Why Are/Have You Filed BK?

[whathehell]

Hi all, Newbie here... I am contemplating BK already my eyeballs are popping out with credit card payments and I just cant keep up with the living expenses and too much debt...
I am close to 60K without the LOC that is another 50K, so there is no end if I don't stop paying and declare...

as you can see by my join date I been reading for a while but have not decided to do this... its looks close everyday...

[Steelerbabe]

Took out home equity loan three years ago to pay off exisitng cc debt and did not cut up or close out accounts. Went through bouts of unemployment, reduced hours and reduced wages. Add in no medical insurance (small bsuiness, did not offer) and dental disasters and presto back in debt with cc $25,000

[tinyme]

Well...kind of all of the above.

Before I got married...I had perfect credit. Then I got married and he was TERRIBLE with finances and spent all our money and then some. So we were in the hole at that point. But then I divorced him and became a single mother trying to raise two kids and live on my own...so I wasn't able to catch up on the credit card bills. Oh and he was awarded the house in the divorce and let it be foreclosed on in my name...because he never refinanced the mortgage into his name like he was supposed to.

Then I started having medical problems so I have medical bills. And then there was a lot of things that happened and it has ended up that I've been unemployed since 2007 and am now a full-time student.

So...kinda all of the above.

[nc73]

Cuz I thought the grass was greener elsewhere. Boy was I wrong, my salary kepting dropping and now I just don't make enough.

[jshep]

I was the second generation in a three generation family business. Various members of the family over the years would loan money out to the company, then we would have a big month and pay it back.

Then 9/11 happened, and it impacted the company in a big way. After that we kept loaning money, but the company never had that big month ever again. That kept going on until 2008 when the economy really tanked. The company went under owing me over $200,000. I also got hit with about $200,000 in personal guarantees for company credit cards.

Right after the company closed, I was able to get a job making the same money I did before, and I kept up all the payments. Then, I got laid off for six months. At that time I fell behind. When I was rehired recently, it was with a 50% paycut. After that it was really hopeless.

After the bankruptcy, I'll still have the $200,000 I loaned the old company on my home equity line that I have to make payments on, but I at least will get out from under the $200,000 in unsecured debt from the personal guarantees, which I should be able to manage. As the economy improves, I should get closer to my old pay again.

It's one of those things that I never thought I would have to face. We thought we would always have our own company, and that would be the answer to everything... but, it wasn't. I am in my 50's, so if it were not for being able to file bankruptcy, I doubt I would live long enough to ever pay the money back.

[SURV69]

I was married three+ years ago to a woman who loved to watch QVC and spend money. She always bragged tht she had a nackfor picking the most expensive things.

Money was tight and I always told her to curtail spending and return items she didn't want(about half of what she bought, she never even opened). I put her through college(and did most all of her reports etc..), and she got a decent job paying about $37k.

One night she asked me for a divorce.

I gave her most everything of value(including the house) and moved into a mobile trailer . . . cheapest for a person to live as long as one's not trying to impress people . . . best move I've ever made. I don't pay support and no kids were involved.

ANYWAY, I had a medical issue hit me in December of the first year of post-divorce. My sugar lever shot to about 500 and I went to the hospital . . . gawd, the thngs they bill a person for is unreal.

I then had a problem with my heart, have a 40% blockage and I'm marked as having heart disease. I can throw in my long standing fractured back(two different times and arthritis. I have been overworking my body for years.

ANYWAY, I've been in and out of hospitals more times in this past 2 years than the total of all my brothers in their lifetime.

BTW my three older brothers are all dead . . . all before 60 . . . all different causes and the last death being last summer. This has weighed heavily on me. My only other brother has bad medical issues(Iraq based . . . I think), and I'm looking at life differently now.

My business revolves around the need for houses to be built an properties to be sold. I'm a surveyor, and this man-made disaster/depression has hit my profession exceptionally hard. My earnings are down 50% in the past year, which were already down over 40% from 4 years ago. In the second half of 2009, I've had as many deposits as I would've had in a month, 4 years ago(thankyou ex-wife) . . . my last "normal" year. I see a worse year coming up.

