Is bankruptcy right for you?

By: Darrell Castle

Alright, so you’ve lived the so called “American Dream.” You had a good job, then married a man or woman with a good job, which in turn afforded you a nice house in a nice suburban neighborhood. Well, when you got a house in a nice and safe suburban neighborhood, you decided it was time to have children. Those children grew older and you provided them with everything they needed, along with some of the luxuries in life.

Life has been good, and it’s all been affordable because you’ve had a very good income. But, what happens if that income stops? What happens if ALL of the household income stops? This is a picture that I’ve seen painted before.

When that income stops coming in, the bills don’t. But you’re confident it’s just a temporary clog in the money pipes and you’ve saved enough to withstand it, so you keep on living your life the same way you always have.

For some people, the clog IS just temporary and they go on to find a new job. For others, the problem ISN’T temporary and they either can’t find a new job or are forced to take one with a much lower income than they’re accustomed to.

The problem with taking a lower income job is still trying to maintain your higher bills that’ve come with your lifestyle you created with your HIGHER income job. This includes your mortgage payment for that suburban house, your four car payments, your children’s tuition along with your high utility bill. The debt adds on fast!

Ahh – credit! That’s the solution – all you have to do is get a credit card to pay your bills and buy all of your stuff with and then you can pay it back later when the income gets better. But, after a while, it doesn’t, and you’ve fallen further and further in debt.

It’s at this point in which you might realize it’s time to change your lifestyle, but you’re so far in debt that you don’t even know which side is up.

Then you do some research online and come across a blog post about bankruptcy just like this one! You’ve never really considered bankruptcy and have always thought about it in a negative way, but to the contrary, it’s actually perfect for this kind of situation!

By filing for bankruptcy, your debt can either be discharged through a Chapter 7 or lumped into an affordable 3-5 year repayment plan through a Chapter 13. Then, after the process is complete, you have a clean slate and a fresh start to begin that new life of spending responsibly.

At Darrell Castle & Associates, our experienced bankruptcy attorneys not only want to help you get out of debt through the bankruptcy process, but also want to help you recover from it. That’s why we offer a great credit restoration program called “7 Steps to a 720” in which you’ll learn how to re-establish and rebuild your credit the RIGHT WAY! This program is a $1,000 value but we provide it free to our clients.

If you’ve realized the moment is right to file for bankruptcy, if you’re considering it OR if you have any questions whatsoever, please don’t hesitate to contact us. You can call us at (901) 327-2100 or fill out one of our contact forms on this page to schedule a free consultation with one of our Memphis bankruptcy attorneys.