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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Op needs to see where the leaks in her budget are. I think she can still cut on some of her expenses and she needs to make a habit of it. Every extra $ earned needs to go in towards debt otherwise it would never come down. [/quote]

WHAT leaks? I'm so confused.

OP puts $2,000 to credit card + $700 car loan + $950 rent = $3650 out of $4500 take-home pay.  That's about 80% of her take-home pay going to housing and debt(including car).

She's living off of 4500-3650= $850/month for everything: food, gas, tolls and parking, clothing, shoes, copays, OTC meds, entertainment, the very occasional treat or gift.

She doesn't have room for leaks and any she could find would be minimal and not meaningful towards her debt.[/quote]

That could be true but then OP needs to work more to accelerate paying off this debt. Just by making minimum payments, it would take decades to pay it off. [/quote]

RIGHT! Now you are getting it.

That's why at her age 42, and with her health issues, and lack of assets like a house, bankruptcy is an appropriate step to take.
[/quote]

[b]But she needs to fix her financial attitude and budget before bankruptcy[/b], or she will end up in the same spot.  Most everything is about "how I cannot possibly cut that back or I need this car"   Thinking you can afford $700/month car payment when you make $60K is a key part of that issue.

[/quote]

You aren't wrong, intellectually. But ironically, if she fixes her budget before filing for bankruptcy, she won't be approved for Chapter 7.

If she sells her car and gets a beater (so no more car payments) and leaves her apartment and moves in with a relative (so no more rent) she will technically have enough cash to pay off 25% of her debt in 5 years... and so that's what she will be told to do and will be put into a Chapter 13.

It's a curious phenomenon I read about called "Thrifting your way into a Chapter 13". And it allows you to keep your house if you have one.

I don't think OP's situation calls for a Chapter 13 though. If she made a ton of money, or owed debts to small business owners or family members, I'd feel she had more of a moral obligation to pay at least 25% of them off.  But credit card companies are a HUGE business and make money hand over fist offering credit when they shouldn't, enticing people to use their cards to earn rewards, and charging outrageously high fees. They took a risk on OP and some risks fail. That's why OP was paying such high rates on her cards and loans.

OP should feel no compunction about defaulting on her credit card debt. Go through the Chapter 7 process. Learn about it. Figure out what your true expenses are, and don't forget you are allowed to budget for care for your elderly relative.  Make sure your expenses accurately reflect what you should be spending if you didn't have to spend $2000 monthly on minimum payments. Read about it. Learn about it. Then visit a good bankruptcy lawyer to help you file.[/quote]

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