Hmm the second car is on finance and we will have to default on that loan to get rid of it, which I am sure they will chase us for. It was a dumb loan choice ($12,000 for a $6,000 car) but the only way we could get a car at the time- oh how we rush and demonstrate stupidity!
DF can't give up job as he isn't qualified in anything else and therefore we will still have a ****ty wage anyhow.
I am leaning towards not wanting to d it after researching it this afternoon, but hte look on DF when he considered being able to wake up one morning not worried about which bills we would prioritise to pay and which we would put off and take abusive calls from makes me want to do it.
Why isn't there some magical fairy that comes down when they see you have learnt from your stupid naive mistakes. Why can't the magical fairy drop in for a cup of tea right now and say- "ok I can see you know what to do now... here is a clean slate."
I just feel so hopeless, it seems such an insurmountable amount of money and I don't want DF and I to end up separating because we are both so worried over $5...
Hi, not me personally but while I was living at home my mum went bankrupt. I can't say anything positive came out of it and she ended up in the same situation a few years later. Now she is unable to get any form of credit, which is probably a good thing for her.
I hope my post doesn't sound nasty but my mum has underlining issues that lead to her debt and she still struggles with these issues thus going bankrupt did not assist her to get things together and has left a lasting impact on our relationship. She was advised to go bankrupt twice by financial counsellors. Just before the period of time was up for the last one my grandmother died and left her a significant amount of money which was all given directly to the debt collectors as per terms of the bankruptcy which was another mental set back for her.
I understand the stress of money and debts and that horrible feeling of having to pick and choose what to pay and what not to pay but I would encourage you to try every other option before bankrupcy as it really does leave a mark on the your future prospects. Wishing you all the best and hope you find a solution that works for you!
My sister declared bankruptcy about 10 years ago, and it was the worst thing that could have happened to her. Yes, at the time she felt she had no other choice. But that choice she made 10 years still lives with her today. The bankruptcy may be cleared now, but she still can't get finance due to her credit history. She would give anything to be able to borrow money for a car and/or mortgage, but she has been declined on many occassions.
Please consider this in great detail and speak to many experienced people in the industry before going ahead with this. It's an awful thing to have hanging over your head.
Ok, saying this as someone who has had the phone calls, services cut off etc. You may need to be the one to go out and earn some money. Even just 1 day per week can make a huge difference even after childcare fees. I think at this stage with things so dire for you financially and for your relationship, that you would some very good reasons for not getting some work. Also think of your little one, he would be picking up on your stress, he may actually benefit from you working and some time in care. I started work again when DD1 was about 1 and it was just in time for us financially. It did not make everything 100%, but took some of the pressure off. Along with that I felt so much better for getting out that one day per week.
Bankruptcy isn't just something that clears your debts and then gets wipes after a few years. It's with you forever. FOREVER. You can apply for finance/loans, but they'll just look at your credit history (and some 'bankruptcy list' with your name on it )and go "ah, nup, we actaully want our money back". Bankruptcy tells people that you don't pay your loans. Because when you declare backruptcy, your loans DON'T get paid, so the banks/companies who loaned you money don't get it back. I think they can take assets if the loan/finance was for a car, they can take the car too. You'll have a hard time convincing people that you will pay the money back. Plus you'll have restrictions on how much money you can have in the bank, the value of the car you can own etc.
Maybe you need to think about a job? Possibley part-time while your partner is at home? so theres no childcare fees. Or one or two days a week. Like Astrid said, it might not seem like much but it could make a little difference.
I think, bankruptcy might seem like the 'easy' way out, to get rid of debt, but I don't think it's worth it. It really should be the absolute ABSOLUTE last straw...
Last edited by Indadhanu; December 19th, 2009 at 06:27 AM.
Hey hun, XDH and I declared ourselves bankrupt in 2003. I suggest first you take part in a thing called a Part 9 Debt Agreement. They consolidate all your loans into one and you pay off one amount per week/fortnight/whatever. The good thing is that it's all taken care of by a seperate company so there are mno more nasty phone calls.
At the time it was seriously the only option we had. We closed our business and XDH was earning $500 a week and we had a 2 year old and a 6 week old. It didn't impact our lives at the time because he wasn't earning enough to be able to get credit for anything but years later when financially we were very well off, we still couldn't get anywhere. As we had debt in both our names we were both declared bankrupt.
Last year I was lucky enough to have a lady in the bank take it as her personal mission to get me a credit card lol. And I have one - for $500. But still can't get a phone plan, major CC, finance anywhere like Harvey Norman etc...
We were incredibly lucky that a friend of ours put his name on the finance for my car (which is now paid off) but there are not many people around who would do that.
There were only two positive things to come out of it - one was the fact that we had no more debt, and two - it taught us to budget well. If you can't possibly GET credit then you learn to save for whatever you want. I'm glad we did it but only because I know how terrible we were with money and had we been able to we would have gotten ourselves into a lot more debt.
I wouldn't recommend it. The Part 9 Debt Agreement goes on your credit record too but it makes people aware that you are trying to pay your debt and not just walking away from it.
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks