I thought it might be interesting to for some of us to post about things they noticed about their behavior in hindsight, post-bankruptcy.
I'm embarrassed to write some of this, but those struggling pre-BK might get some relief at seeing I made it through and things changed.
I think the roughly two years I spent cash only before I finally ended up filing were very beneficial.
For example:
1- I was cleaning and found an old day planner. Just flipping through the pages I was getting a knot in my stomach. I had notes with due dates, amounts, deposits, etc. on various dates. It was crazy to see how complicated my financial life was -- and how little room for error I had.
(For example notes about the exact last minute something could be paid, how to transfer from here and there to scrape together enough to just make the payment, etc)
Stupid things like paying the overdraft line on my checking account on a particular date so the payment would be credited but I could still advance it back to my account in time to make a payment to another creditor.
Scribbles of calculations showing barely pennies left for the week after I made the required payments. If I wait till then for this bill, skip that, hopefully make $X in side income, do this, etc. I'll get through this week.
2- In the past I used this old planner as my wallet. It had spots for my cards, ID, checkbook and register, etc.
I remembered it being convenient so I started to transfer the contents of my current wallet over.
There was no place for cash. It had never been a problem before because I never had any cash. I would put all cash in the bank to ensure I had everything I could to make payments. And if necessary could use a card for expenses that would have otherwise been paid with cash.
Walking around with even $20 that didn't have a very specific reason for needing to be in cash was unheard of.
3- I began using my bank's bill pay feature. I didn't have a single payee stored because I never used it in the past. Sometimes it takes a few days for a payment sent that way to post. Everything was always so tight I would make my payments on the payee's website directly so they would post immediately (or else I'd be late). If I needed to send the payment a few days early, there was a good chance I didn't have enough funds available yet.
4- I have always used computer software to keep track of my finances. In the past my credit card accounts were entered such that they appeared "green" and "positive" by the amount of the credit limit. So the bottom of my summary of all accounts might say for example "Total Available - $4,000". $X may have been from checking, $Y from Amex, $Z from Visa, etc. Available credit was reflected in my available balances.
When I entered my post BK credit accounts, they started at $0. So any spending I do on the account reflects as a negative balance. That means if my "Total Available" in cash accounts was say $4000 and I charged a $50 purchase, it will now say "Total Available $3950". Not taking into account available credit on the card. Since I should only be considering cash as available.
This way according to the summary on the screen that I look at each evening, all that's "available" for me to spend is what I have in cash minus things I've charged and will need to pay for shortly.
For me #4 seems like a small thing, but really represents a significant change that came about after two years cash only caused me to relearn behaviors I originally had but lost after a few poor decisions slowly snowballed into an entire financial life out of control.
Any words of wisdom other's have noticed when reflecting on their past life post-BK?
I'm embarrassed to write some of this, but those struggling pre-BK might get some relief at seeing I made it through and things changed.
I think the roughly two years I spent cash only before I finally ended up filing were very beneficial.
For example:
1- I was cleaning and found an old day planner. Just flipping through the pages I was getting a knot in my stomach. I had notes with due dates, amounts, deposits, etc. on various dates. It was crazy to see how complicated my financial life was -- and how little room for error I had.
(For example notes about the exact last minute something could be paid, how to transfer from here and there to scrape together enough to just make the payment, etc)
Stupid things like paying the overdraft line on my checking account on a particular date so the payment would be credited but I could still advance it back to my account in time to make a payment to another creditor.
Scribbles of calculations showing barely pennies left for the week after I made the required payments. If I wait till then for this bill, skip that, hopefully make $X in side income, do this, etc. I'll get through this week.
2- In the past I used this old planner as my wallet. It had spots for my cards, ID, checkbook and register, etc.
I remembered it being convenient so I started to transfer the contents of my current wallet over.
There was no place for cash. It had never been a problem before because I never had any cash. I would put all cash in the bank to ensure I had everything I could to make payments. And if necessary could use a card for expenses that would have otherwise been paid with cash.
Walking around with even $20 that didn't have a very specific reason for needing to be in cash was unheard of.
3- I began using my bank's bill pay feature. I didn't have a single payee stored because I never used it in the past. Sometimes it takes a few days for a payment sent that way to post. Everything was always so tight I would make my payments on the payee's website directly so they would post immediately (or else I'd be late). If I needed to send the payment a few days early, there was a good chance I didn't have enough funds available yet.
4- I have always used computer software to keep track of my finances. In the past my credit card accounts were entered such that they appeared "green" and "positive" by the amount of the credit limit. So the bottom of my summary of all accounts might say for example "Total Available - $4,000". $X may have been from checking, $Y from Amex, $Z from Visa, etc. Available credit was reflected in my available balances.
When I entered my post BK credit accounts, they started at $0. So any spending I do on the account reflects as a negative balance. That means if my "Total Available" in cash accounts was say $4000 and I charged a $50 purchase, it will now say "Total Available $3950". Not taking into account available credit on the card. Since I should only be considering cash as available.
This way according to the summary on the screen that I look at each evening, all that's "available" for me to spend is what I have in cash minus things I've charged and will need to pay for shortly.
For me #4 seems like a small thing, but really represents a significant change that came about after two years cash only caused me to relearn behaviors I originally had but lost after a few poor decisions slowly snowballed into an entire financial life out of control.
Any words of wisdom other's have noticed when reflecting on their past life post-BK?
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