how young is too young for filing bk?

[smokedurhonda]

just curious as to how everyone feels on this subject, how young do you feel is too young to file bankruptcy? i filed when i was 22 due to extremly bad decisions ( adjustable rate mortgage not renting) thinking i knew it all. im now 24 and dont really regret everything, just learned alot about my mistakes.

[OregonMom]

My husband and I are both 28 and we filed. Neither one of us had parents that taught us about money. My mom taught me we never had enough. My dad always said save, save, save, but I think he doesn't realize what it takes to raise a family of 4 on barely $50k per year. Husband's MIL lived at home and never paid rent until she was about 45, she has no money saved or a retirement fund at all and she is now in her mid 50's. We have learned alot in the past year. Mainly how to budget, live on the budget and we don't need credit cards haven't used one in a year and a half.

[smokedurhonda]

sound like a good honest response, ive got the same story when it comes to the parents, they always told me to go to school but i could never come up with the money and they wouldnt help me, kicked me out when i was 18.

[BkinTX]

We are 29 and 30. I've read statistics that say that 40s is the "typical" age for bk. I am glad we are getting it over with young and getting on the right track. We can still have great retirement savings by starting now.

OregonMom, we have a family of 6 on about 50k. Without all our debt payments, we have a great budget. It's sad and disturbing how much we sabotaged ourselves by overextending ourselves.

And I definitely learned bad spending habits from my parents. I picked up a ton of finance books at the library today -- including ones on teaching finance to kids. I refuse to set my children up for financial failure.

[bk4sky]

im 31 and just filed.

[jennordhavn]

I filed when I was 28 and again when I was 36.

[AfraidOfBK]

i am going to be 25 by the time i've filed and dh will be 28...we'll be a family of 6 on 45k income/yr so dont feel bad....I am looking forward to our tight budget, although not using the ccs these past few months as part of our "planning" has made it HARD...Im used to having money when i need something, not waiting two weeks for the next paycheck to get something....

sometimes, ive learned its not really something i need, but other times its an urgent purchase that i Cannot make....an eerie feeling for us (weve had to put groceries and gas for the cars on the ccs for almost a year)

Took us that long to figure out we were approaching a dead end....not all things we could have controlled, though. it was all in vain effort to stay in our home that we are now surrendering! Go figure.

[WillinVT]

I got married in 2000 when I was 22 years old and my ex-wife had a bunch of debt that she did not tell me about until it was too late. Plus, her ex-landlord was suing her for damages that her and her roommates did to the house she was renting prior to us getting married and the lawsuit was close to $50,000.

She also had close to $30,000 in credit card debt. I went into the chapter 7 with her because we had a few cards that were joint and did not have the money to pay them off.

Now I am re-married (4 years in September) with 2 daughters and have over $31,000 in debt that is due to poor decisions and a bad budget. I guess I thought I needed credit cards / personal loans when we had our first daughter back in 2006 and my wife left her job to be a stay at home Mom.

Live and learn I guess...

The part that bothers me the most is that I will be through this twice within 8 years.

[jamesprx]

I am 24 and just filled..

[JRScott]

The problem is that our school system does not teach economics. Probably due to pressure for major credit cards etc there has never been a push to teach people how to manage money. I suppose some see it as the duty of parents but I know my own did not share monetary information with us kids and still don't.

I mean its kinda silly, you can't legally drink til your 21, but you can have a Credit Card as young as 18. However the irresponsible use of both can drastically affect your entire life after their use.

[tiphani]

Im and just filed on April 11 this year....had my 341 meeting yesterday...I understant how hard it is. I am a single mother of 3 living on an almost 50k year income...it's hard. Although I am in a better position than some that are my age. I am fortunate however that my monthly trustee payments are only $110.

I have to train myself on how to live on a budget. Any suggestions?!?!

[OregonMom]

I have to train myself on how to live on a budget. Any suggestions?!?!

My husband and I started small, we made a list of what we thought we were paying for food, gas, ect.... and then we made a spread sheet that had colums listed like rent, food, gas, power, doctor bills, entertainment, ect.... we wrote down every penny we spent and put it into one of these colums. I thought I spent around $500/month on food and learned it was more like $800 So now we are writing down everything again and this month trying to cut back where we can. We also got into the bad habit of getting paid, going shopping or doing things on the weekend and then paying bills. Now I get paid, pay all the bills, put money into savings and then see what we have left. I hasn't been fun, but necessary. Tracking where it goes is eye opening

[JRScott]

Im and just filed on April 11 this year....had my 341 meeting yesterday...I understant how hard it is. I am a single mother of 3 living on an almost 50k year income...it's hard. Although I am in a better position than some that are my age. I am fortunate however that my monthly trustee payments are only $110.

I have to train myself on how to live on a budget. Any suggestions?!?!

Get you some budget forms and track every penny.

You can find some at daveramsey.com that are free for download.

[tiphani]

Thx....Im going to check that site out.....I hope this budgeting goes well for me and anyone else that is trying to do it. Im young and "budget" was not a word that was in my vocabulary.

[themig90]

It is quite often that young people find themeselves trapped in debt, they fall for the glam and riches and fall in a hole of debt.