It would be nice to see your personal list of creditors and amounts for everyone

[caitybird]

Here's our list of stuff - not much at all compared to many. We don't have a house (and may never get one with a bk and this economy! ). I didn't include 7300 on our car because we plan to keep it. The biggest thing is the surrender of our mobile home because sooner or later they would come after us for the deficiency. I also didn't include student loans since those aren't dischargeable (109K).

Green Tree 23,386.81
Target National Bank 190.39
Target National Bank 194.78
GE Money Bank 302.86
GE Money Bank 299.74
Citibank (SD) 267.74
Citibank (SD) 2,094.43
Citicorp Trust Bank 1,918.39
HSBC 1,064.05
HSBC 623.52
HSBC 454.96
First Premier Bank 395.55
First Premier Bank 297.38
Capital One Bank 534.93
Medical 265.97
Medical 242.00
Medical 144.04
Medical 74.00
First National Bank 3,038.31
Checking Account* 981.00
Misc 38.87
Misc 15.72
Misc 15.71
Misc 26.95
Payday Loan 995.00
Payday Loan 492.50
Payday Loan 390.00
Payday Loan 260.00
Payday Loan 379.50
Payday Loan 390.00

Total: 39,775.10

*Former checking account by the time we went to 341 since some creditors kept hitting the account and the bank kept charging fees.

[debtmonster]

qoute
What a fine example you are dm lol. you should take some of your own advice.just because you get approved for the crap dont mean you could afford it

I am really getting fed up with your comments. I wish to God that you lived close by so I could visit you in person.

You have the worst grammar and punctuation I have ever seen. You have no business even posting on here at all. You post like some 13 year old kid.

[Flamingo]

At the time we bought the Escalade, my husband was making $60K/year. Of course, we had $60K in credit card debt, plus our $260K mortgage and then took on the extra payment. But, according to the sales guy "We could afford it".

It's funny because we went back to the original dealership we bought the Escalade from about a month ago and they offered us $8500 to trade it in. I flipped out---"Are you serious?!?! We just bought it, LESS THAN A YEAR AGO FROM YOU FOR ALMOST $22K AND YOU'RE OFFEREING ME $8500?!?!?"

The same sales guy that said we could afford the Escalade pulled our credit and saw our bankruptcy. I said "Do you still think we can afford the Escalade now?"

I love your posting because it is a great teaching tool all around. How many people actually look up car prices online and do their homework before they go to buy any car? How many salesman have told us, "Geez, wouldn't this hot new car look great in the driveway of your new house? You'll be the envy of all your neighbors!" Car salesman are trained to to make you feel you can afford it and look good in it and make you feel important. We want to look like we can afford it to the salesman and the staff so we go ahead and purchase it and later realize what a mistake it was. And of course the salesman won't get any commission if you don't purchase the car so if you show interest in a vehicle, you will probably end up driving out of there with it. Hopefully your post will teach anyone reading it to do car homework online before they purchase anything and go in armed with information as to pricing and learn not to be intimidated by sales people. It's a business out to make money and you are the person coming in with the money. Simple as that. Going through BK teaches one a lot about money and control and that material items are just that - material. Vehicles are overpriced for a reason - so the business and salespeople can make money. Remember that when you walk into buy one. Any car depreciates once you drive it off the lot. Just think of what the salesperson and the dealership made on your used Escalade.

[landofpoor]

qoute
Don't take this the wrong way, but you had no business buying a $200k home with a $40k income. Your house should cost no more than 3x your annual salary. 3 x $40k = $120k. There lies your problem. You should have not even been approved for that loan. That's a perfect example of buying beyond your means and knowing it right from the get-go. When I bought all of the things I had, I had the income and qualified for it. Now I see why you were upset about a $400+ payment on an Escalade. I thought you were making a ton of money at the time and then lost it all like I did. I see the banks as being the cause of a lot of this.


What a fine example you are dm lol. you should take some of your own advice.just because you get approved for the crap dont mean you could afford it

[Stilltheone]

Don't take this the wrong way, but you had no business buying a $200k home with a $40k income. Your house should cost no more than 3x your annual salary. 3 x $40k = $120k. There lies your problem. You should have not even been approved for that loan. That's a perfect example of buying beyond your means and knowing it right from the get-go. When I bought all of the things I had, I had the income and qualified for it. Now I see why you were upset about a $400+ payment on an Escalade. I thought you were making a ton of money at the time and then lost it all like I did. I see the banks as being the cause of a lot of this.

