Some questions please...

[last_option]

Hello,

I have always paid my bills on time but due to overwhelming interests on my credit cards (about 28% each card), I am now struggling to pay my debts. Of the almost $2,000.00 monthly I pay on all my cards, only a fraction of it goes to the principal because of the skyrocketing interest.

My monthly minimum payments are even bigger than my salary. As much as I want to continue paying my cards, I am already to a point that I can no longer pay them because it is just too much. Even though I don't buy anything new anymore, the debts continue to accumulate because of the ballooning interests.

I am also off work for now because I was under evaluation for my breast lumps. I will be having surgery soon.

Anyway, I was considering Debt Management Credit Counseling Agencies but I was told by friends that it does not work and it will just prolong my bad situation. As much as I try to avoid filing bankruptcy, I guess this is my last option.

I do not have a house and our car is only under my husband's name.

I do hope you could help me...some of my questions are:

1)Which is better...Chapter 7 or Chapter 13?

2)My spouse and my mother are co-applicants on some of my cards...Is it okay if I am the only one to file bankruptcy? I do not want to involve them.

3)Will my husband's 401K be affected although I am the only one filing?

I do really hope you could help me and please kindly let me know the answers to my questions.

I am not considering filing to run from my bills...I am just running out of options... Thank you

[Butterfly]

We know youre not running away, things happen. Let me tell you I know about the interest rate out there, they're crazy! I didn't want to file Bankruptcy either so I called a couple debt consolidaters and the ones that I called told me that I had to have two credit cards LOL OK I have one credit card and one Benificial loan which don't ever do the Beneficial thing, wow on the charges they put on that. So bankruptcy was my only choose after that. My lawyer told me to file chapter 7, but I don't know to which is better. And really I don't know about the co-applicants, but they did sign a paper saying that if you couldn't pay they would. So I don't know how that would work.
I don't think that the 401 would be bothered by this. But not sure. Sorry I couldn't answer your questions, expertly, but I'm sure someone will be around that will know. I just wanted to tell you about your friend is probably right.

[shygal]

Hi last option, Well let me tell you.. we tried the credit counseling centers and they are a BIG FAT joke !! We never really saw our balances getting any lower !! All we did was prolong a very bad situation... and now we have to file Bankruptcy !! We tried to avoid it as well, but sometimes there is just nothing you can do. My husbands business went into the toliet.. the bills kept coming.. and here we are !We are in the process of filing now... and after speaking with a lawyer..you really start to feel a little better