Another Post from the Bankruptcy Book!

This is a book about what it's like to live through a Chapter 13 bankruptcy--if you happen to be a single, middle-aged woman without any kids. This is the story of how I survived. This is how I learned how to deal with situations, how I lived with a toilet that wouldn't flush properly (I kept the lid shut to contain the aroma) how I lived with a washer with a clogged-up outake pipe that would occasionally overflow onto the kitchen floor. (I bought a $10 plastic hose, connected it to the washing machine, and ran it out my back door until I'd saved enough to get my plumbing problem addressed.) This is about a woman who collected rainwater to bathe in because her water got shut off. This is about a woman who hung clothes to dry in the backyard, and around her house because her dryer wouldn't heat. This is about a woman who thought differently about money when she no longer had it. This is not a book about how I lost a huge pile of money, this is not really about investing. Financial books tend to assume their readers have college degrees, decent jobs, and fell on hard times. I DO have a college degree, but decades of crappy jobs, “chasing the dream”, being in debt, medical bills and being downright stupid about money was what nailed me. The only thing that kept me from being homeless was my mother leaving me half the house I grew up in. If not for that, I would have been hard-pressed to find shelter.

If you're Catholic, being in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy is like doing financial penance. Forgive me Father, for I have spent—way too fucking much. Mea culpa. Mea maxima culpa. So if you're Catholic, think of Chapter 13 as suffering for your financial sins, for the next three to five years. This is how I got through it. And really, that is the only “how to” about it. If you are thinking about declaring the big B, this is how I got there, and how I dealt. I can't speak for you, but do some research, and find a lawyer who will be professional, and not treat you like shit. It's going to be harder than you think. Bankruptcy might seem to be the end of the world, but for me, it taught me a few things that having several million dollars wouldn't have. Hopefully, this book will teach you, as well.

An Excerpt from My Book

I've decided to upload excerpts of my bankruptcy memoir. It's not done, this is just what I have so far. So enjoy!

Disclaimer

This is a book about my time spent in Chapter 13 bankruptcy. However, it is not a how to declare bankruptcy book. State laws vary, so the situations I talk about in this book may or may not apply to you. The poverty and scraping by will, so pay attention to those parts.

If you are curious about what it's like to be in Chapter 13 bankruptcy, this book IS for you. Bankruptcy is a word that gets thrown around frequently. People are close to it, teetering on the edge, or have been through it, but no matter how you've come to it, people feel ashamed to have to declare it. I was no different. I declared bankruptcy to save the little I had. And to perhaps salvage something for the future. I had fucked up, and I wanted to make amends. Considering I don't even make $30,000 a year working three jobs, it was certain that it would have taken me a looooooong time to pay off the more than $100,000 I had in debt. If, by some miracle, I had been able to pay it off, I would have been much older, and have had nothing saved for the future. But since I probably won't be able to retire, one can argue I should have paid my debt off anyway. Having known an older couple who did just that, and then went out and bought a home costing more than $100,000 right around the age they should have been retiring, I'm glad I declared bankruptcy when I did. There is no way I want to be 75 years old and have to work retail in order to survive. (Which is what that older couple is doing—the wife is 65, her husband is 75.)