We absolutely know we had no business buying the house we did. At the time we bought it, we lived in my parents' living room/dining room. We were desperate. Of course, the bank (Countrywide) said we could "afford" it...and we could.

Until our Arm adjusted, until we rolled in $60K of cc debt..

And now we live in a home, where we owe more than what it's worth.

[debtmonster]

Don't take this the wrong way, but you had no business buying a $200k home with a $40k income. Your house should cost no more than 3x your annual salary. 3 x $40k = $120k. There lies your problem. You should have not even been approved for that loan. That's a perfect example of buying beyond your means and knowing it right from the get-go. When I bought all of the things I had, I had the income and qualified for it. Now I see why you were upset about a $400+ payment on an Escalade. I thought you were making a ton of money at the time and then lost it all like I did. I see the banks as being the cause of a lot of this.

At the time I bought my house, I was making $40k and our house was $120k. At the time we bought the BMW, we were making almost $106k household income. I had to get pre-approved for a home. They maxed me out at $130k based on my $40k/yr. household income.

I remember back when I had a $42000/yr. day job. My after tax paychecks were only $600/wk. So $2400/mo. isn't anything to live on in today's world of high inflation.

As of right now our average income is dropping to $3200-4200/mo. I got paid this month and it was $4200 gross. $2000 of that $4200 is spent already. $1000 for the cars and $1000 for the BK retainer fee. A friend of mine said I'm supposed to put away 20% of that $4200 for self-employment taxes, so that's $840.

$4200
-$2000
-$840
------
Leaves us just over $800 to last until next month. $800 to buy groceries, pay the utilities, Internet, etc. Then I have $400-500/mo. in business expenses to keep my home business running. So that leaves us virtually nothing.

The reason we're still paying for the cars is to meet the means test. They have to be in our possession to qualify for the means test. If I lose the cars now, then we can't include them. I will probably be filing BK in April or May. I have to wait until my income throttles down some more so I can be under the radar.

I think even after the BK is done, we will still be in the poor house. We can't live on $50k. We need go to back up to the $100k mark again. Companies need to stop this not hiring crap and better start paying better wages. I am tired of seeing everyone so damned broke. This crap has to end and it has to end NOW!

[Stilltheone]

If I am paying for something, there is no way I am going to be pressured into getting anything I don't want.

Here-in lies the problem...LOL

I did want the Escalade, but going through bankruptcy has really opened my eyes to what's really important. I always thought it was to have an Escalade, see the envy of our neighbors, friends, strangers. Now, not so much.

Now, I feel like I'm living a lie and being isn't so important to me anymore. What's important is being able to afford it and right now isn't affordable.

Again, sorry for getting so off track.

[landofpoor]

Sorry, as I was typing my last post, I thought to myself "Gosh, I've gotten off track".

This is my last post on this thread. My apologies!

your fine stilltheone wasnt meant at all towards you

[Cali]

If I am paying for something, there is no way I am going to be pressured into getting anything I don't want.

We traded in our Pontiac Montana van. Our payment was $270.

The sales guy at the dealership pressured me into the Escalade. Our payment is $460.

I think it was a little of both. I had the sales guy and my husband, saying "You can afford it", but it scared me to death. Yet, at the same time, I wanted it BECAUSE it was an Escalade.

Now, I can't even stand to look at it. If my husband didn't drive 100 miles a day roundtrip to work, I'd let him drive it and I'd take his clunker.

[Tbornetun]

That is not what landofpoor was talking about. Your fine.

[Stilltheone]

think someone found company lol

Sorry, as I was typing my last post, I thought to myself "Gosh, I've gotten off track".

This is my last post on this thread. My apologies!

[landofpoor]

think someone found company lol

[Stilltheone]

At only him making $60k with a $260k mortgage, yeah, there's NO WAY you could afford that at the time. That's way too much house for that little money. I bought my house for $120k and I was making $40k at the time which was not much less!! I could not even dream of buying a $260k home on $60k. That's just INSANITY!!

GM cars DROP LIKE A STONE!! I remember my Camaro's always being worth 50% of what I paid after 2 years. This is exactly why I am including BOTH my cars in the BK. I have no desire to re-affirm either of them because they are so buried upside down just like your Escalade. I owe $37k on that Bimmer and it's barely worth $20k as a trade. I owe $13k on my Saturn and it's worth maybe $5-6k as a trade. FORGET THAT!! They can HAVE THEM BACK and I'll buy a beater car for now.

What's sad is when we bought this house, we bought it for $200K, with my husband making $40K. We refi'ed twice, rolling in $60K worth of cc debt. Now, my husband makes about $55K/year, after having a pay cut and then eventually getting a promotion. It's nice without the credit cards, but the Escalade payment is dragging us down.

