3 years tomorrow since I filed!

[tinroofrusted]

How do you explain our own survey here then?

http://www.bkforum.com/showthread.php?t=1685

I am one who filed due to excessive credit card debt myself. I know that many file due to unexpected medical bills, identity theft, job layoffs, etc., but it's difficult for me to believe they are in the majority. Maybe so......I know that's been said, on this thread and elsewhere.

With only a limited number of people who have filed/are going to file who join here, our survey can't be considered "scientific."

I just can't believe that excessive credit card debt causes people to file. WITHOUT other impending factors. Such as job loss, divorce, medical bills, etc. I believe it is only an "after the fact" factor.

[lrprn]

How do you explain our own survey here then?

http://www.bkforum.com/showthread.php?t=1685

You're looking at a skewed audience here. Online bk forums like this one tend to attract a higher percentage of "money mis-management" filers looking for general information about bankruptcy. In other words, our forum member audience is not a representative sample compared against everyone who files for bankruptcy across the country.

Check the bk stats collected by the US Courts out here at http://www.uscourts.gov/bnkrpctystat...uptcystats.htm . Very interesting!

[Cassiopeia]

I just can't believe that excessive credit card debt causes people to file. WITHOUT other impending factors. Such as job loss, divorce, medical bills, etc. I believe it is only an "after the fact" factor.

Well here's one...ME.

It's nothing I am proud of, believe me. But I'd say it came about through a lifetime of poor money management. And it was indeed excessive cc debt alone. I have had good jobs, the one I'm in now, I just celebrated my 20th anniversary here. No medical bills at all, have great health insurance through my job, no divorce or anything like that.

Maybe I'm not the norm. I will look at the link lrpn posted.

I could list all the mistakes I made but won't go into it...except one FATAL mistake I made several years ago was to get a home equity line of credit to bail me out of debt. Well I didn't "learn my lesson" and after a while I had THAT horrendous monthly payment in addition to more cc debt I managed to accrue.

If I had it to do over, I would have filed BK rather than gotten the HELOC. Now all my cc debt is discharged but I reaffirmed my HELOC, so that payment I will have for a long, long time.

I am very glad I filed at last though. Life is much better for me now.

[$$only4ever]

How do you explain our own survey here then?

http://www.bkforum.com/showthread.php?t=1685

I am one who filed due to excessive credit card debt myself. I know that many file due to unexpected medical bills, identity theft, job layoffs, etc., but it's difficult for me to believe they are in the majority. Maybe so......I know that's been said, on this thread and elsewhere.

I, too, filed due to excessive credit card debt and I do not and will not ever get another credit card!!!!

Please do not misunderstand, I am not judging anyone. I just know me. I would use credit cards if I had them. If I don't have them I can't use them. As far as buying a car or house:

After 2 years of discharge, anyone can buy a house as long as the credit report looks good. That includes using eligibility for VA or FHA, and

If you have a few bucks for a downpayment, any car dealer will approve for an auto loan and if not in debt, you will still get a decent interest rate on a loan. I use to work for Chrysler Financial. I saw what was approved at the dealership. Trust me, some credit reports were alot worse than any of ours are now.

[JollyGG]

How do you explain our own survey here then?

http://www.bkforum.com/showthread.php?t=1685

I am one who filed due to excessive credit card debt myself. I know that many file due to unexpected medical bills, identity theft, job layoffs, etc., but it's difficult for me to believe they are in the majority. Maybe so......I know that's been said, on this thread and elsewhere.

Also while many of us ultimately blame our debt on credit cards it doesn't mean that job losses and medical bills didn't have alot to due with that credit card debt being so high.

For example if asked I would say that credit card debt is why I am here. But if you want the truth it all started when my husband graduated college and couldn't find a job for six months (IT bust). When he did find a job it was a 60 mile commute each way and paid poorly (but poor pay is better than not pay). Then having a complicated deliver with an unplanned c-section contributed to our debt, with both high medical bills and an unpaid maternity leave. A new better paying job for my husband left us with a bigger daycare bill and other expenses. A year later I had four months of unemployment while I looked for another job after my funding expired. Then I had another c-section and was out of work on unpaid maternity leave.
While I don't blame any one of these things for our debt they all contributed in little ways and led us to here. But what would I check in our survery. All the debt I discharged was credit card debt.

[WantToBeDebtFre]

This is what I understand. A job loss or divorce wouldn't normally cause a bankruptcy if there was no debt owed. The problem is when you're like me and rack up 40K in credit card debt and then you lose your job or your expenses increase (2 kids in daycare), etc. You might be able to afford minimum payments until your circumstances change.

I think medical reasons would be a completely different story. Some people don't have insurance and then go through a horrible sickness or accident and then owe too much in medical bills forcing them into bankruptcy.

So I think there is mostly two different circumstances here. Most people could fit into one or the other.

[BKOnce]

Different strokes for different folks, everyone is different, so are their lives.