May 2009
Filed Chapter 7.
After a long hospitalization for a complicated twin pregnancy and three months of maternity leave, DH's kidney disease progressed to end-stage. He was on dialysis for 18 months before his transplant. I was his donor (in a paired exchange program) so we were both off work for the surgery—me for the second time in a year and a half.
We both worked the entire time we waited for the matches to pair up, but he reduced his schedule to 40 hours. We depended very much on his overtime, which he didn't have the strength or time to do anymore. My employer let me work from home a few days a week to care for him on dialysis days so I didn't have to take anymore unpaid leave.
We barely made it through this time. The last thing we wanted to worry about was how we were going to pay the bills. So we filed for chapter 7. It was a difficult decision but it was liberating, too.
November 2012
Bought a house.
The mortgage is in DH's name only, but I'm on the deed (a little legal loophole). We did this to keep debt-to-income low for one of us and because, after the bankruptcy, we wanted to live well below our means. It was one of the best decisions we ever made. We never fear how we're going to pay the mortgage.
July 2009 to August 2016
DH has been managing all finances since the bankruptcy.
He still pays with cash or check. Has no online accounts, auto payments—except mortgage—or electronic reminders setup and no written budget. It's all in his head. He's only in his 30s, but he's PC illiterate. *By now, my 80-year-old grandmother is online.*
This results in a total of nine 30-day lates on three auto loans, a credit card and an installment loan, and two unpaid collection accounts. *Apparently, we don't open mail.*
This is stressful for both of us because we are still living paycheck-to-paycheck and we feel like we haven't made any financial progress since the bankruptcy. We don't realize yet that this is not due to lack of money, but lack of organization.
August 2016 - July 2017
We make a budget to see where our money is going. Find a lot of wasteful spending. Negotiate better rates with all of our utility companies, cancel unnecessary subscriptions, limit spending on shopping, entertainment and dining out. Decide to pay down credit cards to get a better handle on them.
So, we divide and conquer our finances. We live on his income (the smallest) and use mine to pay debt. He pays the living expenses that don't affect our credit. I use the snowball method to pay down credit cards, auto loans and mortgage, and all utilities that will report if we're late. No major purchases during this time and no new debt. *This was really hard. I like to spend money.*
Credit repair isn't a thought yet, except to improve pay history, and that's only to avoid late fees so all money goes to debt payoff. I use Mint app to casually watch our credit scores. *Had no idea this wasn't real.*
Paid off and closed*:
Capital One $4500
Synchrony/CareCredit $2500
Barclay $1500
Ally (car #1) $4500
Home Depot $2500
Currently Paying Down:
Synchrony/Walmart $1500 (84% util)
Ally (car #2) $14,000 to $5900
In the Queue:
GM Financial (car #3) $8,000
Student Loans $12,860
Mortgage $80,000
ETA: All payments on time for 12 months and no new collections.
*We closed these accounts out of fear of getting into debt again.*
