Hi, just thought I'd officially introduce myself here...my code name is applecake because it's fall and that's one of my fav desserts of the season. 
Even though apples are barely affordable anymore!!!!! Darn economy.
All this BK stuff is overwhelming and online is pretty much the only place I can really "talk" about it right now...Does anyone mind if I just kind of get this out in writing?
I'd love to hear from those who can relate.
We have made the decision to file ch 7. Our income is about half of the limit, so we're good there. Between credit cards, a rental property, personal loans and one $%^%$#@ collateralized loan against the paid-off car, we will be unloading about $95K. (We make $40K/year before taxes.) This is largely due to our failed business, which we had to close this summer. Our heads were barely above water before the business went under, but now it's just like, file BK or drown. So we are filing. We talked to a couple lawyers and found one that we will be going with. But we haven't retained him yet or anything; we're in the process of gathering all the paperwork and that stuff.
We have to wait till after the holidays to file because of that stupid loan that we took out just last month, using the paid-off car as collateral. We borrowed it out of desperation; leftover "business stuff" that we thought we had time on, then we almost got sued unless we came up with cash right away. Anyway, we can't very well turn around and file before we even make a payment. Even though we honestly didn't have a thought of BK in our heads at this time last month. Truly this is not fraud, but of course it would look that way. Our lawyer advised us to make about 2-3 payments towards this particular loan and then stop paying, and file. Makes sense to me.
For all other of our debts that we're getting discharged (or surrendering), we were advised to not pay anymore on them because it's like throwing money down the drain. I agree, so we've stopped paying on the credit cards and even the rental house (in which there are no tenants). We're going to let it go into foreclosure, but before the whole thing is done we will have filed BK. I have to say, this feels really strange. For YEARS - 5 or so - we have struggled to pay our debts. We have struggled mightily to keep the rental house paid up, kept up, rented, etc. It has been pinning us down and we thought we'd never get out from under it - BK was never even a thought, not an option to us, until now. Now all of the sudden we are purposely not paying on them because we know we are filing...it is just surreal. Freeing, definitely, but such a shift in thinking for me. I'm the "money lady" of our household - I do all the bills and make sure everything gets taken care of in the financial dept.
I'm not telling any of our creditors that we're filing until we actually do. I'm just not quite sure how to handle the phone calls until then. I did break down and get caller ID, which is helpful. But, should I at least answer? Pretend like I'm trying to pay but just am having trouble? (Which would be the truth if we weren't planning to file) Let the machine take all the calls and just ignore them?
That collateralized loan is a little tricky because it's with Citi Financial, and we have two other debts with them that we have stopped paying on (that will be either surrendered or discharged in the BK). So we're making payments to one account only with them. anyway, we're planning on surrendering the collateralized car and buying another one with the cash from our tax return when we get it. That's what our lawyer advised. I think that makes a ton of sense.
We were already working towards a cash-only lifestyle. We had the credit cards cut up long ago and were just paying on them. Our mortgage payment is very reasonable. I actually think that this BK will force us to live in a very disciplined manner - even more so because we know that credit will DEFINITELY not be an option for us for a while. Ultimately, we wanted to eliminate it from our lives anyway. I'm not saying this is a fabulous situation to be in. I do understand that BK is serious and it took a long time for me to even be able to consider it as even a remote possibility. But I have to say, it is our lifeline right now and I'm so thankful for the last-resort option that at least we have.
Well I guess that's all my thoughts for now. I'm so glad this forum is here. Hopefully I'll hear some responses. It's nice to know we're not alone in this.
Even though apples are barely affordable anymore!!!!! Darn economy. All this BK stuff is overwhelming and online is pretty much the only place I can really "talk" about it right now...Does anyone mind if I just kind of get this out in writing?
I'd love to hear from those who can relate.We have made the decision to file ch 7. Our income is about half of the limit, so we're good there. Between credit cards, a rental property, personal loans and one $%^%$#@ collateralized loan against the paid-off car, we will be unloading about $95K. (We make $40K/year before taxes.) This is largely due to our failed business, which we had to close this summer. Our heads were barely above water before the business went under, but now it's just like, file BK or drown. So we are filing. We talked to a couple lawyers and found one that we will be going with. But we haven't retained him yet or anything; we're in the process of gathering all the paperwork and that stuff.
We have to wait till after the holidays to file because of that stupid loan that we took out just last month, using the paid-off car as collateral. We borrowed it out of desperation; leftover "business stuff" that we thought we had time on, then we almost got sued unless we came up with cash right away. Anyway, we can't very well turn around and file before we even make a payment. Even though we honestly didn't have a thought of BK in our heads at this time last month. Truly this is not fraud, but of course it would look that way. Our lawyer advised us to make about 2-3 payments towards this particular loan and then stop paying, and file. Makes sense to me.
For all other of our debts that we're getting discharged (or surrendering), we were advised to not pay anymore on them because it's like throwing money down the drain. I agree, so we've stopped paying on the credit cards and even the rental house (in which there are no tenants). We're going to let it go into foreclosure, but before the whole thing is done we will have filed BK. I have to say, this feels really strange. For YEARS - 5 or so - we have struggled to pay our debts. We have struggled mightily to keep the rental house paid up, kept up, rented, etc. It has been pinning us down and we thought we'd never get out from under it - BK was never even a thought, not an option to us, until now. Now all of the sudden we are purposely not paying on them because we know we are filing...it is just surreal. Freeing, definitely, but such a shift in thinking for me. I'm the "money lady" of our household - I do all the bills and make sure everything gets taken care of in the financial dept.
I'm not telling any of our creditors that we're filing until we actually do. I'm just not quite sure how to handle the phone calls until then. I did break down and get caller ID, which is helpful. But, should I at least answer? Pretend like I'm trying to pay but just am having trouble? (Which would be the truth if we weren't planning to file) Let the machine take all the calls and just ignore them?
That collateralized loan is a little tricky because it's with Citi Financial, and we have two other debts with them that we have stopped paying on (that will be either surrendered or discharged in the BK). So we're making payments to one account only with them. anyway, we're planning on surrendering the collateralized car and buying another one with the cash from our tax return when we get it. That's what our lawyer advised. I think that makes a ton of sense.
We were already working towards a cash-only lifestyle. We had the credit cards cut up long ago and were just paying on them. Our mortgage payment is very reasonable. I actually think that this BK will force us to live in a very disciplined manner - even more so because we know that credit will DEFINITELY not be an option for us for a while. Ultimately, we wanted to eliminate it from our lives anyway. I'm not saying this is a fabulous situation to be in. I do understand that BK is serious and it took a long time for me to even be able to consider it as even a remote possibility. But I have to say, it is our lifeline right now and I'm so thankful for the last-resort option that at least we have.
Well I guess that's all my thoughts for now. I'm so glad this forum is here. Hopefully I'll hear some responses. It's nice to know we're not alone in this.
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