Best wishes,

Please keep me updated. I know things will go smoothly for you.

Lois-you are definitely not alone!

Good luck Lara

So now I have to gather the “stuff” I need to bring with me for the first visit. When I get my tax stuff back from my accountant in Jersey they I will make the appointment.

I am trying to be organized about this whole thing! lol – organized debt I guess you would call it.

However I do feel better since I made this decision and within a few weeks should be able to call her.

Lara I am sure things will go well with you. At least we know that we are not alone and that in itself helps me a lot!!!!

You are right when you say bad things happen to good people. I think many of us are good people and need a fresh start.

Lara-I hope all goes well for you too tomorrow. I know you have done your research because I have seen ya here before. Having knowledge before you go into that appointment makes you feel more confident. I know I would have been lost if I hadn’t known some of this stuff.

I wish all the best to everyone. Please keep me updated on how it goes.

The issue with SS is because I am still working so they hold back the first few months and it was THEIR MISTAKE – but….. guess who has to pay the price? LOL
Trust me I have tried a lot of things including a reverse mortgage but…. the home values have gone down so much that I was short about 22,000 so that was not working for me either.

You definitely are doing the right thing – for sure and hopefully the new fresh start will be coming soon for both of us!!!!

Again I really enjoy your blog – it is very refreshing to me to hear someone tell their story and to be so honest about it.

You sound like you really have thought everything through-get a free consultation with a lawyer (how about the one your daughters friend used)and see where you stand. You are thinking like me. I do not want any more credit. When I buy another car-it will be cash. I am sure I will probably have to pay a little more or give deposits for people with “bad credit” for certain things but I will deal with that when the time comes. I mean, in these times-how many people have perfect credit anymore?

Don’t think about it too long though if it is causing you financial stress. I know I did and now looking back-it was not worth it. You are retiring soon. Enjoy your retirement without all this stress!

What I did when I was current was change all my work #’s to my cell # and I never got a call at work. They will hound you at work even if you tell them not to call. A coworker of mine is having this problem. Eventually you can send them a “cease and desist letter” to stop the calls. I let them call my cell # and go straight to voice mail.

You really had some issues with your money. I never see anyone get overpaid and then get the money taken back!

Well, off to the park. Happy Sunday to you as well!

I will check out Dave Ramsey – as I have been checking out sooooooooo much info that my mind is overloaded. I know I just have to relax and do what I have to do.

I have read and reread articles about taking money out of IRA for bills and believe it or not, most people say DO NOT DO IT. Even one bankrupty lawyer said that on this website. So I feel I am at least headed in the right direction.

I have about 35,000 in debt I would say but I make a very low salary – LOL – hey this is Florida and my social security has not really kicked in yet full blast because I am still working. Took it early which probably was a mistake and they make mistakes also. Got a letter last year telling me they overpaid me 5,000. and I had to pay it back. Unreal! So down to SS I went and had to get that straightened out. So now they take $ out of my check every month to pay it back. And I do not get a check every month because I am not at “full retirement”age which is 66 and that will happen in September. All of this crap in plain English is very frustrating! But I try to remain positive and I know something good will come out of all this rotten mess.

A friend of my daughter claimed bankruptcy last year and she seems to be fine – had way more debt than me also. She used a woman lawyer which is a bit appealing to me also! LOL

I just have to take the next step and make a call and find out more from a lawyer which I will do and very soon.

I am sure you will be fine when you go to court. Hey people do it every day and we are entitled to it so…….I wish you the best also and hopefully it will be a fresh start for you and your family.

I am sooooooooo glad I found your website – just feels better to be able to talk to someone who understands.

PS Not too worried about creditors calling cause I now have MAGIC JACK and they do not have that number. Of course they can call work, but I will just inform them I am not allowed to receive these calls at work.

Have a great Sunday and thanks again!!!

Your daughter will love Loxahatchee. It is so quiet there! We had family that use to live there. When my oldest daughter graduates-we want to go North too. Not sure where though.

These credit card companies are just not fair. That is what started the whole fiasco with us. When we were going through the short sale with the house-we had to stop paying our mortgage but we stayed current on all of our credit cards. They still hiked our rates to 29%! It was crazy.

Depending on how much you owe-you may have a lot of options. I know a lot of people will probably not agree with me but I personally wouldn’t take out of my IRA or retirement savings to pay off these creditors. Especially since you are already close to retiring. You will need that money when you retire.

Bankruptcy doesn’t have to be the only option though if you aren’t in too deep. I have a few blogs that I love listed on the right of this blog and a link to an awesome website. You may know about it already. If not, you may want to start researching there. There is a ton of info there and you don’t even need to register if you don’t want to. Between the few blogs, and that site-you will have a world of info to go over and motivation! Oh and if you don’t read Dave Ramsey-you may want to. There is even more motivation! I wish you the best in anything you decide and please keep me posted!

As for the court date, mine is in a few weeks. I am naturally always nervous but I was told it will be very brief especially if no creditors show up. I hope not! I will let you know how it goes.

Have a great weekend!

So far I am current on my credit card bills but in order to pay them I keep taking money out of my IRA which I KNOW I SHOULD NOT BE DOING.

I will check into debt settlement this weekend – but I think that is expensive too. I did figure a lawyer would cost about 2,000 at the most but that is nothing compared to the CC I owe and the rotten cc companies raise rates even though I am current. So that makes it easier for me because they are a bunch of ………. well you know what!! LOL

Thanks again and I really really do love reading your thoughts and progress in this whole thing.

To be honest the only thing that really scares me is going to court! LOL But my daughter is a courtt reporter and she will go with me. And no, she knows no bankruptcy lawyers! Sad, but true!!!

To be continued I am sure!!