My parents are going bankrupt

Post Reply New Topic

My mom and dad have never been that good with money, and keep running up the credit cards, but until now they've always been bailed out, either being able to do a home equity line of credit or getting an inheritance. But now they're stuck and have no way out. All their credit cards are maxed out, and they are relying solely on a single American Express credit card for daily living, which gets paid off in full every month with my mom's pension. American Express has been slashing credit limits left and right, so if my parents get that single card taken down it's all over. The problem is that I live with them, and I have no alternatives and no way out, so if they go down they take me with them. I myself have already filed bankruptcy, and now they will likely file bankruptcy, and they are worried about losing the house, and if they do they have nowhere to go, and neither do I. We will all be homeless. I am not making any money in my PC repair business, and I rely solely on $927 a month in Social Security, which isn't enough to pay rent. I am worried about my Social Security and my parents' pensions getting taken away due to govt bankruptcy (they were govt employees) and if that happens I'll be dead, and so will they. What can I do?

Um... maybe go look for a paying job?

It sounds like they need to learn to be better with money. Bankruptcy is not the end of the world, yes life will be rough for a bit... maybe downright hard.

If it's a done deal, accept it and start making plans on a brighter future. Maybe your family will get out of this mess.. maybe it won't. But if you don't try, you will never get out. You have to hang onto what's important.. each other. It's in your best interest to help your parents.

I work full time and bring home $950. a month. I pay rent, utilities, food, internet, bus fare and have zero credit cards. I am not saying it's the 'good life' I am just saying it can be done.

good luck, it is brutal out there.

927$ per month is not an unlivable wage. There is a nice apartment complex a mile from where I live that rents out a 600 sq. foot 1 person apartment for 550 per month, all utilities paid for. If I was running low on funds that is definitely where I would live. They even have a pool. If you figure 200 per month for food, 100 per month for unforeseen expenses (toothpaste, toilet paper, etc.) Then that still leaves you with 77$ per month for high speed internet and getting a new game once a month. You could probably even get by for cheaper if you convinced your next door neighbor to share his wireless internet connection for a few bucks.

I am not saying you will have a huge place to live, but being out on the streets and dead is being a bit unrealistic.

I rent a room for 500 a month all utilities including internet...and I can also afford to drive and pay insurance on my vehicle.I get 830 a month for student funding and that covers my food and bills.My job only pays for extras like going to the bar and stuff.

Be a student and get financial aid? Join a housing co-op that accepts members with pre-existing debt? Start selling off anything of value? Move to an area with cheaper rents (seems to me that if $927 won't pay the rent you need to get ahead of the game and relocate while there is still money to do so) or have a roommate? Just look for a room to rent? Worktrade? Become managers in an apartment building? Go on an extended couch surf? Teach English in Korea? Start a 3- person consulting business based on what your parents did in government? Something that takes advantage of the housing crisis? Get an accountant this time?

With home equity debt, it's best to make payments first to the secured creditors with liens on the home, with the unsecured credit card creditors paid lastly or not at all. When long unpaid unsecured creditors finally seek court orders for default, have the money saved up from not making the payments to file for protection from their claims in federal bankruptcy court. If creditors are then unwilling to help, this is probably the best strategy. This society has a bizarre interpretation of legal obligations involving family members; at times, it is the older law, where relatives are responsible for bills of relatives, and at other times, not, but with the State having precedence over joint tenancy deeds to family real properties, unless the direct relative is catergorically needy.

I'm not going to brag about making it on my own; too many of my friends died from exposure on ice cold nights on the streets in this great country. And, then there is the Jonestown Trajedy, where disabilities and poor social skills greatly expand the vulnerabilities to such crimes. As far as getting gainful employment while being regarded as disabled, the Supreme Court cites discrimnation in denying employment as well established precedent. The ADA and Rehab Act are Catch-22's with only rare token exceptions.

The federal government determines the rules of bankruptcy, and if the fed's trust funds go bankrupt, all the other non-fed funds are going to be worthless too, besides, Bork didn't make it to the bench to wreck Social Security. If society collapses, all the Marie Antoinette clones will probably get their advice to just eat cake back in the neck again. Making it on the streets is a deadly game of chance; a lot of lucky people think they have special talents, when in fact it is just dumbluck, with the only skill involved being able to brownnose authorities.

Well, One, your life is not your parents' lives. It is open to you to take your income and make of it what you will.

Two: bankruptcy erases debts. it's not pretty, but it makes the pension income go farther.

Three: there are many services out there to support people with excessive debt loads. consult with some of them. They can help.