Over the past three years, my wife and I have done okay income-wise. We don't make a bundle of money but we make enough that we don't go hungry. We've tried to be smart about our spending and budget for what we can. We try to stick some money back but something always seems to come up (car or homeowner's insurance, a doctor's visit, medication, auto maintenance, etc). However, due to an ongoing illness with which my wife may miss a day or two a week (or sometimes the entire week altogether), it looks like we may have to file bankruptcy soon. I'm not going into reasons why we are in debt other than to say we are about $45k in and only net $35k/yr ($47k/yr gross). We have gotten to the point where we are falling behind on bills and having to swim like hell to keep afloat. (The main reason my DVD and HT-related purchases have come to an end.) We are fortunate in that we own our home free and clear and my car is paid for. My wife's credit was bad when we got married and mine has gone south trying to carry hers so a mortgage is out of the question. We owe about $14k on her car, I have a personal loan for $10k and she has a student loan for $2k. The rest is unsecured debt. I have tried debt consolidation which I highly recommend but it has gotten to the point where the monthly payments for that, her car, my loan, her loan and the bills equal more than we bring in on weeks where I am the only one working. Hence the possibility of bankruptcy.
My question is this: Has anyone had any experience with bankruptcy since the new laws took effect in 2005? What are good things to know? What do we need to look out for? I realize our already-tarnished credit will be nil for the next 7 years then we'll have to slowly rebuild it. If I'm not mistaken we'll have to file a chapter 11 so there will be no liquidation of assets. Any thoughts?
My question is this: Has anyone had any experience with bankruptcy since the new laws took effect in 2005? What are good things to know? What do we need to look out for? I realize our already-tarnished credit will be nil for the next 7 years then we'll have to slowly rebuild it. If I'm not mistaken we'll have to file a chapter 11 so there will be no liquidation of assets. Any thoughts?