I was one of those guys who set up all my payments on auto-pay and whenever I'd go to the bank I'd make extra payments. Those days are gone and even though the bank once told me I had "15 months credit", on my loan(which I didn't uderstand since I ALWAYS told them to apply extra money to principle), when I missed payments they'd be on me me like flies on xxxx.

SO . . . I sort got a quadruple wammy with the divorce, medical issues, brothers dying and the economy. All this added together spells "Depression" . . . me and the economy have something in common.

Thank God, my sister "finally" talked me into going V.A.. At least the medical bills no longer pile up.

BTW . . . I tried to tagged multiple reasons in the poll . . . didn't work.

[OnTheRocks]

I look at the long term view in regards to my upcoming BK. In 1992 I was making $23.50 hour. My job I was canned from a year ago I was making $23.50 hour. WTF??? I think I could manage the debt fine if pay kept up with cost of living.

[bktmom28]

Hello to all, new here. I've been reading here for a little while because I'm (obviously ) considering bankrupcty. My story is pretty much a repeat of what others have shared about their experiences, the only difference being that we don't owe as much, maybe 24k with a mortgage and two car payments that we would like to reaffirm.

One thought that kept appearing as I've read through this forum is that my husband and I were definitely living beyond our means. I guess raising a family of 5 on one income can look like that. And that's what put us in the dog house, living off one income ( until a year ago ) so I could stay home with the kids.

I'm now working and with our combined wages we aren't making it. Groceries are going on credit and credit is about to run out. We do not want to open another cc account. There is absolutely no where to turn *except* bk. And we have nothing material to show for all of our debt! That's the kicker.

Am looking forward to reading and learning...and terrified to stop paying our creditors.

All I can say is if you are considering it, stop paying now! I wish that we would have known that going into this. All of our payments were going to interest and we were paying creditors before buying groceries which was a HUGE mistake! All of our years of paying on time and more than minimum balances didn't stop them from jacking up interest rates and adding new fees to our cards. Mortgage companies wouldn't assist us in a loan mod and pushed us over the edge. I also found a great way to avoid the creditor calls. Sign up for Google voice. Once they start calling, they pretty much want a place to leave messages. I signed up for one when the call started, changed all my contact info and received very few calls after that. Hang in there and truly know that BK is not the end of the world. It has been the beginning of a new one for us!!!!! We are also a family of 5 and truly never thought we would be in this place, but BK was put in place by our forefathers for a reason. I believe this is what is was intended for. Giving people a new life and a reason to do things right the next time around! Good Luck and Lord Bless!

[jdcat]

Hello to all, new here. I've been reading here for a little while because I'm (obviously ) considering bankrupcty. My story is pretty much a repeat of what others have shared about their experiences, the only difference being that we don't owe as much, maybe 24k with a mortgage and two car payments that we would like to reaffirm.

One thought that kept appearing as I've read through this forum is that my husband and I were definitely living beyond our means. I guess raising a family of 5 on one income can look like that. And that's what put us in the dog house, living off one income ( until a year ago ) so I could stay home with the kids.

I'm now working and with our combined wages we aren't making it. Groceries are going on credit and credit is about to run out. We do not want to open another cc account. There is absolutely no where to turn *except* bk. And we have nothing material to show for all of our debt! That's the kicker.

Am looking forward to reading and learning...and terrified to stop paying our creditors.

[bktmom28]

For us it was plain old stupidity! Our motto was "as long as we can make the payment each month we can charge it". We were so busy trying to "give our kids everything that we never had" and we lost sight of the reasons why our parents had us go without...they didn't live beyond their means! I paid the bills and when our credit card debt ran up to $25K applied for a line of credit to consolidate our payments into one bill with a controlled interest rate with the promise to myself that we would close all but one of the cards. Well, life happened...no raises, higher taxes, car repairs, outrageous gas prices, etc. etc. etc. so we never closed the cards and started charging to the cards again only to max them out once again. Knew we were getting into trouble when we were buying groceries on our credit cards because we had no cash left after making the payments...then the economy crashed and our interest rates went up to 30% and we realized that we couldn't make even the minimums anymore.

