“Dear Steve,
We recently moved for my husband to get this great new job. Was not a great new job–My husband began to have physical illnesses due to the stress and he is a strong man. The the great new boss changed his job…all of the sudden we were making half the money. I began looking for a job teaching, when that did not work out I started looking elsewhere. However, we have school age children that still need afterschool care. Any job I could find would be eaten up by childcare. My father graciously loaned us a lot of money(30,000) for my husband to start his own business, he’s a lawyer, and us to live for a couple of months. Well, the business has done okay but still did not pay the bills. We began to use credit cards to pay electric, phone. I knew it was not the way to go but saw no choice. We had been in debt before and had pulled it out-I knew I could do it again. this time we are not able to cover the credit card payments and now are 1 month beh ind on oneand they are hounding us.
How would you prioritize getting out of debt? And is it worth taking a second job, not in my field, to gain a little more money when it is possible that by subbing and pounding at the school’s door might result in a permanant job and benefits? Egad. Thanks for all you do. I’m so glad I found this web site.
Seree”
Dear Seree,
I think the situation comes down to expectations. The question is if it is a realistic expectation moving forward that you will be able to make enough money to pay for childcare and then enough extra to begin to repay the debt and save money at the same time.
Without knowing more about your situation I think it is doubtful you’ll be able to do that in this economy.
I recently wrote What to Do When You Can’t Make Ends Meet and you might find some helpful tips in that guide.
But based on experience I think you are still in a downward slide with your debt and you need to ask yourself at this point if you have a greater duty to try to repair the past or make the future safer for the kids and yourself?
The correct answer is to make the future safer. And in order to do that we need to get you back from the brink of the financial abyss. The way we do that is with bankruptcy. Bankruptcy will give you your best shot at a fresh start and living within your income right now. And that’s what you need.
The goal at this point should be that without your past bills you can live within your income, save some money in an emergency fund, and begin to rebuild your credit once your bankruptcy is over. You can even follow my free guide on how to do that.
Bankruptcy is a very difficult situation but sometimes as adults we are faced with difficult choices and we have to decide what is best for us and the family. I think bankruptcy will probably be best. Otherwise what’s the option, go back and borrow more money?
You can click here to find a local bankruptcy attorney and if you’d like a second opinion you can contact
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