Good Advice Part 1

I wanted to pass on some really good advice I have gotten over the years. Some of it I took and some I passed up on only to now wish I would have taken. A lot of this advice obviously works better if you are young,unattached and do not have any children though it could still be taken just maybe a tad more difficult. This will be a series that I am working on. I hope they help out someone.


This is by far that absolute best advice I have ever gotten and two people told me :

Claim Bankruptcy

Now I don't believe this is for everyone and I really feel that it should not be used for people who are just careless with their money. The reason I ended up in debt was medically related (and this was with health insurance) which unfortunately left me on disability for two years. I had no where to go so I had to still pay rent and regular bills not too mention Cobra payments. Let's just say that my disability checks didn't cover it all. Then of course my vehicle was breaking down constantly on top of it all and yeah it was a mess. I ended up having to use credit cards to help pay for normal stuff like paying my electric bill and putting gas in my car to go to the doctor. I seriously spent $10 a month on food and this was BEFORE I truly knew how to use coupons so I lived off of ramen noodles and I can seriously say I have never been so hungry in my entire life. I unfortunately (don't ask I don't understand) did not qualify for any type of government help so I barely ate because I could not afford to. But with all of this I put my bills first and paid with one credit card to pay another and so forth. I was very determined to get out of my hole and pay them off. I just didn't want to live on the street and well, if I did not pay rent I would have ended up there. So my credit cards were my saviour. Thank god for them. Some people have family and friends who will help them in their time of need I had my credit cards. Better than nothing right?!

Like I said for years I tried getting out of this horrid hole but this also all coincided with the whole 911 thing so jobs were scarce (though not as scarce as now). I did what I had to do to pay my everyday living bills (rent, electric etc.) and made the min. payment on all my cards but it was clear to me they would never be paid off. I still paid them every month but deep down I knew it would take a miracle.

I had a friend who constantly said just claim bankruptcy you will be so happy you did. Her and her husband had and it truly did not seem to affect them. Then I causally dated a guy and he mentioned that he had claimed bankruptcy so I spilled the beans and told him my story. He told me to most definitely claim bankruptcy.

I finally decided to look into it. I realized there would be no way I would ever be able to pay it off. I could not imagine having that hanging over my head now I don't know what I would do. So I went for it and did it. This was before the laws changed and truthfully I can't even recall what year it was. Let's just say I am so very glad I did. I can not imagine being a single parent and having those debts hanging over me never letting me get ahead.

Again I don't think it is for everyone but for some it is the best answer. I personally feel that people who were beyond careless and just spent, spent, spent should be responisble for their debt but I feel when it comes to things related to medical, losing a job, losing a spouse etc. then I feel it could be the right thing to do. I was always very responsible and paid my bills on time and saved money but even with that when something unavoidable happens and it leaves you not being able to work well you have to find some way to avoid being homeless. I had no one to live with or help me out so I had no other choice than to rely on my credit cards.