PF Article

Really good article from MP Dunleavy on Money Traps. It just resonated with me today.


Click here to read part 1.

Click here to read part 2

New Purchase and

I am so happy to be heading out of town for the weekend, it was an interesting yesterday here at work and I just want April to be over! My neighbor is going to watch the animals, my car has gas, I'm packed, I need to get some cash from the ATM, and I'm ready to go.

The other good news is I FINALLY purchased a new laptop! With today being pay day and even with my stupid overdrafts this week, I had the funds to pay cash for my new laptop. It has all the bells and whistles I need and then some, and even a web cam I don't need. My almost 8 year old Dell can be permanently retired once I get the new model up and running!

I'm hoping I can do some quality blogging at home instead of dragging and dropping a file to my travel drive, and then uploading my posts to blogger at work.

I had an unexpected "performance review" with my boss yesterday. I had all of 4 hours notice and was dammed sure I was going to either get a further reduction in hours or get the proverbial boot. Thankfully, it was neither. I'm not getting an increase in hours or pay, but at least I still have a job. I'll post about this interesting experience later.

Have a great weekend!

Another One Gone from the Blogsphere

One reason many of us start blogs and personal finance ones is because we need an outlet for our worries and concerns about our finances. Personal finance is pretty much a taboo subject in American culture. In general, most folks don't go to parties and discuss their VISA debt or any debt at all. It just makes people uncomfortable to talk about. Discussing personal bankruptcy, heck you may as well put a big fat black B on your chest and watch yourself be really shunned, it just makes folks uncomfortable.

In my case, I started this blog after spending about 8 months reading other PF blogs. I was in the middle of my Bankruptcy filing and dealing with those issues and all the conflicting emotions and feelings I was having about becoming Bankrupt. The blog gave me a place to vent and to share. I've gotten some excellent advice both in my comments and in my e-mail from my readers and for that I am very grateful. I did this Bankruptcy all on my own. I'm not married, not currently in a steady relationship and of course, did not tell my family or friends (save for 2 friends). I used this blog as a place to vent, get support, and get information and I still do use it for that reason. I may be discharged, but I have a long way to go before I really "bounce back from bankruptcy". I'm in a huge learning curve and will be for a long time.

Along the way I have collected a number of blogs I read on a regular basis. I have the "baby bloggers", those single folks in their 20's and early 30's who are paying off student loans, credit card debt while trying to balance having a social life and a work life. The families working towards debt reduction or the goal of buying a home and I'm slowing finding the "boomer bloggers"-people closer to my age that blog about personal finance and life. What I love about the blogsphere is the diversity of the authors of each blog.

I have one blog I've been reading for a while that has gone very quiet. It's a woman who has written about her (and her husbands) struggle with debt and personal finance. They are struggling, they have car, boat, mortgage, loan and credit card payments. She was making progress each month towards her debt reduction. A few weeks ago she stopped posting. I figured she was taking a break, she did say she wanted a little break from blogging to just relax a bit. I clicked onto her link today and got the message that the author deleted the blog. I've had a couple links where I've gotten the same message, blog unavailable, blog only open to invited readers, blog deleted.

I worry about some of those blog authors. The common theme prior to deletion was that of more pain and despair, you could read the struggle they were having with managing their money. The other common theme was they almost without exception where the ones shouldering the responsibility of the debt, even if they were in a relationship, it seems they were the one person coordinating the debt reduction and taking on all the responsibility. Since they were blogging (anonymously) about it, I had hoped that maybe they were taking some of the advice under consideration (the good, the bad, the kind and the not so kind.).

For any of you who may read this blog and would like to start your own, please do!. Ask for reciprocal links, put yourselves out there, make the time a couple times a week to post. I've gotten tons of support from people and even more ideas, hints, help, suggestions and resources than I can ever list here. Just don't go "silent" and leave us all wondering 'what happened"/

OK I Just Checked My Blog......

Sorry folks, I thougth I was setting up auto posting, but looks like you got a bunch of posts all at once.

Yikes, I'm such a technology idiot at times...

Happy reading anyway-I'm off to bed!

Public Record Vs. Public Knowledge

When you file for Bankruptcy, your case is assigned to a district of the US Bankrutcy Court (each state has at least one district). Your case or your filing is now Public Record. The US Bankruptcy Court even has a web site that lists the case, case number, creditors name, court date, Trustee and your attorney information. Ah yes, the entire world with a few key strokes is privy to your filing and any motions that may or may not be filed along with your case. Your Bankruptcy becomes Public Record.

Public Knowledge is a different kettle of chips. My Bankruptcy may be Public Record, but how many people really have Public Knowledge of the filing and its outcome. My guess is not too many unless you choose to tell them (I'm only talking about personal Bankruptcy, not business for farm), or if they choose to really pursue the information. In my case, I only told three people, my friend James (who probably told all my old friends and acquaintances, he can be very indiscreet) and my very nice neighbors, who probably told a few other folks, but hey I can't control them. No one has come up to me and said, "Oh, Sorry to hear about your Bankruptcy". Why I told James, well I needed to tell SOMEONE, it was after my 341 hearing and I was just going through a low point. I told my neighbor because it was just two days after my 341 hearing when my transmission decided to die on my old car and I had another teary eyed, snotty nosed breakdown.

