One Man’s Brush With Bankruptcy
How one man survived a bankruptcy 7 years ago, but is still feeling the repurcussions of a bad decision.
(PRWEB) June 18, 2005 -- Having gone through a bankruptcy 7 years ago, I'm
still feeling the shockwaves of that fateful event in the form of higher
interests rates when I apply for loans, and living with the whole stigma that
bankruptcy places on you.
It was 1990. I was a freshman in college.
Walking through campus, I'd be bombarded with credit card offers on a daily
basis. One day I though, "why not?" I got my first credit card.
$500 to
do what I want, who can beat that? The problem was, that it was so easy to apply
for credit cards I ended up applying for all of them, or so it seemed. Actually,
I had at least 5, and soon enough, they were all maxed out.
And then I
bought a car, which only added to my mounting debt.
Fast-forward 7 years.
I had amassed a serious debt, and I didn’t even have a decent paying job to keep
up. It was an overwhelming experience, to say the least, and in the end I
decided that bankruptcy was the only option.
They make it so easy to
declare bankruptcy these days. The lawyers and their commercials tell you how
low cost it is, and how simple. Just go into their office, fill out some
paperwork, pay them their check, show up to court, and you’re done.
It’s
the aftermath they don’t tell you about—the shame, the guilt, the disgrace that
it places on you, the inability to get decent rates on credit cards and loans,
or even rent an apartment.
It’s been 7 years now since that fateful day
in court, when my slate was wiped clean. As relieved as I felt for no longer
having to deal with the insurmountable task of paying bills I could no longer
afford to pay, I didn’t feel very good about myself, and still
don’t.
They say that a bankruptcy stays on your record for 10 years so I
have 3 more years to go. In the meantime I’m getting married soon, so how do I
tell my wife-to-be that we can’t buy a house just yet? We have to wait three
years.
No, I haven’t told her yet. I’m too ashamed.
That's why I
started http://debtrelief1.info to let people know that there are
alternatives. Hopefully, people will learn from my mistakes and think long and
hard before deciding that bankruptcy is the answer.
In my opinion, it's
a bad decision and a short-term fix to a more serious problem. In the end, you
still end up paying your debts in the form of internal strife, external
perceptions, and higher interest rates.
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/6/prweb252188.htm