Re: New, in debt and desperate (LONG)

{My questions are, which kind should we file for, can we file only on certain things (for example, we don't want to file bankruptcy on our car, we want to continue to make payments on it--we need the transportation too much), how much does it cost to file (we live in Texas)? I think I have other questions too, but I'm tired and cannot think of them. Any advice anyone can offer will be greatly appreciated. We have no life now. We cannot afford to do anything and it's hurting.}



Carin,

Bankruptcy varies depending on which chapter you file. A chapter 13 is more expensive because it's a longer, more detailed process of paying back a portion of your debt. Chapter seven is cheaper because it's a straight forward bankruptcy...no negotiating repayment plans. Which chapter you file depends on your expenses and your income. Figure out all your bills except the credit cards- your rent, car payments, utilities, postage, clothing costs, transportation, food, etc. If you have any money left at the end of the month after all those have been paid (known as disposable income), then you'd have to file a chapter 13 and any extra money left over would go to pay off a portion of your debts. Chapter 13 has good points- you can pay only what your vehicle is worth rather than how much you owe on it, it allows you to make up missed mortgage payments so you won't lose your house. But it often takes 3-5 years of living on a strict budget. Our lawyer (I'm in North Texas) quo!
ted us
$2185 for a chapter 13.

If at the end of the month, you have no income left over or your short of paying all your bills, then you qualify for a chapter seven. In a chapter seven, you discharge all your credit card debt without having to repay any of it. You can usually keep your household possessions (as long as you don't have some collectibles that are worth a fortune, etc.) and you can keep your vehicles as long as your payments are current. In a chapter seven, you can't negogiate with vehicles...you must pay what you owe and stay current. Same with a mortgage. We're doing a chapter seven and have to pay $1700 to our lawyer.

Check out this website. It can answer more of your questions.

I hope that helps!



P.

Carin wrote:
9844BABB-7B99-4EB5-BEE5-FD345C7107BD2.0LetterMoneySymbolsHundreds of BillsSU1CTDEsNDEsgUmBScXBiYkwJDAwTZ0wxcVNiSwwjU0wLCyNTTgolYmNNJ2FgZ0wKEksSU1CTDIsMCwsSU1CTDMsMCwsD31772DC-BEE3-41C5-A442-05967E0BFF4Eno-repeat#ffffffleftbottom277D9274-C82D-4863-8883-6BA44AC99D2C0277D9274-C82D-4863-8883-6BA44AC99D2C1ANIM3D00-NONE-0000-0000-0000000000000ANIM3D00-NONE-0000-0000-0000000000001601231A0-325F-11D4-BA2D-0050DAC680300X-ASN,X-ASH,X-AN,X-AP,X-AD;Hello,
As with most young couples just starting out, my husband (at the time, my boyfriend--then fiance) and I made some very foolish financial decisions. We got the credit/credit cards (I had excellent credit before we moved in together because I always paid my bills on time--but I didn't have as many bills to pay either because I lived with my parents), bought a few things (some things we needed, some we didn't), maxed one of them out and then consolidated. And at first, it wasn't so bad. We were getting them paid, even if it was slowly. But, about 8 or 9 months ago everything started to go to hell. I am going to go back a few months earlier than that tho. It's going to be long, but I hope no one means. I have to get this out.

My husband had left a job he had to go to work for another company with better pay and better benefits. It was our meal ticket. It was going to help us get our bills paid on time and get out of debt. Then it all came tumbling down. The department he worked for contained a lot of immature jerks who liked to give people a hard time. They had even run others off the job who couldn't take their crap (sorry, pardon my language). Well, my husband is the kind of guy who will put up w/ a lot. He doesn't usually let things bother him. This bothered him. He filed harassment charges and that only made things worse. The managers even gave him a hard time about it. So after 5 months of putting up w/ the bull, he quit, 2 weeks before Christmas. It was bad timing, but I didn't blame him (also, is brother still works for the same company, but he got himself transferred to another state because they did the same crap to him).
He got another job, almost 2 months later, but it was w/ a temp agency. We had hopes that he would get hired by the company he was temping for, but it never happened. He lost that job 2 months ago (a week before our wedding). And up until May, I'd only been working part-time (I'm currently a temp, but am in the process of getting hired by the company I'm temping for--same one my husband was temping for, but a different dept). He has been desperately looking for a job and we hope he finds one soon, but it's all so stressful.
So the debts are piling up. We tried to solve our debt problems one way by getting another credit card so we could consolidate again. Only, the amount was so low that we can't consolidate on it (we're not using the card at all, not for anything). With only myself working right now it's hard to even keep the utilities paid much less the credit payments. I get paid weekly and this week's check and next week's check all have to go towards rent. We also have a car payment due, plus other bills.
His parents have been a big help to us, and we are so grateful for it, but we also feel bad about it. It hurts that we have had to rely on them so much (even if they were the ones to offer the help). And of course, not only do we have our bills to get paid off, we also have to pay them back (which is the right thing to do). But, we cannot do both. There's just no way. And it's getting to the point where making out the checks to pay our bills puts me in a big depression.
If we could go back 2 years and change all of this, we would. We would not have been so foolish.
So, now I get to the point of all this. We need to file bankruptcy. Things are just getting deeper and deeper. My questions are, which kind should we file for, can we file only on certain things (for example, we don't want to file bankruptcy on our car, we want to continue to make payments on it--we need the transportation too much), how much does it cost to file (we live in Texas)? I think I have other questions too, but I'm tired and cannot think of them. Any advice anyone can offer will be greatly appreciated. We have no life now. We cannot afford to do anything and it's hurting.

Carin
carin@sbcglobal.net