take this one for example. there is a   after ANYTHING,
I certainly
ALL times
 I forget

Little squares? Maybe you're talking about the sectional quotes -- otherwise I give!

  that little square

[Bandit]

It's also one more thing to think about, until our finances are proven to be in dire straits, it doesn't make good sense to file BK too quickly and risk getting into an unsolvable medical bill problem.

Agreed. That is looking for the best but realizing the worse. Very wise.

A lot of things seem better in Texas... including the unemployment rate. But like I said, I'm a glass-half-empty kind of person when it comes to money -- truth be told, more of a glass-empty-and-owe-thousands-of-other-glasses type

I love that glass. Sometimes half full & other times half empty. But then of course there are times when the glass is full and running over, other times when it is empty, & other times when the glass could be broken in a hundred pieces beyond repair.

Or the times when the glass is perfect & right at the tippy top of the ledge

[Granny]

Pizza,

Call your lender about the student loans. You can get a forbearance for:

1. Under employment
2. Having a child under a certain age (I don't remember what it is, sorry)

When I had student loans, they were VERY workable people.

[Pizza]

take this one for example. there is a   after ANYTHING,
I certainly
ALL times
 I forget



  that little square

Ahh... sorry 'bout that. Some weird Mac thing. I can't even see them on the Mac, but they show up plain as day on my PC at home. I fixed them.