I would not go so far to say that rent is "literally throwing your money away", because assuming that you rent from a reputable landlord, you are hopefully receiving the benefit of a clean comfortable home for a reasonable monthly cost. As you correctly pointed out, renting allows for flexibility...

You can declare bankruptcy at any time, however if this is your only debt, I'd wait and see what happens. Unless you expect your income to increase to the point that you'll no longer qualify for Chapter 7, I fail to see how you lose anything by waiting. Sure, the plaintiff's attorney can demand any...

Remember that no consumer creditor can garnish wages or levy bank accounts until and unless they file a lawsuit and obtain a judgment. Most creditors will first send the debt to their in-house collections team for a few months, and then farm it out to a collection agency for a few months more before...

"Tools of the trade" refers literally to tools and equipment needed to do your job. For example, I work in heating and air conditioning, so my hand tools, power tools, and refrigeration tools would be considered "tools of the trade". If someone is a professional auto mechanic,...