How do you prepare yourself

[rooster0330]

for all of this. I had (like most people) thought I would be in the position. I am soooo stressed and anxious thinking about all the what-ifs! We want to keep our home and cars and should be able to exempt them, but I am thinking what about if the trustee decided to take them, what if for some reason we CANNOT file! I don't know, I am just so unprepared for all this and feel that is is dooms day! How did other people get through this uncertainty!

[munchkn813]

I have no idea, but am right there with you (along with my husband - I was fairly calm about him, but he is so worried and stressed out it's startingto rub off on me).
We talked about me filing a year ago when money was tight. We borrowed some money from our parents though and then I was finally able to start working again over the summer but it's not been enough, so I decided I can't take the day to day stress of paying bills (we have 30 credit cards and about 6 medical bills coming in each month along with the house, car, utilities, insurance, etc) so we need to just so it. My DH has 10 of the credit cards and 2 are joint, so if we are going to do it, he needs to do it along with me and wipe it all out and get a fresh start. He was good to go with me at first but then the what-ifs started in. We decided last week to stop paying credit cards to get back on track with the house, car and utility payments (and still paying medical - we want to make sure they get paid) and save money for a lawyer. I called lawyers first thing Monday morning and set up an appt with one I liked. We meed Tuesday morning. I had to just get things rolling and fastbecause just sitting here waiting, thinking and worrying about it all was going to do nothing for us. So I am gathering all the info I think I may need for it and we will go from there and see what he said and I am trying not to worry too much about it (yeah right) until I know what the lawyer has to say about it all.

Good luck!

[HakunaMatata]

How did other people get through this uncertainty!

A good attorney, settling into a business mindset, and heavy doses of the BK Forum!

You're embarking upon a business decision. Strong business people take calculated risks. In doing so, they assess their situations, compare and contrast with others, expand their knowledge, forecast, and seek advice.

I endured the initial shock followed by the seemingly endless "what ifs". I think it's common for us to feel like our cases are unique. For most of us, we're simply not that "cool"! Surrendering the personal element (whether it's feelings of failure or countless "what if" scenarios) provides comfort. Once you begin moving forward (retaining an attorney, gaining knowledge, eliciting support), you'll feel more confident.

Strive toward that business framework and continue to "market" yourself here.

[wantout]

Faceing the fact I was and am broke, could not keep up the payments anymore, the CCs raising the rates and jacking with the due dates, etc all came to head one day, I faced it and that was that.

I resigned myself to the fact that I was in a postion that the only out of was to file BK. So I did just that.

[albacore44]

I have no idea, but am right there with you (along with my husband - I was fairly calm about him, but he is so worried and stressed out it's startingto rub off on me).
We talked about me filing a year ago when money was tight. We borrowed some money from our parents though and then I was finally able to start working again over the summer but it's not been enough, so I decided I can't take the day to day stress of paying bills (we have 30 credit cards and about 6 medical bills coming in each month along with the house, car, utilities, insurance, etc) so we need to just so it. My DH has 10 of the credit cards and 2 are joint, so if we are going to do it, he needs to do it along with me and wipe it all out and get a fresh start. He was good to go with me at first but then the what-ifs started in. We decided last week to stop paying credit cards to get back on track with the house, car and utility payments (and still paying medical - we want to make sure they get paid) and save money for a lawyer. I called lawyers first thing Monday morning and set up an appt with one I liked. We meed Tuesday morning. I had to just get things rolling and fastbecause just sitting here waiting, thinking and worrying about it all was going to do nothing for us. So I am gathering all the info I think I may need for it and we will go from there and see what he said and I am trying not to worry too much about it (yeah right) until I know what the lawyer has to say about it all.

Good luck!

Sine it seems like you both have mostly seperate accounts, were you going to try to file seperatly (2 bk's) ?? i have a lot of cards like you, but our accounts are all seperate, and the secured assets are all in my name

[frogger]

A good attorney, settling into a business mindset, and heavy doses of the BK Forum!

You're embarking upon a business decision. Strong business people take calculated risks. In doing so, they assess their situations, compare and contrast with others, expand their knowledge, forecast, and seek advice.

And know that bk is a way to stop the bleeding and get that fresh start.

Good luck to you.

[munchkn813]

Sine it seems like you both have mostly seperate accounts, were you going to try to file seperatly (2 bk's) ?? i have a lot of cards like you, but our accounts are all seperate, and the secured assets are all in my name

We were planning on doing a joint bk. The majority of the cards are mine, but he has 10 that are his own (my name is added to two of them and I was given a card for them as well) then we have 2 or three that have both of our names on that we applied for together (like the furniture) and the rest are mine only. The house is in both of our names, but the van is only in his (I wasn't working at the time and obviously prob don't have the best credit score - need to check it- so we had better luck with him going solo on the loan) and the other car is paid off.