Crossing the line - from thought to filing. How long did it take you?

[fileda13]

From when I first thought of seriously considering the path of bankruptcy, it took me about 1/2 year to finally sign my 13 papers a week ago.

In hindsight this should have been done quite a while ago, but there must have been that male ego pounding my chest I can do it mentality that kept the gloves on for this long. Did I believe I could generate enough income to "make it"? Not sure, but at this stage of my life I have accumulated enough "material things" to keep me happy (assuming I don't lose anything). So now the learning process begins - stick to a budget, can't get something just because I want it, live simpler, move forward.

[discouraged]

That's the idea. It took so many of us far too long. I am constantly thankful for this forum. It helped me see that this is a BUSINESS decision, just as it is their's to harass you for payments and continually offer 'things' to keep us underwater in life.

Congtaulations on finally making the decision to reclaim your life.

[lillymarlene]

Discouraged is so right. I woke up in an awful panic 10 years ago, with a terrible thought that I was going to go BANKRUPT! I was horrified. I hadn't a clue about how to get ahold of my finances, to get out of my quagmire of debt. Didn't know, but I should of filed years ago. But no, I had to put myself through the torture of digging myself in deeper, and spending a couple of years dodging bill collectors.

Congratulations on making your decision so quickly.

[kornellred]

As someone who is in their second bankruptcy (a Chapter 7 in 1994 and currently 3 years into a Chapter 13) I would say that it takes the average Chapter 13 filer who is filing due to impossible unsecured credit card debt a long time to finally pull the trigger. After learning of the 2005 BAPCPA changes, I suspected that filing was inevitable, and unprovoked APR increases really pushed me over the edge. By December 2007, I knew it was time. I filed in March 2008. I am not sure if filing any sooner would have translated into any advantage in my case. There is no wrong time to file, that's for sure!

[feelingnutsy]

It was just a little bit over a year for me---
between the time that I got an attorney and then filed.

[gmk]

The day I went unemployed I was seeking referrals from attorneys I knew for a good BK lawyer. 2 days later I was in a consultation. We filed four months later.

With the loss of income, fairly substantial debt, underwater house, substantial asset loss due to the tanking economy and little prospect for employment opportunity where I was living, the financial realization was pretty straightforward. I was in trouble.

[sunshinepa]

It took me a year because of a large balance transfer, otherwise it would have been a lot quicker.

[NewPage]

First thought to actual filing? Two years, 7+ months. Should have done it in 2008, but I/we kept thinking "It will get better." And it did; 10 months of 2009 were great year for my husband's business and we had it good. Looking back I wish I'd filed in 2008 b/c we could have made a bigger dent in his debt and/or socked some of that 2009 money away.

[Flamingo]

From when I first thought of seriously considering the path of bankruptcy, it took me about 1/2 year to finally sign my 13 papers a week ago.

In hindsight this should have been done quite a while ago, but there must have been that male ego pounding my chest I can do it mentality that kept the gloves on for this long. Did I believe I could generate enough income to "make it"? Not sure, but at this stage of my life I have accumulated enough "material things" to keep me happy (assuming I don't lose anything). So now the learning process begins - stick to a budget, can't get something just because I want it, live simpler, move forward.

There is always a financial path that leads to BK and it will get to the point where one finally stops the denial and realizes there is really no way out, no one is going to come to the front door with a $100,000 check and you will not hit MegaBucks. Some people ride out this 'financial path' by robbing Peter to pay Paul putting themselves deeper in debt. Many scenarios are folks who have run up a lot of debt and then lose jobs/sources of income and try to survive and not file BK for a while hoping to have to file. That usually backfires when a job does not appear where one made the same as they did with the lost job.

We took a year to retain an attorney when we had to file Chapter 13. The job loss occurred in 2/01 and we filed in 4/02. During that time, all we did was run up more debt hoping a new, comparable job would come through for my hubby but that was during the Tech Bust period when most IT people lost their jobs and there was nothing for higher-end engineers out there except to go overseas. Once the denial left the picture, we investigated filing. It was a difficult, but necessary, decision and we should have looked into it sooner. But we are now 10 years after that filing date and it's as if it did not happen and what we learned during the entire process is priceless.