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**rrockinggramma** · 11-21-2007, 01:27 AM

If you have already filed you won't be paying on any of the unsecured debt listed in your petition anymore. They won't even call you now.

**keepmine** · 11-21-2007, 05:45 AM

Creditor calls usually stop real quick. Many lenders subscribe to this:www.banko.com or a similar service. They sweep federal court databases daily. I filed on a Sat. {electronically}. By Monday afternoon, creditor calls had stopped.

Congratulations on thinging of life post bk. I never did the Dave Ramsey thing but, here's what I did. You have to have a hh budget that leans on living below your means. We also shop at Krogers {they double coupons up to 50 cents}, try and curtail driving as much as possible and all the other things that common sense tells you about economizing and saving money.
But, budgeting just takes you so far. Inflation will eat you up over time if you just look at the expense side of the ledger. The only way to really thrive post bk is, increase your income. Within a few weeks of discharge, I got a better job and a few months after that, I picked up a pt job for weekends. More cash in the bank will solve a lot of lifes problems.
I'd also encourage you to max out your 401K to the extend of your employers match. Also, get long and shortterm disability polices and be sure your auto insurance conforms to state law. Don't forget homeowners/rental insurance as well.
Good luck!

**boinga** · 11-21-2007, 12:33 PM

Well that's good to hear I shouldn't be getting any calls.

Second jobs are out of the question for me. I'm in a profession that expects you to work well above and beyond the salaried 40-hr work week -- it's one of those "not just a job" jobs; you have to be in love with it and passionate about the work. The pay is decent and promotions/raises good, so as long as I can get a fresh start I should be OK.

I was actually just on the verge of getting a second job before I filed. That was one of the things that was part of my "aha!" moment. Professionally I'd be shooting myself in the foot on something I've worked very, very hard to get.

The one thing I have hanging over me is $18K in student loans from back in my undergrad days. (Back when they would default you at the drop of a pin, demand all the money up front, then not do anything and charge you interest for the next 10 years until Sallie Mae got their act together. My actual loans were more like $10K.) So initially after getting an emergency buffer in place I'm going to work on accelerating the payments on that before bulking up the retirement funds. I'm gonna shoot for 5 years on a repayment plan that has 18 years left in it. That will cut my interest down from $21K to $5K, so it's equivalent to saving $16K over 5 years.

I also have a car with 190K miles on it that will probably have to be dealt with in the next couple years.

I do have renters insurance, disability, good auto insurance, etc. I have eeked by without having any late payments so far because I have gotten very frugal with shopping and groceries, so that will continue. I was stunned when I did the means test and discovered that without all the debt payments (except student loan) I had a negative disposable income. That was part of my aha! moment too. So THAT's why it's been so freaking hard to get by! Even with actual expenses my disposable is way below what I'd need for a Chapter 13. (City I live in has one of the highest costs of living in the country.)

Thanks for the input!

**songbird81** · 11-21-2007, 03:05 PM

We took the Dave Ramsey course and found it very enlightening. He tries to be entertaining during the videos while still getting his message across.

**boinga** · 11-21-2007, 03:57 PM

I just watched the first part of the Dave Ramsey course and I'm glad I chose it. I was worried he might be too "preachy" but he is fun to listen to.

Reminds of things my dad always harped on. Wish I'd listened! He built several houses without borrowing money. The one we were building when I was in high school took about 3 years to finish because of that. LOL But he got it to the point where it was habitable, then did the floors when we had the money, then finished the living room. He was not a well-paid person. But now he's retired on an island with an ocean view, living in yet another of his "cash-only" houses. I've never seen him stress about money.

I've just had my head in the sand when it comes to finances because I didn't like dealing with them. And the more I didn't deal with them, the less I liked it!

It's a great relief actually to set up a CASH budget that actually works. (I'm using the You Need A Budget software also -- which I think is great.)

I really hope people who are going through bk take the opportunity to evaluate their lifestyle to avoid similar problems in the future. I see it as a pretty remarkable opportunity to finally get it right.

**MajorMike** · 11-21-2007, 04:43 PM

you have 190K and you're still keeping that car for a few years? wow! We have 30K on our one SUV and are freaking about going over 70K in 5 years! We're used to a new car every 3...but that isn't going to happen now.

**boinga** · 11-21-2007, 04:59 PM

LOL I think that's another thing I learned from dear old dad. We never, ever had a car anywhere near new. We never had a car payment. I'm in my mid-40's and have never had a car payment. I plan to keep this one as long as I can to save up for the next one.

It's a Toyota by the way -- if you take care of them you can keep these for 200K+ miles and not have extraordinary repair costs.

I have a friend who kept his Honda Civic for over 400K miles, original engine.

One other advantage -- totally covered in the exemptions!

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