This whole experience has been very sobering...if we can't buy it with cash we won't get it. I will not become a slave to Visa/Mastercard/Discover/AmEx or any other credit company again!

I couldn't agree with you more! We will never be slaves to debt again!

[OverItinVA]

For us it was plain old stupidity! Our motto was "as long as we can make the payment each month we can charge it". We were so busy trying to "give our kids everything that we never had" and we lost sight of the reasons why our parents had us go without...they didn't live beyond their means! I paid the bills and when our credit card debt ran up to $25K applied for a line of credit to consolidate our payments into one bill with a controlled interest rate with the promise to myself that we would close all but one of the cards. Well, life happened...no raises, higher taxes, car repairs, outrageous gas prices, etc. etc. etc. so we never closed the cards and started charging to the cards again only to max them out once again. Knew we were getting into trouble when we were buying groceries on our credit cards because we had no cash left after making the payments...then the economy crashed and our interest rates went up to 30% and we realized that we couldn't make even the minimums anymore.

This whole experience has been very sobering...if we can't buy it with cash we won't get it. I will not become a slave to Visa/Mastercard/Discover/AmEx or any other credit company again!

[kc1985]

very long story made very short...Family business went under due to a partner that got into drugs. Took the entire family down with it. Then, couldnt find another job until it was too late.

[debtprison]

This should tell the story:

1999 income - $50,000 Liabilities: $2,000 Age: 21
2000 income - $36,000 Liabilities: $6,000
2001 income - $32,000 Liabilities: $12,000
2002 income - $21,000 Liabilities: $17,000
2003 income - $13,000 Liabilities: $40,000
2004 income - $10,000 Liabilities: $20,000 Chpter 7 filed 2003 Only secured/priority debt remains.
2005 income - $11,000 Liabilities: $24,000
2006 income - $11,000 Liabilities: $30,000
2007 income - $11,000 Liabilities: $37,000
2008 income - $12,000 Liabilities: $55,000 ($45,000 secured/priority debt)

Note: figures are estimates only.

Declining Business, IRS debt, Student Loan debt.

[militarybrat]

My story went on for a while. I was very young and stupid. Went to college where they put credit card apps in the bags at the school store. Applied for some of them. Didn't use them. Freaked out over the amount of student loans I had ($30,000 between Fed and Sallie Mae at the time) came home to try to fix it. I enrolled at the local community college and took out a mixture of Pell Grant and student loans. In my very first semester at the community college I was driving down State Street in Salt Lake City and got into a car accident. I t-boned another car; she never saw me, she claimed, and attempted to drive against six lanes of traffic to get to the other side. My car was totaled and I was left with a back injury that came complete with a note from the doctor advising me not to lift, push, or pull more than 10 lbs for at least 6 months; he later extended it another 6 months. Being unskilled, and in Utah, where the young are a dime a dozen and having no good or bad affiliation with the local dominant religion, I could not find work for anything, especially when I told them I could not lift much. I got depressed. It was later revealed that the other driver in the accident, who was at fault, had no car insurance. So my parents and I had to pay my deductible to get my check to replace my car. I ended up with a lemon, a Saturn that has cost me thousands to repair, but I could do no better because I could not find work.

In 2006 I ended up at Macy's, where being around so much nice stuff was a major weakness. I racked up debt like there was no tomorrow while working there. I was laid off in February as Macy's was redoing the store since it had once been a Meier and Frank. I then worked at a Blimpie's and never got a pay raise. The woman who ran the place was not the smartest. She let the teenaged help play hockey in her store with the raw cookie dough and never fired them for it, despite many customer complaints and eventually there was no business at night, so she cut everyone's hours. Despite the fact that I had always been a hard worker had always showed up and did my job and got along with most of the customers, I got my hours cut. And then a fun thing began: my paychecks from that job began to bounce. The third time this happened, my bank told me that they would no longer cash my paychecks. I ended up quitting.

