Bankruptcy regret?

[twono]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I appreciate the comments. I am having such a hard time making this decision. I can pay my min. On all my cards every month but am broke after all payments are made. I keep telling myself I can do this for the next 5 years but not sure I can. Thanks everyone.

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I thought i couuld get ahead of my debt too, as many of us did.   I even drained almost $150k out of my 401k to prevent the inevitable BK.  That bought me a year of time, until i  was just eventually consumed by debt and having no retirement money.

Regrets, sure.....not doing it sooner.

[Anonymous]

I wish we "could" have done it sooner! We moved to another state almost 3 yrs ago. I researched many attorneys online prior to a consultation. 

Found a great one who advised since we had just purchased a home in our new state, that we needed to wait 2 yrs to file so we wouldn't lose our home. At that point we decided to hire him and wait out the 2 yrs. He told us to stop paying the minimum payments and all credit card calls/notices were sent to his office. We never heard from anyone.

Our credit prior to this was always in the 750-800 range. We paid the minimum payments like you, but nothing left over for the month.

We were discharged July 15 and feel such a weight lifted....

[Anonymous]

I started my CH7 journey as the calendar turned to 2020 by getting my first legal consult in the first few days of the new year. The hardest part for me was saving up $2k to retain my attorney. Those were some tight days as I was saving up every dollar as fast as possible. By first week of March that was done. Of course COVID hit right after that and so there were some delays which resulted in my case officially being filed end of April. The very next day I got a $1200 stimulus check - all mine to keep. The sun was starting to shine again! 30+ days later on 6/1 I had my MOC via telephone. Went well. Just discharged this past Wed - 8/5- after the 60 day waiting period concluded. Everything went as well as I could've hoped. No regrets. Now I'm following the FICO 700 in 24 months plan and I have hope for the future. These forums helped me stay on track in the later months of 2019 as I explored my financial options and they helped me avoid making any stupid mistakes leading up to the filing. Then I hired a very good attorney to take me from there. If you're struggling you aren't alone!!! Lots of helpful people here who have been there.... and I highly recommend a free consult with an attorney too.

[Phoenixupward]

Congrats on your Bk discharge and good luck on your rebuild.   

[Anonymous]

I regret not doing it. Three years later and I have paid all the debt off, but I am in worse financial shape then if I had filed and relieved myself of this debt. I am now starting over with -0- $$$$$, living with a friend and not being able to see that I will ever be financially sound.

I had such nerves and shame about it, when it truly would have been the best and right decision for  myself.

To all that did and are on their way to better, congrats. 

To those that know they need to but are hesitant, do it. Then, get on with your life.

Good luck.

[angelofmusic86]

Like many others said - I regret not doing it sooner.  I had my initial consult in December of 2018, didn't actually get filed with the courts until May 1st 2020.  But, I did need to take a sudden medical leave from work for 9 weeks last August and September, so it kinda worked out with being able to include the costs of my many hospital stays and surgery during those 9 weeks.  Still, I think, if I had a redo, I would have pushed myself to file a lot closer to the initial consult.  My stress levels went way down for the first time in years after filing.

[cem13]

As others have mentioned, I regret not filing 2 years before.  I was uneducated regarding BK.  The only good thing about waiting was that I was laid off from my job, so $0.00 income.  That qualified me for a BK7 instead of BK13.

There were a few minor consequences.

1) Lost my second home that I could not afford at that time. Looking back, no biggie

2) I had to pay cash for everything.  Not a real problem but I needed to re-train myself to make sure I carried cash.

3) Within 2 years post-BK7, I had credit to resume my pre-BK7 "put everything on the card and carry no cash"

4) I re-financed my house 3 years post BK7.  I was able to get the WF to accept a PIF for $50K less than the balance.  I threatened to "walk away" so they bit.  (I was bluffing, I would never walk away).  I received a new mortgage with $30/mo PMI and FHA but that is a small price to pay IMO.  The ironic part?  WF bought the loan after 3 months.

The really good part is that because I cleaned the slate, I could afford to take a few training classes.  These classes launched my career and I now make 2x as I did during BK7.

So BK7 helped me in so many different aspects.  Some I could not imagine while contemplating the BK7.  The small, minor inconveniences were well worth the mental strain pre-BK7.  

By the time you start to consider filing BK, you are very likely already 1 or 2 years too late.  There is really no other option.  JUST DO IT!

[SH3L8Y]

Not at all. Before filing I somehow never missed a payment on my CCs or loans but I was just juggling debt from one box to another and digging myself deeper.

The hardest part was learning to budget and live within my means. I had to unlearn many years of bad habits. From the time you file to discharge you have to be on top of everything you spend money on. You don't have the crutch of credit cards to spend what you don't have. It forces you to really make sure you can afford the life you're living and adjust accordingly. It has helped me so much- I'm saving money now and cut a lot of excess spending out of my life. I never want to drown in debt again. 

I'm so thankful I did it when I did because these times are tough rn as it is- if I was still struggling with debt I honestly don't know if I could've mentally handled it all.

[tammyjk]

Absolutely not!  At first it was rather depressing.  Then I realized that the stress was gone.  Starting over was not as difficult as I had imagined.  In fact, I came here to let others know that my Discover card graduated from a secure card to a regular card.  Last month I financed a vehicle and had 2 credit unions bidding rates to get my business.  I'm 2 yrs post bk and my credit score is hovering around 700.  It would be higher but for the credit apps.  

[Anonymous]

I concur with everyone that said they only regret was not doing it sooner. I feel great now that I have the 500Lb gorilla of my back