Young and stupid - Need Advice.

Hey guys, I feel the time has come to make a decision about my finances.

I am only 23 years old, and have a lot of debt. I got my first vredit card when I was old enough to get one. And of course, being the young and stupid kid I was, abused it, got another credit card, abused it. Then some loans for things, etc.

Now, I am in a sticky situation years after, and have more debt than I can pay back. I am unemployed at the moment recieving only government subsidy to live on.

So. The way I see it now, is that I have no choices left and am considering declaring the Krupt (bankruptcy). I have though hard about this, and I feel like there is no other option at this point. But I am wondering if this is a wise choice. So could some of you give me some light in this situation?

Maybe some of you have been in similar situations, any guidance is greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Bolted--

Many provinces have free government or private not for profit credit counselling services-see if yours does and then talk to them for advice-they are not there to make any money but to help you with your debt issues-usually bankruptcy is a last resort and they will discuss other options with you first. Good luck.

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Originally Posted by bolted56

Hey guys, I feel the time has come to make a decision about my finances.

I am only 23 years old, and have a lot of debt. I got my first vredit card when I was old enough to get one. And of course, being the young and stupid kid I was, abused it, got another credit card, abused it. Then some loans for things, etc.

Now, I am in a sticky situation years after, and have more debt than I can pay back. I am unemployed at the moment recieving only government subsidy to live on.

So. The way I see it now, is that I have no choices left and am considering declaring the Krupt (bankruptcy). I have though hard about this, and I feel like there is no other option at this point. But I am wondering if this is a wise choice. So could some of you give me some light in this situation?

Maybe some of you have been in similar situations, any guidance is greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Bolted--

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Have you try to move all the debts on to one card? I know one of my friend moved all debts to one card which was asking for no interest for a period of time and them they charge her a lower interest, and check out to see if that is an option for you. If it is, go for it and you will save much money for no interested payment and then lowered interest payment. Also, make sure you try to save cash anywhere you can, don't spend when it is required. Good luck.

Meanwhile, don't beat yourself up about it. We've all been young and stupid, made financial choices we regret. The big thing is to learn from those mistakes and move on. Good luck!

I see this is your first post OP.
Welcome to the forum
:welcome:

I would suggest viewing you tube videos on conquering debt. And google Doug Ramsey!!! and follow his advice. He has some excellent books (in the library as well) on getting finances under control. I also like www.thesimpledollar.com

OK, reality time: you noticed your financial dilemma-awareness is an important step! Look into the local options for credit consolidation while you figure out how to get cash flow going. You'd better try putting something of your subsidy towards the cards (check if your subsidy limits you in terms of how many $ you can earn before you get penalized). Also, start the work of figuring out what you were feeling/going through when you started to make those expensive purchases because you probably have to fix those feelings in order to help change your financial mindset.
Sending you a PM.

Kind of getting in the same situation :S ..... This post actually helped me too...thanks for those taking the time to advice others!!

I'm not trying to sound rude but why don't you have a job? It can't be that hard to find employment, then again I don't know where live. Your best option is NOT to declare bankruptcy, you should get a job, get two jobs, and get to work paying off your debts. Become responsible to offset your past irresponsibility. But you need to aggressively pay it off, within three years otherwise the hope of becoming debt free starts to linger. Personally, I work two jobs, I live on my own, I pay all of my own bills and I save money whereas when I lived at home I didn't save a dime (I'm also 23).
Good luck, I hope you find your way and make a plan. Visit GailVaz-Oxlade's website. She's amazing.

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Originally Posted by Young_Saver

Kind of getting in the same situation :S ..... This post actually helped me too...thanks for those taking the time to advice others!!

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I see this is your first post OP.
Welcome to the forum
:welcome:

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Originally Posted by Brooke_

I'm not trying to sound rude but why don't you have a job? It can't be that hard to find employment, then again I don't know where live. Your best option is NOT to declare bankruptcy, you should get a job, get two jobs, and get to work paying off your debts. Become responsible to offset your past irresponsibility. But you need to aggressively pay it off, within three years otherwise the hope of becoming debt free starts to linger. Personally, I work two jobs, I live on my own, I pay all of my own bills and I save money whereas when I lived at home I didn't save a dime (I'm also 23).
Good luck, I hope you find your way and make a plan. Visit GailVaz-Oxlade's website. She's amazing.

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Yes, I agree, declare bankruptcy looks bad on your financial record and in the future if you want to take out a mortage or something like that, it will be harder. I would say try to find some cash and set up a plan, and then follow the plan strickly to get things in order. It will feel like the whole world's weight is on your shoulders, but you can do it.

There is some sort of program you can do.. I think its offered by credit counselling.. There are 3 ways to go if you want to get rid of the debt.. ideally , you could contact the companies you owe, ask them to reduce the interest and let you make smaller but consistent payments.

The other extreme is to ignore the calls, the contacts and the debtors hounding you for about 7 years. Then your credit slate is wiped clean and you get to start over. Depending on the amount of money you owe there is a chance they could take you to court but due to the expense involved they don't usually go this route with the smaller amounts..

Another way to do it is to contact a credit group, what they do is contact all your debtors and set up a realistic repayment plan for the money you owe MINUS the interest. Once you contact them, the collectors can't call you. It will take about 7 years for your credit slate to be wiped cleaned. I know someone who did this. If you want the information on who to contact, inbox me and I will ask them for the organization who helped them out.

I'm sure this is a huge problem for you right now.. your life is not ruined forever because of this... but you do need to bring the credit use to a complete stop and get help with fixing the problem.

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Originally Posted by Brooke_

I'm not trying to sound rude but why don't you have a job? It can't be that hard to find employment, then again I don't know where live. Your best option is NOT to declare bankruptcy, you should get a job, get two jobs, and get to work paying off your debts. Become responsible to offset your past irresponsibility. But you need to aggressively pay it off, within three years otherwise the hope of becoming debt free starts to linger. Personally, I work two jobs, I live on my own, I pay all of my own bills and I save money whereas when I lived at home I didn't save a dime (I'm also 23).
Good luck, I hope you find your way and make a plan. Visit GailVaz-Oxlade's website. She's amazing.

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Sadly, there just aren't jobs in a lot of the country right now. The era of being able to apply in person for a job is almost over too, because so many companies will only take online applications, so that makes it even harder to find something. I was SHOCKED to visit family in AB and see job openings posted everywhere. In my area one- that's ONE- minimum wage job can have over a thousand applicants. I feel for the OP, since I had moved across the country at their age to find work and had 3 jobs to make rent. There's been some good advice given in the thread. Keep posting, and good luck.

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Originally Posted by lecale

You need money to file for bankruptcy. You need about $2k to hire the trustee that administrates your case. For the next year until you are discharged, if you have any income, you have to make payments on your debt. Collection agencies aren't allowed to call you but you are not off the hook for your debts for a year. If your loans are student loans you can't get rid of them at all: you still have to pay them off, they're exempt. Just saying bankruptcy may not work out for you.

You may want to consider a consumer proposal, where you agree to close your accounts and pay off just part of your debt. It is harder to get credit afterwards though and because you would probably do this through a bankruptcy trustee it ain't free either.

OR you can arrange your debts the best you can and pay it off. Get a low interest line of credit, pay off the credit cards with it and close them down. Whatever else you have a loan for, sell it, and pay the loan down. Consolidate everything into the line of credit and just keep throwing money in the hole until it's gone.

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OMG, I never thought that you have to pay to file bankruptcy. Crazy.