1 year after CH 7 Discharge...Life is much better

[mickeyme]

This month marks our 1 year anniversary of our Ch 7 discharge. and we are almost all

[Faust]

Congrats to you!! What a relief! I hope we are in the same spot a year from now.

[mickeyme]

You will be. Just try to keep a clear head and make the best decisions for you and your family. They relief for us did not come without our fair share of grief and heartache but we pulled through and so will you.

[Michigan1951]

Very encouraging report back to the forum. Thank you!

[Happy]

Congrats!

[LimpDisc]

Great story! I hope you continue to have a successful fresh start.

[Dannmcg357]

mikeyme
Congrats and thanks, it is encouraging to hear positive feedback from vets! What were some things that were tough living cash only ? I worry about traveling (plane tickets, hotel, rental car, etc.) What did you have to work through or do with out because of BK?

[cfgdag]

Dannmcg357,
Although I am not the person who started this thread I thought I would chime in on what we are doing. We have been cash only since July. In the beginning while we were still paying our mortgage and saving up for our attorney things got tight a few times with cash only. But we managed. It meant cutting coupons, shopping grocery store ads, cutting out alot of extras like eating out or shopping for clothes, shoes, etc unless totally necessary. And when we did shop it was shopping sales/clearance. I also did a few haircuts at home for my son. Now that we stopped paying house and have no more credit card bills, we are much better off and have a nice little nest egg saved. We still try to do alot of what we did when we were strapped for cash but we do allow ourselves some splurging. As far as traveling, I use a prepaid Visa card that I got from Walmart. Whenever I know I am going to book something online, I just got to Walmart and put that amount of money on the card. Then I use the card just like a Visa, except when the money is gone, it's gone until I reload it. It's worked very well for us.

As far as "working through" things for BK, the hardest thing was actually filing for BK. I had alot of emotional issues with it (feeling guilty, etc). I have also had to work through letting the house go. Alot of decisions were made because of the "business" part of it made sense...even though my heart wanted something different. So I guess the hardest things were more emotional for me...not so much money/luxury issues.

[Dannmcg357]

Thanks cfgdag
I never thought about a pre paid visa, great idea. I sometimes have the chance to travel where I work and not having a cc worried me. Thanks for your feedback, I haven't filed yet and I completly understand the emotional aspect, worring what others will think/say, feeling of failure, and giving up things that I worked hard for. Good luck going forward, sounds like your much happier now.

[cfgdag]

You are welcome! Trust me, I come from a family that thought BK was for people who were "less" than us. Although most of our debt was due to me being out of work and on bedrest for months during my pregnancy (I am 1/2 the household income)...some of it was our fault (didn't cut back when we should have). It was hard to admit that. We were used to charging what we wanted. If we wanted a new camera, boom we would buy it. Now is a different story. Paying cash and actually SEEING the money leave my hand...I do not buy unless I really need or REALLY want it. This is my new rule. If I don't have the cash in my pocket, I don't buy. If I have to go home and get cash from my stash, I better think twice. I only keep enough money in checking to pay bills and put gas in the car. Although this is a completely different way of doing things for us, it is working very well. It's nice to be able to see the money in savings add up. Do try the prepaid Visa from Walmart. It costs 3 bucks to reload and then 3 bucks a month to keep any balance on there but thats way less than finance charges with a credit card.

[AlreadyFiled]

::: stands up :::::

I am also one year out of BK. I was able to keep my car and I own a home. Surviving off no credit cards. Cash only. And this time, I save for what I 'want' and only purchase what i 'need'. I am definately more money conscience. I can't believe how quick a year came and how much better I feel with that behind me.

My best advice:

"The hardest part of a bankruptcy is mentally accepting that you are going through a bankruptcy. Once you can accept it, the rest is a breeze" -Me 2010

I promise!

[mickeyme]

Closing a business is what forced us into BK...at least that is what I thought. When I took a step back I found that our personal debt was pretty close to our business debt. That was when I knew the life we were living was not ours as much as it was our CC's. This was the hardest realization...the habit of reaching for the plastic was hard to break. Prior to filing BK in July 08' we had not used the cards since Jan 08'. Now going on 2 yrs of no CC (or “cash only”) we are living OUR lives with no thanks to the CC's anymore. The hardest part of the BK for us was the 341 meeting...we felt so violated and exposed, but after that we picked ourselves up and put it behind us.

As for travel I use my Bank Visa / Debit card as a CC for hotels and flights and I have not had a problem yet. Prepaid VISA is a great idea...I have a few friends use them and they love it. I would use one as well but I have $1 transferred from my Checking to my Savings every time I use my Debit card so now I have a nice little side savings.

I am excited that I have my financial life back and I am in control. It sounds like all of you are in or on their way to this same place.

[Hoss454]

Congrats, I too cant wait to start my life over again.
Hoss

[keepmine]

I guess I'm the vet here. The 14th of this month was the 4th anniversary of my discharge.
Life improved the day I filed-the phone went silent and the mailman didn't need a palletjack to deliver all the dunning notices I was getting.
Post bk, the big thing is, raise your income and protect yourself at all times.
I can't encourage people enough that you not only have adequate auto and homeowners/renter insurance but, you and your spouse need both long and shortterm disabilty policies. Also, don't file unless, you have a job with health insurance benefits or have your own insurance. We've had 2 threads lately from people who filed and had no health insurance and then post bk ended up in the hospital and unable to pay the bill.
Yes, the fresh start is very real but, just realize a bk discharge is just a piece of paper releasing you from past debts. I trust we've all learned our lesson about credit cards.Going forward, try and protect yourself from things you can't control like, accidents or illness and you're not insured.