Release the stigma and live a life of financial freedom!
The day you receive your Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Discharge is the first Debt-Free day of the rest of your life. I know it may seem scary at first to think you will have no credit and not be able to fall back on credit cards in an emergency but it’s not forever and there is a healthy and productive way about living cash-only after Bankruptcy.
Through your Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Process you completed a Debtor Education/Personal Financial Management Course that taught you effective ways of rebuilding your credit. One of those ways is by obtaining a secured credit card, which you can do almost immediately upon receiving your Discharge. This is great for two reasons: (1) it will immediately help you rebuild your credit (as long as you pay at least the minimum payment on time each month) and (2) it will give you that safety blanket back of having a credit card (but it should be strictly for emergencies only). The beauty of a getting a secured credit card right after Bankruptcy is that you will only be allowed a very small limit (usually $200 at first), this will help you police your spending habits and force you to learn to live life cash-only.
After you start your new debt-free financial journey you will become confident that you can support yourself and have a healthy financial life without the crutch of credit cards and having the burden of the crushing debt that results from those credit cards.
The number one worry my clients have is that Bankruptcy is public information and it will be used against them. Although Bankruptcy is public information, your filing is not printed in the newspaper or easily accessible to the community.
Your Bankruptcy filing will show up on your Credit Report and it will show up on a financial background search, however, filing for Bankruptcy is a constitutional right and you cannot be discriminated against solely on the basis that you filed for Bankruptcy.
A few years after you are discharged from Bankruptcy you will able to obtain loans and mortgages for cars and real estate. As time goes on, you will be given more favorable interest rates and your credit score will begin to grow.
In fact, once you start over in Bankruptcy, learn healthy money management skills and begin to regain your credit, you can live a life of abundance with peace of mind and security.
I tell all of my clients: do not let the potential after-effects of Bankruptcy deter you from filing and getting your second chance at life.
I often share my own personal story of Bankruptcy with my clients. When I was younger, I was sick in college and did not have health insurance. After graduation, I was drowning in medical debt, credit card debt and student loans. After much contemplation, I felt it was unfair to enter my marriage with so much financial baggage, so I filed for Bankruptcy. Today, I own my own business, we have a home, cars, and live mostly on cash but I do have a few credit cards (one secured and one unsecured) to build-back and maintain my credit.
Many clients feel more comfortable with an attorney who has walked in their shoes. So I can tell you from my own experience, the best thing for you to do if you are crushed by debt and cannot sleep at night is to forget the stigma you attach to Bankruptcy Do what is right for you. File for Bankruptcy and live a life of peace, instead of a life filled with debt collectors harassing you and a constant struggle to make minimum payments on cards it would take you your entire lifetime to pay back!
For more information on the Chapter 7 Bankruptcy process, please call Attorney Theresa Rose DeGray at 203-713-8877 or text 203-814-0600.