Ben wrote in through the GetOutofDebt.org site and asked for help and advice.
“Dear Steve,
At times I feel like my life is over. This year I did something I never thought I’d ever do, I went bankrupt. I was raised to pay my bills and I’ve always done that, but last year my overtime go cut and we were just making it by and this year my regular hours go cut and we started to fall far behind.
I contacted one of those credit counseling groups and asked for help but the monthly payment they wanted was just out of my reach. We could not afford that and the truck payment. I spoke to a bankruptcy attorney and then we gathered up the money to go bankrupt.
Now that is over and I feel terrible that I went bankrupt. Will I ever have a financial future again?“
Dear Ben,
The answer is that you will have a financial future again and you life is not over.
Bankruptcy can make you feel like a complete failure and a big loser but the reality is that what ever brought you to the point of not being able to pay your bills, happened. It’s a lot like the farmer that plants this years crop but it does not come in because of a drought. The lack of rain doesn’t make the farmer a loser, it’s just unfortunate that water did not fall from the sky in sufficient quantities to make the crop grow into cash to repay his debts.
Sure, if you want to be narrow minded and a big dick you could make a claim that you just walked away from your debts and didn’t man-up to them, but honestly, you know that’s not the truth.
I’d love to see all the people that bitch and complain about people that go bankrupt, lose all their shit and then try to put on a happy face and bound joyfully through the day.
Bankruptcy is hard and painful but believe it or not, what you have done is probably more responsible that limping along for years to come.
Bankruptcy is a legal solution that exists to help people out from situations where no reasonable hope exists to resolve the debt problems at hand.
When faced with huge debts people often live from paycheck-to-paycheck just making it by. They cut out things like needed medications, medical care, dental visits, etc. They also take away any fun times for the kids, a cheap vacation and saving for retirement.
Basically they make the future less safe to make up for past financial mistakes. Honestly, when faced with a bad debt problem you are better off facing it honestly, being real about how long it will take you to recover and determining if years of just getting by are something that you can do. You’re also better off going and talking to a bankruptcy attorney and getting the facts before emotionally deciding that bankruptcy isn’t for you.
My thought is that people at times like these have a greater responsibility to make the future better for their families than to unreasonably try to repair the past. And when I say better, I don’t mean a life of luxury, no, I mean proper health and dental care, caring for the children, not punishing them for your financial misfortune, and creating a caring, loving and safe environment for the kids to grow up in.
Ben, you’ll be surprised that now that you have gone bankrupt, creditors will be lining up again to give you unsecured credit again. In fact you’ll want to get credit again so that your credit report and credit score don’t just suddenly end with “Ben’s Bankruptcy”. If you want to get credit in the future you’ll need to start replacing your current financial problems on your credit report with good credit.
One of the ways of doing this safely is to get a secured card that will report to the credit bureaus that you are paying the card off. You can get a secured card online here.
Just remember this, Bad Debt Happens To Good People.
You are not alone. I'm here to help. There is no need to suffer in silence. We can get through this. Tomorrow can be better than today. Don't give up.
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