When waiting 6 months to file...do you pay CC meanwhile?

[tobee43]

What was helpful for me was when they were such jerks and I had paid and paid and paid, even while unemployed, that I was able to harden my heart. They do not care about you and the efforts you make to pay your bills, so why should we care about them? It also helped to hear a financial counselor tell me that the reality was, I'd actually paid the original debt 10 times over. She was right. I looked at my older statements and the balances had barely nudged even though I was paying over the limit and had not used them during that time.

They made a ton of money off of me - due to my pride and unwillingness to admit I was over my head.

It might be helpful for you to check out the collections post - sure helped me with what to say and what to do.

Good luck - and remember, this is a business decision and you are doing what is necessary to survive.

i was just reading an article about how all the banks took 95% of their customer base and changed the minimum payment from the 2% to the 5%...making for example a $5000 min. payment due WAS $100....after the increase turned into a min. of $250....now, where in the world did or does the bank think people are going to get the extra money from??? duhhhhhh....

so, if the average family has 3 cards that would be $450 a month!

i didn't answer the phone and have no guilt, but those banks sure should...in my humble...LOL!! opinion.

[discouraged]

What was helpful for me was when they were such jerks and I had paid and paid and paid, even while unemployed, that I was able to harden my heart. They do not care about you and the efforts you make to pay your bills, so why should we care about them? It also helped to hear a financial counselor tell me that the reality was, I'd actaully paid the orginal debt 10 times over. She was right. I looked at my older statements and the balances had barely nudged even though I was paying over the limit and had not used them during that time.

They made a ton of money off of me - due to my pride and unwillingness to admit I was over my head.

It might be helpful for you to check out the collections post - sure helped me with what to say and what to do.

Good luck - and remember, this is a business decision and you are doing what is necessary to survive.

[df04527]

Best advice is do not answer the calls. If you happen to pick up one of them - just hang up - don't feel obligated to tell them anything.

[JJCA]

Thanks for the replies. I have stopped paying & am getting lots of calls now. Google voice not working so well since they have my numbers already. It's ok. I will deal with the calls. What to say when they call & I do answer is hard. I have NEVER missed payments before this. Don't want to say "BK" to them. I have been vague & say 'have no funds' to pay. If questioned more, I say loss of income/job etc. A couple offered "hardship" program already..but I know we really can't afford even that & doing so would just waste money.

Good luck to us all...Sure is not what I expected for my life!

[startover24]

We stopped paying cc's about 9 months before filing. The worst part is the constant phone calls and seeing the amount you owe go up drasticly with the late fees and higher rates.

We cancelled our home phone, which helped for a while, but they eventually found our cell phone numbers. Basically, we just ignored them. After we filed I just gave them our attorneys number and they stopped calling.

For me personally, the bank mess is what cost me my job. I wasn't going to pay them anything I didn't have to.

[discouraged]

That's one of the reasons I am so glad I found this forum. I quit paying last June and just filed March 7. For me it was more house than cc's but was still scary for someone who'd never missed a payment in their life. But when I realized no one would work with me, I was super glad that I'd stopped throwing that money away.

[747LUVR]

We defaulted in May/June '09 and filed in January....the only creditor that sued was Citi, and that was in April '10..much to our surprise, it was just sitting on the docket when we filed, so nothing ever came of it in the local courthouse. the amazing thing is the balance exploded once we defaulted, not too much suprising, but those 30% apr's, you just cant recover or get back up. Heck, our bal's went from like 185k to 304k in 18 or 19 months! depressing. Once we defaulted, and we made some partial payments, it didnt do any good, so looking back, we wasted that money with the hopes of better days ahead. live and learn i guess...

[tobee43]

I am in CA as well. From what I see so far, our state seems more lenient on documents and such unless you stick out like a sore thumb. If you pass the means test and don't have many red flags, then you may file sooner than say someone from FL. Unless you have to file now, waiting 6 months is a good plan just to be safe. I am filing this month. I stopped paying the credit cards the first time in my life last August. You might want to consult with several more attys in the area to get the feel of the local area's rules.

If it weren't for the large amount of unsecured debt, I would've filed sooner. The 6 months wait is quite long time to put your life on hold. Once you file, it takes another 3 months until discharge. But overall, it's just a small price to pay for a fresh start and a painful lesson learned.

