Is there a new filers curse?

[shabam]

I don't think this is actually a BK curse... I'm pretty sure this is what got us all here in the first place -- no reserve CASH funds.

We were all living paycheck-to-paycheck... and when something happened, those little high-interest plastic cards came in mighty handy. But before we could pay off the car repairs, the furnace died, or the kid got strep throat, or the roof leaked.

These are normal everyday occurrences for regular people. But they have a savings account for such things. We had predatory lenders.

So have bad things happened to me since filing? Of course they have... car repairs, refrigerator is dead (I'm using coolers for our food).

But bad things happened before BK -- my husband broke his back in a car accident, my house went through a flood and I lost my clothes dryer, water heater, furnace, and all my clothes -- and the basement has to be completely gutted, mold removed, etc. -- and FEMA came up with $738 for all of this.

The biggest mistake we made leading up to BK? Being optimistic. We've come to the realization that life sucks, and we have to be prepared for it.

It's true. How many of us have squandered thousands yet never put a penny aside. Anyone who lived through the depression wasn't stupid to say always put something aside. Always spend less than you make etc.

Our college educated generation always thought, ah what do they know. Obviously a lot more than us.