ANyone Glad they Did IT?

[jennylynn98]

Is anyone glad they went ahead and filed, or wish they would have stuck it out longer? Im having a really hard time with this and conflicting answers from anyone i talk to has me super confused.

[hhou812hh]

Good question. Filing for bk isn't always easy. The best way to decide is to balance out how long will it take for you to completely pay down your debt as you are probably doing now vs. filing for any bk chapter and wiping out you debt sooner rather then later. If you can wipe out your debts that you have now in 3 years or so then I would consider NOT filing. If you feel that your debts will take 7 to 10 years plus all of the unexpected things that get us all like car/home repairs or health issues, then filing would be the thing to do. 20 years ago a friend of mine filed for bk owing just under $5000. Since we were young we weren't making much money, but I still thought what he did was wrong since he still could have negotiated away the interest and paid it all off in 3 years. Over 10k is a different story.

Good luck!

[tdooders]

We are glad we filed. We have been contemplating it for years and actually wished we had filed sooner. By prolonging it we just got further and further into debt thinking we could get out of it. Did we feel bad for filing? Yes. Did we wish there was an alternate solution? Of course. But after we filed there was a huge relief lifted. We no longer have creditors calling. No longer have stacks of bills coming each day. We filed March 29 2005 and were discharged June 29 2005. Exactly 3 months. We are now saving money. Imagine that saving money and the first time we went to a store and paid cash for the simpliest things was the best feeling. Yeah there are some people who look at us with disapproval and look down on us but they werent in our situation. They didnt know what it was like. So they can say whatever they want about us. And frankly if those people have nothing better to do than think and talk about our finances and such then those people really need to get a life.

[robivi3]

In our situation we are very glad we did it. My personal economic situation is differnt from most in that I'm in an extremely secure job that pays very well and home values here have tripled in less than five years. So, I can't say it is for everyone. In my case, it took a huge monkey off my back.

It's nearly two years behind me and life is much better now.

[InDebtInMD]

I'm glad we did it. No matter how difficult the road ahead may be when it comes to getting loans (i.e., a mortgage) I am SO glad we did this.

My wife and I had dug a hole that we were NEVER going to be able to get out of, unless we had won the lottery (hard to do when you don't buy tickets )

Our debt was all a result of not having a budget and planning for large expenses and spending too much. My wife knew we were in debt, but did not have a clue of the total amount. I HATED keeping her in the dark on this, but there never seemed to be a good time to bring it up.

That is past us now and we are now communicating about money, and sticking to our budget, which is based on the list of expenses we came up with for the BK petition.

ps - we are 8 days away from the last date for objections to discharge. Please everyone keep us in your payers/fingers crossed/etc.

Thanks for everyone who contributes to this forum - it has been a wealth of knowledge and comfort in this unsettling time.

[jennylynn98]

Thanks so much everyone, I feel better now. I wuish you all luck and wish me luck, im going to talk to some other lawyers tommorow and will prob be filing in the next couple of weeks.

[Minnymouth]

Hello

Chapter 7 is the best way to go if you qualify and even if you have to do a 13 it will take a lot of relief off your shoulders and relieve a lot of stress.

Talk to 2 attorneys - free consultations and let us know what they say and how your going to file.

Then we can be "there" for you thru it all - with morale support, opinions, thoughts, and a general idea of what to expect.


Even though my Chapter 7 was a very unusual one with a very unusual outcome --- filing was the BEST THING I ever did....

There's no way I could have solved the problem without filing and I fought it for years.... before I filed.

I'm just thankfull that society has allowed "bankruptcy" and allowed me a "clean slate".....

Try to file as soon as possible, especially if you qualify for a Chapter 7.

Hope we can help,

Minny

[herekitty]

Thanks for posting this thread jennylynn98. I was originally doing research to try and find out the answer to this question as well before I started to file.

I'm mid-filing right now, I've done the paperwork and am waiting on signing the petition this week. So far, I'm relieved that I'm doing it.

I just graduated from school with two bachelors degrees and found myself way over my head in debt with all the credit card purchases I made and the medical bills. I already work about 60 hours a week and was in fear of trying to get another part-time job to just try and make it every month. I finally realized that to live the life that I want, I need to get out of the cloud of debt over my head. It is a difficult decision to make but so far I'm glad I did. It will teach me to live within my means and still let me save a little for doing something I've always wanted - like taking a vacation!

[edwards2]

Despite the fact we have had the filing from ---- I am glad we did too. Actually, we didnt have any other options. We incurred our debt 3 years ago and have been trying to pay it ever since but finally came to the realization it was an exercise in futility. Robbing Peter to pay Paul never works. Sooner or later there are no more Peters to rob. We were told we should have filed when my husband's medical situation first occurred but we resisted probably for all the same reasons you guys did. It was absolutely our last resort. I do feel like a great weight has been lifted. I, like a lot of you, wasn't sleeping and worried about the bills constantly. I too am grateful there are opportunities to start over. Yes we will live with the stigma; we didnt expect to have our bills go away and not suffer any consequences. But we can and will live with them. We have learned a lot from this experience, albeit painfully, but we can and will survive this. Filing BK is painful but it isnt fatal.

