Aug 09 2009
Bankruptcy: Pros and Cons for the Peon
According to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, there were 1,153,412 personal/consumer bankruptcy filings from March 2007 to March 2008. Splendid news, eh? Means it’s ok to go out and file because at least 32.4% more of us US-ians are filing, right? How about no. How about thinking and planning and exploring every single option available before taking such a short leap off such a tall cliff!
Bankruptcy has been discussed at random and repeatedly over the years in our household. Some really huge, underlying fear of doom has kept me from pursuing it any further than a free initial consultation with a local attorney. Did you know you’d have to pay up front to even start the process? Now, how do they expect you to do that when you are FILING FOR BANKRUPTCY because you have NO MONEY????? This, I do not get. I know, it’s not that way everywhere, and you could even be brave and probably try to do it yourself, but damn! This is some serious shite, and I want legal representation if I ever take this route.
All opinionation aside, I made a short list of the pros, cons, so whats and what won’t be fixed in relation to bankruptcy. This may or may not apply to you too? And, hey, if you’ve ever been through the process, shoot me an email at debtkiller at g mail dot com sometime, if you have any good advice! So, let’s begin, shall we?
PROS:
-Wipe out debt faster
-Remove stress of owing so many things all at once
-Start with a clean slate (sort of BS, but u get my drift)
CONS:
-Doesn’t erase feelings of worthlessness caused by shirking financial obligations
-Defines failure (not in all cases, but for me-it probably does)
-Credit is ruined for at least 7-10 years, or for eternity. You decide.
SO WHATS:
-Credit’s already beyond saving
-Feeling like a failure is a choice. I can CHOOSE to move beyond that and improve
WHAT BANKRUPTCY WON’T FIX:
-The shoddy, lackadaisical money habits that may have gotten you into the mess in the first place
-Marriages or families that are falling apart regardless of financial status
Those are just a few things that ran through my mind when thinking about it all again. At this point, anything we owe is probably outside the scope of bankruptcy anyway, taxes, student loan debt, etc…etc..puke. So, I just don’t see it as a viable option in our household right now. Furthermore, just because everyone else SEEMS to be doing it, doesn’t make me feel any more comfortable with it. I don’t often follow trends, why start now?
I want to make our finances stable, healthy and then better than good. I think that filing bankruptcy would just be another roadblock that we would have to struggle to overcome, and frankly I’m not sure we’re strong enough to get over that one right now.
My advice, if you’re in the same kind of straits, is to really, really examine your thoughts and feelings about bankruptcy before you begin the process. Educate yourself. Learn what types are good, bad and ugly. Remember, only fools rush in, right? (Nevermind the fact that other fools, like me, get themselves in pickles like this way too often :D)
Carry on.