I quit working for a while because I wanted to go through CNA school and was still going to the community college. At this point I was only going to school because I did not make any money and could not repay my student loans. My grandmother, grandfather, a good friend and my dog all died during this time. It was an awful time. I just kept spending and spending money on the strangest of things. In hindsight, it was all stupidity. I've always wanted to move back to Nevada, which is where I am from, and I should have, there were jobs there once, and people seem to do better there. But I did not.

I finished CNA school and thought that I had an ironclad way to avoid being laid off. Everyone says that anyway: the medical industry always needs help, the medical industry is ALWAYS hiring! The economy began to decline in Utah; my first job was as a hospice aide. The census dried up so bad it wasn't funny. It went from 65 to 29 in a three month period. People were moving in with their dying loved ones or their dying loved ones were moving in with them; they felt there was no need for hospice. Half the people where I worked were laid off. I was one of them. It took me three weeks to find another job; I got lucky and found a full-time one at a facility. The census began to dry up there, too. Families were coming in talking about job cuts and lost hours; they were downgrading the rooms their loved ones were staying in and some others were pulling their loved ones out of the nursing home because they needed the loved one's SS checks to keep from losing the house. The census went from 62 to 40 in three months. People were laid off; hours were cut. I was one of two laid off entirely; others went from full-time to part-time.

I have been unemployed for a month and a half. I can't seem to find work that is beyond PRN (as needed) because no one needs CNA's here, I swear. I've got friends who just became CNAs who cannot find anything; my uncle teaches RNs and tells me that new RNs can't find work either. So don't believe that medical is doing that great; its not!

Ultimately I ended up in BK because the first CNA job loss almost killed me. I missed a payment once (they did not report it to the credit bureaus though) and the payment became so bad that my entire first paycheck from the new job went to it and I had to pay for gas for my car to get to work with a CC. So when I got laid off a second time, I decided I was going to continue to contribute my share to the family grocery bill and keep the car going. As a result I ended up filing. I felt there was no other way. CitiBank has no interest in cooperating. They even raised my interest rates in January, increasing my minimum monthly payments.

Funny thing is, I've always wanted to move back to Nevada; its where I am from; had I played my cards right, I could have been there years ago and not have had to deal with being so underworked and having less than stellar jobs. My dad's boss owns a business in Vegas; they paid well, I could have ended up there. For some reason, even though I honestly hate Utah, I never did take them up on it. Now I am hoping the receptionist down there will quit or they will need a new one.

So when I say I made some stupid choices, I'm not kidding!

[lostinnola]

Well I must say it was a mixture of bad financial decisions that put as at living at our means combined with a relocation that did not exactly work as planned. My wife and I purchased a house in 2006, right at the top of the housing boom. We also took out a home equity loan on the house which we consolidated some of our debt and spent money we shouldn’t have. Both things were big mistakes. Within a year or two our son was born. My wife was relocated to work that was about an hour drive each way. With gas at $4.50 a gallon, we made the decision to move closer to her work. With our house now under water by $50-$60,000, there was no way of selling it. We decided to rent our house out, but it was at a loss each month. We bought another house closer to my wives work (another bad move). Up to this point, we were broke but we had never had a late payment on anything. A little time passed and I was accepted into an alternative certification program to be a teacher in high needs schools (very similar to Teach For America where you get placed into a school and make a full salary). I would not get paid for 3 months, but would end up getting paid a full teacher salary. My wife and I thought about it and prayed about it and decided to make the move. We knew that we had enough savings/retirement money to make the move and not miss a single payment. We sold our condo via shortsale and moved 800 miles from home. The issue we ran into was that my wife ended up getting a job paying less than we expected and I was never placed into a school. First time in history the program I am in was never ever able to place someone. Teach For America has over 50 people without positions as well. As a result, I am now substitute teaching. Combined, we are making about $30-$40,000 less than we expected and $50-$60,000 less than we did the year before. While we are not proud to do it, we feel as though this will give us a clean slate and allow us to make much better financial decisions in the future.