Is your husband ok with you filing bankruptcy? Depending on where you live he could end up becoming responsible for your actions and I would hate to see debtors go after him.
I don't know your situation but I was down the bankruptcy road 10+ years ago and it was a very hard lesson that took a long time to recover from. You think it's easy to just walk away from your debt but the hardest thing you are going to discover is how frustrating it is to get credit for anything.
I had a hard time renting an apartment, getting reasonable rates for car insurance, cell phones and even utility bills. A lot of places wanted extremely HUGE deposits. I am not telling you not to file but bankruptcy is a fresh start so you need to be 200% positive this is the right step for you, include anything under the sun you have debt on and know you will not be able to pay and get yourself some financial counseling and start trying to rebuild some good credit. If something were to happen to your spouse and you found yourself losing the house you maybe find yourself having an even harder time to find a place to live with your children that is in a safe neighborhood because most places look at your credit score. I don't want to sound harsh but I have been down this road and it's not a cakewalk. If you have any credit cards in your name currently that are paid off do not close it and hang onto it for emergencies because if you ever find someone to give you another one it will be almost 30% interest rates.
I would be curious to see your list of expenses. Do you spend money eating out a lot? As for the cell phone you are paying too much for - are you locked into a contract? If not - get out of it now. This is one area that can blow your budget completely. There are plenty of offers out there for prepaid phones that are good deals. Check out Virgin Mobile if it's in your area. They have them at Wal-Mart. You can pay as little as 18 center/minute but you can earn up to 5 free minutes online per day watching short advertising clips.
A 13 year old should be self sufficient and independent enough that they don't need to talk to you for hours every day. A quick phone call to check in shouldn't cost you very much money. It may be a tough habit to break and I agree you need to be able to be reached but I think we take advantage of cell phones way too much in this society and it is a lot of money.
|