Chapter 7 survival

[thomas998]

I'm sorry for the situation that you are in that has caused you to have to file bankruptcy. But you may want to remove the list of all of your Disney trips in the last few years (including this year), or I'm sure you will get a lot of negative posts in this thread. It is kind of hard to read your post and understand what you are really going through when you have been able to take a nice trip to Disney World almost every year.

I'm sorry but I don't think she needs to remove any past posts. Whether she had a trip last year or this year shouldn't really matter. bankruptcy isn't something people can avoid no matter how carefully they plan. To think people should erase their existence because of this would make as much sense as saying a library should remove every book on healthy living and author writes if the author dies to young.

 

[tipsytrtle]

good luck to you, we claimed about a year and a half ago... we both lost our jobs in 1999-2000 i had gone back to school and the cost of living here in NY continued to go up up up
i felt so badly claiming i had been raised to take care of my debts.. but it was the best thing we ever did... it helped our marriage and my mind
we are slowly building our credit back up
just be sure to buckle down and not get in over your head again

 

[DisneyFan06]

Things in Florida don't look so great either. Many people are experiencing the same problems. Hopefully things get better soon.

Sending Pixie Dust...

 

[dreaming3]

OP went on her Disney trip months ago.

Let's not judge. With this economy it could suddenly be hard times for any one of us.

OP - no advice for you, but good luck!

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

If you haven't been there already, I suggest that you visit creditboards.com and check out their forums. There's one dedicated entirely to bankruptcy. The kind people over there will be able to talk you through this and help you deal with both the financial and emotional sides of the whole process. Good luck, OP, and stay strong.

 

[autiger86]

I used to be the supervisor for the bankruptcy department at a mortgage company. I don't know if you have a house or not. But please make sure your attorney is doing everything he needs to do.

I can't tell you how many people I had to send to foreclosure because their attorney told them false information. Like you don't have to make any payments and all your debts are gone now. You still have to make your secured debt payments if you wish to keep those assets.

Our next door neighbor lost his job, his wife has never worked, and they had 18,000 in credit card debt (he loves to talk!). They filed for bankruptcy, went to a financial counselor (provided by a local church) and developed a ton of discipline. They used to buy new vehicles every two years and took incredible vacations. They still both have cars, but they are 6 years or older and paid for. Their debt was consolidated into one payment (except for their mortgage) and they lived off of cash for 4 years while they paid everything off. They have one credit card for emergencies and are saving money for a "newer" car for her and they will take their first vacation back to the beach next summer. I am so proud of them. Not only for sticking it out and doing the right thing, but for risking judgment by others by being so open about their plight. What happened instead is that people reached out to them. His wife loves to clean and is now cleaning some houses in the neighborhood for extra cash. Other neighbors have also reached out with some other small odd jobs (checking on pets and plants while they vacation). You can recover from this too and you will. Pray for wisdom and stick it out because this too shall pass. I hope people on this forum continue to show you the love you deserve for bravely stepping out..

 

[dawz1026]

I have been on many Disney trips...I will not lie times were good when we went.DH had 2 jobs and we had perfect credit up until this month..lost his 2nd job which was commission only and that made up the bills.....it was alot of money.But working for a greedy person is not dhs style and he had to walk away.We thought about suing the guy for the extra large sum of money he owes but as you can see we have not got the extra cash for a lawyer(500 per hour they want in supreme court cases) We are keeping the house and cars as we are current on those bills.We got in the hole because "money due" did not come and boom..here we are.Dh is in construction sales and due to the economy it is pretty slow.When things are good they are great! I am looking for work but due to a back injury I may have to file disability at age 40.This all hit really quick and I am in no way a flashy spender...Disney was April and paid for at half price and free nights Disney gave us...with free park hopper days.I am not scheduled to go back....I am a diser and will get there as soon as I can..cash paid in full!

 

[churchpilot]

Hang in there and know that you are not alone, especially in this economy. This may not be possible for you, but reading some of the posts about different areas being hit harder than others, you might even consider relocating to where the jobs are. I know that good jobs are still plentiful in different areas of their country. I am originally from Texas and still go home 2-3 times a year. West Texas is in the middle of an oil boom and the money being paid to people is obscene! Jobs that paid 15-20$ an hour 5-6 years ago are now paying $50/100. Both of my nephews moved there and they are knocking the bottom out. They are young and they are doing some physical jobs, but at 22 and 24 they are making well over $100k a year. This is not their lives work, but straight out of college they were both struggling to find meaningful, decent paying jobs. They are socking their money away (so they say!) and the youngest was even promoted to a supervisory position after only 4 months on the job. I know it is hard to leave an area you love, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do. Being married to an Air Force pilot, our lives had always been nomadic until my husband got out of the military so moving was never traumatic for us. Remember that every day is a new beginning and keep going forward.

 

[Fritochips4u]

You've been pretty lucky on this thread. I have seen people ripped apart when they've stated they filed for bankruptcy. One particular poster comes to mind and I felt so sorry for the poor girl. Posters on this board were pretty brutal to her. Sad, really....No one deserved to be spoken to the way she was by members of this board.

I recommend bkforum.com. They have some great info on there.

Good luck to you~

 

[sbell111]

First, let me say that I'm sorry that you are going through this tough time. That being said, since you are asking for information, let me give you a tiny bit of advice related to this statement:

... We are keeping the house and cars as we are current on those bills.

You need to take a hard look to determine whether this is a smart move. Chapter 7 is a useful lifesaver, but it's important to remember that it can't be reused once it has been thrown. Your bankruptcy is an opportunity to step away from these debts and totally change your financial life.

I would most likely let the cars go and pick up a couple of beaters, for now. Later, you can pay cash for better wheels. I might even take a hard look to determine whether I was in more house than I needed. If so, I'd get it on the market right now.

Of course, if the house and cars are current, I might look closer to see if I couldn't avoid going bankrupt. It would certainly require me to get rid of the cars and take a hard look at my mortgage (as mentioned above) and would require the beans-and-rice mentality, but if the cars and house are current and I can keep the lights on and feed my children, I would try to work my way through it.

 

[TKERBELL]

Interesting topic.....

Some of you have mentioned the purchases you were able to make after some time AFTER the bankruptcy - my question is did anyone ever get hurt in the work force AFTER the bankruptcy? I ask because LOTS of government agencies will not EVEN consider hiring you if you filed one year or 10 years ago - it can hurt any clearances you had or may had -

Thoughts?????

 

[rparmfamily]

There are many jobs that do credit checks and can deny employment based on what they find. Such as banks, credit unions, credit card companies, government jobs,etc.

That said, I know someone who filed while active duty military and as far as I know it did not affect their job, but the same token we DID know guys who got their command travel credit cards taken away for financial misuse and problems. I was just interviewed about my neighbor (he's AD) and I know the FBI or whoever does the clearances really comb over every detail of someone's life.

 

[Goobergal99]

I find it hard to believe that ppl actually rip posters apart for filing bankruptcy!!! How judegemental is that.... If I were in serious debt you had better believe I would be filing bankruptcy and couldn't care less what anyone had to say about it either!

In any case.... My mom filed chap 7 and 13 in 1998 and about 6 months ago got her first credit card since the incident, she just finally got a FICO score last month... and lets just say she is doing better then me

Now mind you, the bankruptcys were not enough to save her from avoiding foreclosure on her home which is why it took so long for her credit to be clean again. But it did take away alot of the financial hardship she went through and believe me it wasn't easy for her at all. She was not an overspender and I certainly didn't wear Abercrobie kids when I was growing up... but yea we went to Disney during our better financial times and I even took her with me in 2004 because she is a great person and mistakes were made along the way but being that noone is in the OP shoes (nor my moms) there is not room to judge.