Who also knows, ~my Town Clerk, I'm pretty positive about that. Probably my postman if he reads the return address on the envelopes I got from the Bankrtutcy Court (in LARGE PRINT-US BANKRUPTCY COURT). In Southern New England (Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut), there is an industry paper called the Commercial Record. It lists real estate transactions and credit reports. They have an entire section dedicated to Credit Reports. By Credit Reports, they report by town, Bankruptcies, foreclosures, liens (judgment, tax, contractor, and other). Most Town Clerks get a complimentary subscription. My Real Estate office gets the Commercial Record and I do read it, not only for the sales reports, but also for the credit section, I will admit, I troll the paper to see who has filed BK. I know you can purchase a mailing list of all Bankruptcy filers. I still get credit card and car loan offers for folks "with challenged credit". It is a sick obsession that I have now. When I lived in Northern Virginia, the Washington Post has a section of the weekly business section that not only listed the Bankruptcy, but the liability and assets of each filer. Thankfully my local paper does not print the Bankruptcy Court Calendars. None of my employers know, none of my family knows, most all of my close friends don't know, I have not told them and as far as I know, they don't know that I have filed. As far as I can tell, Public Knowledge of my Bankruptcy filing is very small.

I know I've said it before, a lot of folks think filing a Bankruptcy is the easy way out. It's not for reasons discussed in prior posts. When I said in my last post it was almost easy to do the filing, it was not because I wanted a way out of my financial responsibilities, it was because I had no way out and things were just going to get even uglier. But the question is "Do I want the entire world to know I filed Bankruptcy?" No, I don't, but the information gets out and gets out to a variety of people. Go for new car or homeowners insurance, they ask if you have a Bankruptcy and you get charged a higher rate (even if you have an excellent driving record!).So now your insurance agent knows, you might not even switch companies, but many insurance companies will check your credit report once a year "just in case". You may have never had a claim, but all of a sudden your rates increase. You hear about and find out about this fantastic job that you would be perfect for, they tell you as they need to run a credit report and you still have the BK on your report. The fact you have outstanding job skills has no bearing, the BK could tip the ball in another candidate's court. Who knows now about your BK, the company you just applied to and the entire interview team.

Facing and having a Bankruptcy in your file is akin to the Scarlet Letter-instead of an A, we wear a BK.

Someone asked in my previous post how to deal with the Public Knowledge of the BK. I honestly don't have an answer. I really wish I did. I'm still dealing with the aftermath of the BK myself. It is hard for me at this point. I have not really developed any great coping skills other than to remind myself I was given a second chance. When I'm having a crummy day (week or month) I try to remain optimistic and upbeat, I try to remind myself that this is a second chance I've been given. What I can do is remind myself that I am lucky that I was given this second chance, that I was able to keep my house, that even with the very recent discharge I was able to get a car loan (albeit with a two digit loan rate-for now at least). I am not a bad person, I volunteer, I was a Girl Scout, I donate to local Charities, I help old ladies across the street, I give up my seat on public transportation, I just happen to be Bankrupt.

I don't think about it too much because if I did, I'd be in bed, covers over my head, wondering why you can just put an IV of pasta and beer in my arm so I would never have to get out and face the world. I really don't want the world or heck, even my small village, to know my fiscal failure. I struggle with the fact I filed Bankruptcy. In the eyes of America, I was a personal fiscal failure. I filed Bankruptcy. It is the public perception in America that if you have filed Bankruptcy, you are less of a person. Not only do we have to have this mark on our credit reports for 7-10 years, the perception is you/we are a failure and America does not like failures. And American's (and almost every other culture) does not like to talk about money and personal fiscal failure.

Anonymous, I wish I had a better answer, I really wish I did. I'd be happy to share it with everyone. All I can say to you is if at least you have learned from your fiscal mistakes and have moved on and on for the better, that is pretty darned good.

What a Difference a Few Days Can Make...

and the grass is much greener!. As you can see by the photo taken over the weekend, my re-seeding project is working!. I am pretty happy about that, even a couple sections that I thought would need a touch up are starting to green out.

What has this got to do with Personal Finance? Well, it's about patience and waiting. I did my prep work, I planted the seeds and I just had to wait for the results to appear. I still have some improvements to make, but things are starting to come together. I've been reading some new to blogging blogs and some folks are wondering why they are not having instant results with their new budgets. If you are new to budgeting, it takes time (one month, three months) to get used to a budget and to find a budget that works for you. I condsider my budgets a work in progress. Now having a car that sucks down gas compared to my old one that sipped gas, means I have to re-evaluate how I'm spending and budgeting my money. I did my prep work on my budget, I planted the seeds, and slowly but surely, things are coming together with my budgets and my money. But all that is fodder for another post.

Enjoy your Monday.

The New To Me Car

I had, in a much earlier post, complained that Personal Finance bloggers don't often post photos of things they bought, they only seemed to complain about their debt. I had made a promise to post a photo of anything spiffy I managed to budget and buy. I'd post photos of my new tea kettle bought at Christmas time, but it's really just a very nice yellow tea kettle.

