21 year old student with horrible personal finance habits

[jam006]

Hi everyone,

I have recently decided that I will be filing for BK7 for the reason that I managed to get myself in debt (~28K) in less than one year. I thought I knew how to manage my finances while in college until one day I decided to apply for a credit card, got approved and then kept applying until I ended up with 10 credit cards. Also, a few days after that, I got myself into a car loan of 17k. I was doing very well managing everything until I slowly started to lose control. One year after, I am finding myself in a whole lot of debt and my only option at the moment is filing for BK7. I have accepted the fact that this is my only solution, and this will be a relief for my finances and even my mental health. However, I would like to do this process on my own since I do not have enough money to pay an attorney.

I would love to ask for any suggestions regarding my decision.

Thank you!

[bentleyboii]

Also 21/Also Bought a Car (24k) and had 15k~ in cc's etc if you have any questions you can send me a message. Usually If yu do not have the money to complete the filing (Pay a lawyer) Then they will suggest chapter 13 (Pay Back The Debts You owe on payment plan) since these can be added to the bankrupcy payment plan. Legally a lawyer cannot accept money from a loan or cc so this would need to be cash (Not cash advance etc) and if you have recieved a large amount of money in the last 6months or close then I would say No go Altogether. Congrats first step just like aa is admitting you have/had a problem now you just half to fix it.

[Anonymous]

Jam 

can you get out of the car loan ?

Are you late on the credit card accounts ?

i would stop paying on the accounts now if you can’t keep up the payments. Hold off on bk. That’s the nuke option. You do that when you have judgments that turn into bank levies and garnishments. Some may go after you some may not. Some may let you settle for less which is good if you can borrow some money

[jam006]

Hello,

I have Santander USA as my bank, and they will not let me get out of the loan. Also, I am a few months late on my credit cards due to my low monthly income. At this point, I just want to get rid of all of it and get a fresh start since it has been stressing me out completely. 

[Anonymous]

I mean get out of the loan by selling the car paying off loan and buying something real cheap. 

I would try try to avoid bk. You are young and it could come back to bite you. Filing bk because you are under stressed might seem like the easy out. You should be working to somehow fix this and avoid bk. 

Im 3 times older than you and I have seen over the years how bk can have long lasting consequences 

[seanny]

If I were I'd listen the OP and do whatever you can to avoid bankruptcy.  28K might seem like a lot of debt, but you are young and you will probably earn more than that in the next 3 years or so.  You said you have a job so why not try credit counseling instead?  They can combine all your debts into one monthly affordable payment and get the interest greatly reduced.  

[Anonymous]

I would try to avoid. I’m 24 and filed. I also had >100k in non secured debt. Not counting student loans. I knew bk was my only way out. My attorney was a family friend so cost of the Bk was nothing for me. If I had to do it over again I would have bettered my finances before I was 100k in debt. But life happened and it was out of my control.

[silvius]

At least 7 and up to 10 years on your credit report.  File only as a last resort.