For peace of mind.
1. Change your home# and cellphone#. Get google voice# and give them that number. Go to the google voice option and turn on the "do not disturb." You will see the missed calls and any voicemails they leave. You will not be bother by 25-30 phone calls each day.
2. Stop paying your cc and save the money for an atty and food and shelter. Get a health checkup as well. Make sure you have a reliable car when you get your fresh start.
3. You probably don't have to worry about lawsuits for about 6 months, but keep all your collections letter and anything from the creditors. Makes filing much easier later on.

good advise! many people used the "google" voice mail.


we just left the state after living in the house over 33 years, but in the state about 38 years....just went underground...new phone...new address...no forwarding address...unlisted number...it was sort of fun...scary, but fun.

[IamOld]

Interesting...had you told any creditors PRIOR to your filing to call your atty??? I may not be able to do so for about 2 months, and I've got a pending lawsuit and a pending repo (of something I don't actually want to keep).

[overit]

I stopped paying anything but house and car in November, and my paperwork was filed last night. I do not care about my post-bk FICO scores, so that was not a consideration for me. I have just a few car payments left, then I will keep making payments into a savings account so I can pay cash for the next one.

I agree w/ the poster above about Google voice. I already used it prior to my financial world crumbling. Just set it to not forward calls to your house number, and you won't hear your phone ring. After I paid my attorney the first $150, his office would have dealt with any that I wanted to send to him, but I just didn't bother.

[Unibrow]

I am in CA as well. From what I see so far, our state seems more lenient on documents and such unless you stick out like a sore thumb. If you pass the means test and don't have many red flags, then you may file sooner than say someone from FL. Unless you have to file now, waiting 6 months is a good plan just to be safe. I am filing this month. I stopped paying the credit cards the first time in my life last August. You might want to consult with several more attys in the area to get the feel of the local area's rules.

If it weren't for the large amount of unsecured debt, I would've filed sooner. The 6 months wait is quite long time to put your life on hold. Once you file, it takes another 3 months until discharge. But overall, it's just a small price to pay for a fresh start and a painful lesson learned.

For peace of mind.
1. Change your home# and cellphone#. Get google voice# and give them that number. Go to the google voice option and turn on the "do not disturb." You will see the missed calls and any voicemails they leave. You will not be bother by 25-30 phone calls each day.
2. Stop paying your cc and save the money for an atty and food and shelter. Get a health checkup as well. Make sure you have a reliable car when you get your fresh start.
3. You probably don't have to worry about lawsuits for about 6 months, but keep all your collections letter and anything from the creditors. Makes filing much easier later on.

[tcreegan]

Hi all,

Shouldn't base BK decisions on your credit score. Make BK decisions on maximizing your long-term and short-term financial position.

If the BK is 200 pts, pre-BK history is 5 pts And some post-BK credit rebuilding would be 100 pts.

...of course, a fat cash downpayment always gets their attention

Tom in Colo

ps: it shouldn't be too hard to get pre-BK negative notations removed.

[NoMoreCards]

Every story is different, I decided to keep paying the minimums right up to the date I filed simply to have no "late" showing on my CR. Granted the BK was a huge hit, but after clean up, I had no late marks to deal with. The CR will show IIB, and after filing date nothing can be recorded, however any late payments prior to filing can still be reported.

If you are unable to pay the minimums...then by all means, don't. As I said, each story is different and in the end you need to do what is right for you and your family.

[tobee43]

Thanks for the replies. I am trying to 'plan' that is why I asked. I have consulted an attorney, he seems to think I should file ASAP, since I had no luxury purchases etc. in last 90 days. Mainly used CC to survive. But some things just are not sitting well, and others even seem to go against what I have been reading here. I suppose I have no choice but to not pay, since I have no money to do so with..but still made me wonder what others do. So many seem to put distance & time between charging & filing...made me wonder what they did about paying!

Thanks again for the input

JJ

it's really good your planning...many of us, just never expected this to happen to US..no way....so we go into survival mode....and it's great to have a sound plan...it just helps a bit with the stress....

best of luck to you...i'm sure you'll do fine....and keep us posted..

[tobee43]

I agree. Truth rules, along with proper planning.

got that....and i'm sure glad i knew the game of chess......wow...it was a tough ride there for awhile.