You will only find GM cars in this driveway. We've owned Pontiacs (Montana/Grand Prix GTP), Chevy's (Camaros/Pick ups) and now Cadillac. If it's not a Chevy or a Pontiac, forgedda'bout it. I'd love to get a Venture and my husband wants a GTO...someday. It's not looking too great right now.

At least you're not reaffirming. I *WISH* we didn't reaffirm the Escalade, but, at the time, it was worth $24K...now I can't even get $14K out of it.

"Other recession"? Dude, I was 11 years old when Bush Sr. took office. I don't REMEMBER the "other recession".

[debtmonster]

At only him making $60k with a $260k mortgage, yeah, there's NO WAY you could afford that at the time. That's way too much house for that little money. I bought my house for $120k and I was making $40k at the time which was not much less!! I could not even dream of buying a $260k home on $60k. That's just INSANITY!!

GM cars DROP LIKE A STONE!! I remember my Camaro's always being worth 50% of what I paid after 2 years. This is exactly why I am including BOTH my cars in the BK. I have no desire to re-affirm either of them because they are so buried upside down just like your Escalade. I owe $37k on that Bimmer and it's barely worth $20k as a trade. I owe $13k on my Saturn and it's worth maybe $5-6k as a trade. FORGET THAT!! They can HAVE THEM BACK and I'll buy a beater car for now.

What I'm worried about is where we will live after the sheriff kicks us out. We'll have a BK on our credit report and we'll have no money and no way to rent. We'll literally be homeless.

My first Camaro was $17,500. I was making $42k at the time I bought it. It was repo'd in 1996. The bank hasn't forgotten about it all this time. It's still on their books as active. I called to get the information for the BK. They said the current payoff is $17,600!! MORE THAN WHAT I PAID FOR THE CAR after I did a year's worth of payments!! WOW!

After I lost this car, I got an '89 Grand Prix with 130,000 miles on it. It had tons of problems. I got a $500 motorcycle and drove that around, which also had tons of problems. I got tired of all of the repairs and that's why I went back to buying brand new cars again. Some how the repo's fell off and they sold me another car again. Then in 1991 I bought a VW for $19,000. I lost my job when Bush Sr. became president and we had that other recession. I couldn't get a job to save my life after sending out thousands of resumes. Then they repo'd that as well. It's like no matter what you do, you can't beat the system. You either make car payments forever, or you constantly drive a car that leaves you stranded on a regular basis.

I am just getting tired of it. Anytime I buy a new car, something always happens 1 to 3 years later. Beater cars don't work for me since I always drive 20,000 to 30,000 miles per year. The cars wear out and have tons of problems. When I had that VW repo'd, I had 18,000 miles on the car in only 8 months!!! It was a lease. I'm sure they were pissed off about that.

[Stilltheone]

Gotcha. I didn't know it was old. I've owned many Camaro Z28's in the past. I used to get leaks. Is it a 6 or 8 cylinder Camaro? I remember that Camaro having a sticker price of about $18,000 for the 6-cylinder. My Z28 was $25,000. I was paying $500/mo. on that back in 1999. I had a job paying $33/hr. back then.

Yeah, that would be upsetting to owe all that money on a car with 100,000 miles. Those things are so upside down now, it's not even funny.

What was the household income at the time for the big jump in payment?

My Camaro is a V-6. We've had the usual maintenance stuff, but nothing major. I've had 2 accidents with it also. My husband is a store manager for an automotive place, so he's pretty on top of our cars.

I have no clue how much it cost back in '98 when my parents bought it. It was my high school graduation gift. Never saw the price.

"Upsetting" is not the word I have for owing what we owe on that stupid Escalade. We've been to dealership after dealership and the most we've been offered is $11,400 for trade in. It's pretty hard to roll in $8500 of negative equity.

At the time we bought the Escalade, my husband was making $60K/year. Of course, we had $60K in credit card debt, plus our $260K mortgage and then took on the extra payment. But, according to the sales guy "We could afford it".

It's funny because we went back to the original dealership we bought the Escalade from about a month ago and they offered us $8500 to trade it in. I flipped out---"Are you serious?!?! We just bought it, LESS THAN A YEAR AGO FROM YOU FOR ALMOST $22K AND YOU'RE OFFEREING ME $8500?!?!?"

The same sales guy that said we could afford the Escalade pulled our credit and saw our bankruptcy. I said "Do you still think we can afford the Escalade now?"