Scupra wrote:
For sure! 3 years is a long time to create a 5-10 year financial plan. Take this time to create new, healthy personal finance habits.
I agree with 3 years feeling like a long time when thinking ahead. On the other hand, I find myself so busy within my professional life that I know these 36 months will be over in a blink of an eye. I am planning my life and will be consulting a few financial experts to help me really build a budget, how to properly “set up” my finances. I am a visual learner; I need to see it.
jmclaughlin1982 wrote:
As someone who has fallen off the wagon and had to get back up I can totally understand. Thankfully I tried pulling myself up by the bootstraps and I hadn't filed before!
I'm not totally sure what led to your "falling off the wagon" but I do hope you can really improve this time around! My advice would be to start small and create good habits for yourself. Once you have created those good habits then you can move to bigger things!
Look at it this way, you didn't learn your bad financial habits overnight. How do you expect to just fix them within a few months? I think this is a very easily forgotten aspect of the process. You go through the motions and don't really learn from your mistakes and they happen all over again.
So, like with any bad habit, treat it as something you have to overcome. Force yourself to overcome the bad habit and it will go away. I know I had a bad habit of using my credit cards for cash advances, so I just don't have a PIN for any of them. I choose which cards I want to use and those are the ones I leave in my wallet (I only keep the ones that earn rewards and I just sit on the ones that don't earn anything for me!) I also have taken over my Google calendar with due dates, reminders, and notifications. I have each due date in my calendar, I set a reminder for the day of the due date and a reminder for one day before. My phone goes off and alerts me the day before any bill is due.
Another habit I have taken up is paying my bills as soon as I get the money. I don't wait for the due date (way too much temptation to spend it!) so I just pay it. I pay my car payment at least 2 weeks in advance, and every one of my credit cards is paid at least a week before the due date.
Hope my tips and life experience can help. Feel free to read my BK7 story as well!
Hey Jmclaughlin1982, you touched on some great tips that you have implemented in your life. It appears that you have set up internal controls to prevent any relapses. I have written down your tips in my black book thanks again. Yeah, I understand that I will not master my finances in a few months. I know it will take a life-long change of behaviors to improve my overall odds of financial success. Congratulations on changing your financial behaviors after your BK7. I will read your story very soon. Thanks again.
Wizdog1 wrote:
@OP, I understand more than you know. You are young and the 3 years will go by fast. Please use this forum every day to help keep you grounded. By now you know how important good credit is in every aspect of your life, from jobs to insurance to of interest rates. Good luck to you, I will be watching your progress😉
Hey Wizdog1, it feels good to know that a stranger can relate to my struggle. I will be here to check on this thread every other day or so unless I am super busy but will find a day to update as soon as I can. Yes, credit is very important in all aspects personal and business. I can’t wait to see you at the finish line!
DaveinAZ wrote:
- So, filing CH13 less than 8 years after filing BK7 can be risky. And, I would think you can expect the Judge & Trustee to be rather tough on you because the BK laws are intedned to provide a "fresh start", not provide a free pass to keep doing the same reckless behavior over & over again.
Mr.DaveinAZ, “your statement on filing for BK13 less than 8 years after filing BK7 can be risky” is rather speculative. In addition, your conjecture could potentially be harmful for one seeking BK13 relief especially if their financial situation warrants it. “I think you can expect”. I am going to have to cut you off right there. Are you a judge? Are you a trustee? Do you hold any credentials or certifications that qualifies you as an expert within bankruptcy subject matter? You are correct that BK laws were enacted to provide a debtor a “fresh start” but you missed one critical element. BK laws were enacted to provide an honest debtor a “fresh start”. Therefore, your statement of filing two BK in less than 8 years is risky is just a supposition. An honest debtor will never have to worry about a judge or a trustee objecting to their BK filing or having to worry about being treated “toughly”. I am not an expert, but after evaluating the United States Bankruptcy code title 11 of the US code my statement at least has a basis. The only time it may be risky filing for BK and having to worry about what a judge or trustee may think is if your filing in bad faith. Which in most cases cannot be directly proven unless a creditor or court finds true evidence that the filing was filed in bad faith. On the other hand, if a debtor comes on to a discussion board and says “I am filing for BK because I applied for credit and spent all the money and don’t want to pay” does not mean our opinions can justify if that person would be filing in bad faith because more than likely no one here is currently or has acted in the capacity of a government official who has the power to make that determination. In layman’s terms, please omit personal opinions about what and can be risky or happen. It’s counterintuitive and does not help those who may need help. Thank you.
As for the OP, frankly you skirt around what led you to need BK so soon after getting a BK7, other than vague statements of "I didn't learn my lesson". I think it's really important for you, and useful for others, for you to spell out exactly what you did, and why. Did you think that BK7 wasn't so bad and that you were able to obtain credit so easily after BK that you fell back into bad habits? Did you buy alot of crap you didn't need & couldn't afford, or just live beyond your means? Think about before replying, because "learning your lesson" requires you to recall what you did and what you were thinking at the time, so that you really don't do that again.
I will start off by replying to your response without having to reflect about “learning my lesson”. It’s not that I am, “skirting around what led me to bk”. It’s just I have acknowledged and accepted how I arrived at the door of BK for the second time in my own ways and consulted the advice of experts in those subject matters to help me have a clear understanding of certain behaviors or habits that has gotten me here. If you think it is useful for others for me to spell out what caused me to file for BK, then okay I will explain how it happened. I will write about what caused me to file BK in the next couple of days. Thanks again.
Awashi17 wrote:
That was well said. It seems you have learned some good habits. OP, because it's a 13 this time around, it will allow you time to fully understand the process and how to live on a budget with no credit. Good luck. We are here with you.
Thank you. See you at the finish line.
Fleuriste wrote:
Before you expend money on law school, please consider this link about moral character: http://www.americanbar.org/publications/syllabus_home/volume_44_2012-2013/winter_2012-2013/professio...
The bottom line is that you could go to law school, pass the bar and possibly not gain admission to the bar because of your financial background. Do some research on this before you incure that debt.
Thank you for your contribution. I have been awarded a 150k scholarship from a private company because of some consulting work I have done for them which helped them expand and scale their current business operations in the last 2 years. Going forward, my education is 100% paid for whether I want to go to law school or graduate school. The current loans I have are only a few thousand. I am decided not to pay them off because I will not have any positive tradelines reporting as open if I allow my scholarship to pay them off.
Now I appreciate the information you have shared with me. I just want you to understand when your moral character determination is under review by the BAR they are take in account your past and now. Majority of students who go to law school are rejected on moral character basis because A. their moral is questionable (Criminal activity) B. Current financial situation. I will not be sitting for the bar until my credit profile is showing a history of positive financial behaviors so when my BKs are in question I will be able to explain my situation with substantial evidence which will dismiss any claims of moral turpitude. All this means is my presentation of who I am has to be flawless which is not a problem. Thanks for the concern though!
Coneyj123 wrote:
Sh*t happens in life. Sucks that you're back. Hopefully you've learned some things, valuable lessons. Good luck in the future.
I am currently learning now. The only thing in-between me and learning how to manage my finances is time. Thank you!
BK: 7 filed 3/31/12 - Discharged 6/27/12
Made some poor choices and life snowballed
BK: 13 filed 7/29/16 - on a 36th month time out
No CC - No Loans - Student Loans all current.