[freshstarter]

We were told we should have filed when my husband's medical situation first occurred but we resisted probably for all the same reasons you guys did. It was absolutely our last resort..

Who told you that? Our situation happened a few years ago.

[Pinktiger]

I think I'm going to be happy I did it.

Our situation began about 10 years ago, when I was fired from my job (actually, my contract was not renewed -- I'm a college teacher) and we had just borrowed money against our then paid-for home in order to do some remodeling that was long overdue. I thought I had finally made it to the brass ring, but I was wrong. The next year I took a job four hours from home and had to commute home on alternate weekends. My daughter was a freshman in college at the time and it was very hard on both me and my husband. I had to buy furniture for my apartment away from home, and had other expenses, and things began to unravel.
I came home at the end of that year because I couldn't bear to be gone. It took me six months to find work, and for awhile I thought all would be well. We were saving again, paying our bills, and things looked good. Then my husband had a heart attack and had to retire early from his business. Our income plunged. A year later a regime change at the job I had resulted in my being out of work again.
It took me nearly a year to find the job I have now, and have held, for six years. But the salary was lower and the benefits were terrible. Two months later my husband was diagnosed with cancer.
Our insurance benefits were terrible. The heart attack had only cost us out of pocket about $100. Now the cancer cost us several thousand in copays and out of pocket expenses. His health deterioriated, then improved, and he is now cancer free.
Six months ago he had another heart issue (not an attack, but almost) and they put a stent in his artery. The doctor said he was not out of the woods -- he will eventually have to have another procedure.
He cannot work.
A year ago I started selling real estate on top of my other job. I have made some money, but most of it has gone to pay medical costs and pay for setting up a business. In the meantime, my health has suffered -- stress disorders, mostly.
Six months ago I realized I had dug myself into a spiraling hole of debt we could not recover from. In the last 9 years in order to survive, I have had to refinance the house twice; I refused to do it again, so I took out loans and maxxed out my cards to the tune of $67,000. Some of the money was used for travel -- I have to travel with my work and I don't get reimbursed for all of it. Some was used for trips to see my mother, and to get away from here with my husband -- not expensive trips, but car trips.
And some was used to pay off credit cards, which I in turn maxed out again, so I could pay the bills I had.
Bankruptcy will clear the slate of all but the house loan of $88,000.
I look back on everything, and honestly I don't know what I could have done differently. Even if I had not wasted one red cent, I would still be in serious debt trouble.
So when this is all over, if it ever ends, (I filed two weeks ago and have the 341 set for October), I think I will be glad.
Sorry this is so long.

[robivi3]

pink, I work in government. I know how you feel about regime changes. I was in for supervisor (100,000 pr year now) back in 94' when we had a sudden change. Day to night, out of the loop as the politically correct entered. The issue went from repairing and maintaining and actually UPGRADING equipment slowly costwise and seeking that which was not hazardous materials so it would cost less to the Citizens to diversity and sweetness and feelings. Since then we have slid into an abyss and our maintenance record is dismal and ridership down, even in a gas crunch but we've been to alot of sensetivity training and changed the Agency Motto and hired alot of people who are utterly irrelevant and know absolutely nothing but how to sit and be diverse!!!!! So, at least we "feel" great!!!!

[Pinktiger]

Yes, and it was a government job, of sorts. I work in a university environment, and this was a change in a university back in 1999. Everybody of importance lost their jobs. The only people still there are tenured faculty and some of the secretaries. Everyone else was told to resign. I was professional staff, and I got to stay the longest because I had some important work to finish.
That was a really good job with excellent benefits. Now I'm faculty at a smaller university with terrible benefits; but I have a sure job. funny how the world works.

[edwards2]

freshstarter...our attorney told us we should have filed sooner. Since my husband's "decision" was voluntary all medical expenses for the day he was transported to the Trauma Unit were virtually "on us." The bill for that first day was over $50K. Fortunately, his company changed health insurance carriers and after that first day his bills were in part paid by them. However, with all the doctors, and there were hundreds, and the cost of his food - $600 per month because of his stomach tube, the medical bills were more than we could handle. My husband was out of work for 4 months. There were no disability payments or social security help. Despite all of this we were determined to meet our obligations and for 3 years we made payments until we couldn't make the payments and exist too.

[Minnymouth]

Medical bills can and will "sink the boat" in most of our lives. I too have been there and done that.
For those of us who "care for" ill spouses, children, parents.... we know the results of trying to just pay the bills. IT IS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO SURVIVE!!! But we try...
All the stress of being a "caregiver", then ADD ON bankruptcy - you just about go "ROCK BOTTOM" - financially, emotionally, mentally, and physically.
Yes, its a real struggle in life's path - but we survive if we can.
Whatever it takes to do it!!!

Was bankruptcy my last resort, YES, but now that it's almost over - it's probably one of the best "life decisions" I ever made....

Just a thought,

Minny