Encouragement and Advice learned over 3 years after discharge

Every Christmas I find myself searching for bankruptcy boards to
encourage others. Christmas of '99 I was 8-mos. pregnant with our
3rd child (an unexpected one). My dh and I were faced with hospital
bills for the upcoming uninsured c-section birth, receiving
foreclosure notices on our home, getting endless phone calls from
increasingly rude collectors, losing our business that I loved (a
garden center), and I was so stressed with it all that I had no tears
to cry with for over a year.

We filed three years ago (discharged Sept. '00) and everything has
gone well ever since. This very month we're buying a home we have
dreamed of in the country at just 5.87%! Since Sept. '00, dh got a
management job with a national company, we were able to keep our
house by catching up on the payments, have recently refinanced that
house at 5.87% so we can rent it out, we have been able to get car
and health insurance, we've gotten new services/utilities (DirecTV,
cable internet, etc.), a WalMart credit card (the only card we
applied for), and we were able to purchase a new car (although at
11%).

Everything is good now, but it is also due to making some changes:

1. We pay only cash for items now. Paying cash has taught us to
trust God to meet our needs instead of charging whatever we think we
need. We have been amazed at His provision for us. Right after the
bankruptcy we were still broke and not full of faith, so charged
$1000 on a WalMart card (tires and groceries) and purchased a brand
new car with a loan at 11%. We realized quickly how much those two
purchases were costing us, so paid off the WalMart recently and still
have that darn car loan, but now we are saving to have enough cash to
pay it off. The good side of those two purchases is that they, along
with our home mortgage, have put us back in good credit standing
because of faithful monthly payments over the past 3 years. We
receive credit card applications daily (they know we can't file
bankruptcy again for a while! lol), but immediately tear them up
without opening them.

2. We live within our means. Our current house is small, our
grocery budget has required some creative thinking, our furniture is
not the stuff from our dreams. AFTER we have paid off the car loan,
we will be able to purchase those items - with cash. Since we are
not running off to the store with credit card in hand, we have been
able to accept the generosity of others - new maternity clothes, a
used baby swing, etc. When we don't already have the items, someone
wants to share what they have. In turn, I donate all of our surplus,
passing along the generosity. I honestly think the more generous you
are to others, the more you will be blessed. Sometimes it is hard to
see how much others have in a big home with immaculate furniture, but
my dh reminds me that much of what we see is probably on credit. I
would rather have our sense of freedom than a new sofa.

2. We save 20% of our income. That's difficult to do on a limited
income and with four children, but it has been possible when we live
within - or even below - our means. Try your hardest to save 10%. If
you can't do that, then save whatever you can. It's important to pay
yourself just as you would pay the IRS. That 20% savings over a 2-
year period was enough money to pay for a used van (purchased on
ebay!), pay $1000 for our daughter's surgery, pay for a mini-
vacation, pay off our WalMart card ($1000, then we tore it up), and
we still have enough for the closing costs and part of the
downpayment for the home we are purchasing this month. Our savings
will be used up after this, but we'll also have equity in our van and
in our 2 homes.

The time leading up the bankruptcy was definitely the hardest part.

We wish you the best, and Merry Christmas from Florida!