She didn't anticipate losing my dad at 39 and having to raise a kid all by herself... nor did she anticipate my grandfather falling ill and her having to care for him (not her dad but my dads dad!) but she did that too and when my aunts husband died, she helped her out financially as well. So go ahead and tell me my mom shouldn't be able to go to Disney and I will tell you where to go

In any case, yes it is possible to recover and she has with dignity

 

[Goobergal99]

I will add that it has become harder to file bankruptcy from what I understand... this is as a result of so many people filing over the years... I am not sure if that pertains to chap 7 but I am sure it could

 

[RitaE]

I find it hard to believe that ppl actually rip posters apart for filing bankruptcy!!! How judegemental is that.... If I were in serious debt you had better believe I would be filing bankruptcy and couldn't care less what anyone had to say about it either!

The people on this board who have been "flamed" have admittedly done things like going to the Disney store and buying hundreds of dollars of Disney Dollars with their credit card -- planning to file bankruptcy in 3 months, knowing that they will never pay the bill. Then filing bankruptcy and turning right around and booking a Disney Cruise, 5 months later.... all while mocking people who drive "cheap" cars while they drive an Escalade.

There have been people on this board who were "flamed" for booking 5 or 6 years of Deluxe vacations, then filing bankruptcy in order to not have to pay the bill.

There have been people on this board "flamed" for not wanting to pay their loans and credit card bills, because being a SAHM is more honorable than getting a job and paying for what you bought.

Yep, some people are judgmental. Personally, I feel more people should be judgmental because some of the dishonesty and level of irresponsibility I have seen here is downright sickening.

This is not the first time this OP has posted about her bankruptcy. It appears her husband got into a tiff at work over commissions and quit his job. Sadly, it appears that he needed that job to pay for all those yearly Beach Club trips.

Oh well, it's not like our nation and economy is being run into the ground by the irresponsible lending and borrowing of our society. Oh wait, you mean that when Citibank has to lay off thousands of employees because of bad debt write offs, those are REAL people who are getting hurt?????? Oh well, just as long as the Disney vacations go on, right?

 

[Goobergal99]

The people on this board who have been "flamed" have admittedly done things like going to the Disney store and buying hundreds of dollars of Disney Dollars with their credit card -- planning to file bankruptcy in 3 months, knowing that they will never pay the bill. Then filing bankruptcy and turning right around and booking a Disney Cruise, 5 months later.... all while mocking people who drive "cheap" cars while they drive an Escalade.

There have been people on this board who were "flamed" for booking 5 or 6 years of Deluxe vacations, then filing bankruptcy in order to not have to pay the bill.

There have been people on this board "flamed" for not wanting to pay their loans and credit card bills, because being a SAHM is more honorable than getting a job and paying for what you bought.

Yep, some people are judgmental. Personally, I feel more people should be judgmental because some of the dishonesty and level of irresponsibility I have seen here is downright sickening.

This is not the first time this OP has posted about her bankruptcy. It appears her husband got into a tiff at work over commissions and quit his job. Sadly, it appears that he needed that job to pay for all those yearly Beach Club trips.

Oh well, it's not like our nation and economy is being run into the ground by the irresponsible lending and borrowing of our society. Oh wait, you mean that when Citibank has to lay off thousands of employees because of bad debt write offs, those are REAL people who are getting hurt?????? Oh well, just as long as the Disney vacations go on, right?

Thats why I became a nurse its recession proof

 

[Aisling]

This is not the first time this OP has posted about her bankruptcy. It appears her husband got into a tiff at work over commissions and quit his job. Sadly, it appears that he needed that job to pay for all those yearly Beach Club trips.

Oh well, it's not like our nation and economy is being run into the ground by the irresponsible lending and borrowing of our society. Oh wait, you mean that when Citibank has to lay off thousands of employees because of bad debt write offs, those are REAL people who are getting hurt?????? Oh well, just as long as the Disney vacations go on, right?

Well, if heaven forbid I ever have to file bankruptcy, I'll make sure to check in with you first to see if it's ok!

 

[Goobergal99]

Well, if heaven forbid I ever have to file bankruptcy, I'll make sure to check in with you first to see if it's ok!

Exactly what I was thinking...

 

[MyBelle]

Beach Club 4/08 and Chapter 5 7/08

Boy how you luck has turned!!!!

 

[Goobergal99]

Beach Club 4/08 and Chapter 5 7/08

Boy how you luck has turned!!!!

Hmm... 7 posts and already passing judgement