Just to brag a bit, here is a photo of my new to me car. It is in sore need of a wash, and this weekend it will get a bath and a good interior scrubbing. This baby has to last a while with me, it needs to be treated with care. I worked hard post BK to be able to get a car loan, so I am very happy to have a new to me and very reliable vehicle.

Blog Updates and Thanks

I managed to add in the blog roll for the Snowflake Revolution and will be adding in updates on my progress bars as well as a few new blogs that I have found out there. If you want to do a link exchange, please let me know! I really need to work on my blog roll account, that would make things soooo much easier.

I also just wanted to say thanks to those of you have dropped on by and read my blog! I love hearing from you.

Updates,Things Off My List, Taxes Done, and Re-Evaluating Goals

I've still been busy with the boring aspects of life and work, but have been able to accomplish a few things this week. The biggie was getting my taxes done and even though I have to give my Trustee almost all the money (as per his order in my BK case) at least I don't owe any money to the state and IRS. I really would have liked to have kept the return and split it between my Efund and Car down payment fund, but 'tis not to be. it would have been a big help.

I've been fiddling with my March budget numbers. My first month at a zero based budget was not the rousing success I wanted it to be, but hey, I think I did OK, not great, but OK. Next few months will get better as I get more comfortable with all the numbers and how to apportion out my money.

I've noticed a common theme out in the PF blog world. Many of us are hitting this wall when it comes to our goals for 2008. I'm a little frustrated that I'm not making measurable progress to many of my goals, so I think it's time to sit down and re-evaluate my goals and what it will take to achieve them. I don't think we as people, can really say that after only 59 days of the new year, that we have failed in our yearly goals. I just think we need to re-examine our goals and our methods for reaching them. Sometimes all it takes is a change of plan to get to our goals.

I have realized one thing. I like a challenge in my life. I joined Krystal's at Give Me Back My five Bucks Lunch Challenge. Things like this bring out my competitve nature and it will keep me in line with my plan to not spend money on food while at work. I will admit, I walked out of the house this morning without packing my lunch. I will treat myself one last time to a purchased lunch (and I'm hoping the office will buy us pizza today) and then it's back to the packed lunch program.

Some New Blogs

I've posted some new links in my blog roll, they come from a variety of sources , have a variety of views and I'm finding them all to be great reads.

1) Chica with Issues: She is young, she is coping with debt, she makes her own iced tea at work and has some very interesting insights on work place culture and money.

2) Carrie at Hope for the Bankrupt: Carrie and her husband are also post Bankrupt folks. She writes from a Christian perspective and I admire her willingness to share her family's story out in the blogsphere. Read her first post here on why she started her blog.

3) Brip Blap: He is on a number of blogs and you may already read his posts, if you have not checked out his site, do so.

4) On my way to Financial Security: Another female BK filer who is currently in the process of filing bankruptcy and dealing with the process.

5)I'm Grace: Grace is a single mom coming late to the retirement savings game. Her blog chronicles her journey as she works on paying down her debt and planning for her retirement. I'm having a blast reading her archives.

A Couple New Blogs and Links

Check out Penelope Trunk, I just found her blog and I think it's great.

And one of my 2008 goals (I hate the word resolution) is to "go greener" and here is a link to Green Boot Camp. This is Leah Ingrams blog on how to become greener in the upcoming year.

At some point, I'll upload the Blogroll me link, but for the time being, this is what I got.

Feel free to contact me for a link exchange!

A Few More New Links

I also have been posting some new blog links as I read them.

The Brighter Side of Debt

The Simple Dollar

Mrs. Micah

How this all Happened and What's Going to Happen Next

I took a few days break from blogging because I was short on time, my internet connection at home sucks, and I needed to get my head together. This will be a long one and will include some new blogs of note, and my plan for the next week.

As I posted earlier, I had my "signing session" at my attorney's office. Other than me not remembering that I needed to fork over extra money (filing fee, title search), it went rather well. I talked to the paralegal yesterday and she is filing the paperwork with the court. It seems these filings are all done electronically now. The next steps are to look in my mail for a court date and I'll have to trek down to Federal Court for the hearing. If all things go as they should, I'll be able to keep my house, maybe keep my Rollover 401K (now a Roth), and be able to get my life back on track. Or so says Ladies in the Red.

Somewhere in someones's blog comments, was a comment that Bankruptcy was the easy way out. I reiterate it is not the easy way out. It was a difficult and long thought out decision to file. Like so many people, it hit me hard. The Tough Broad describes how even without being thirty days late on a credit card payment, even being one day has a way to hike up your interest rates. That happened to me. Like Ladies in the Red, I too had a side business and a personal guarantee on it and it went ass over tip and so did my investment. And like Ladies in the Red, I lost my money. Unlike Ladies in the Red, I think I will be able to keep my house and my bank account (the UK system is different than the US system, but the stigmas are the same and it sounds like the courts there take all your assets, your money and the banks close your accounts OUCH.)

The funny thing is, I work in management and sales and a lot of my income was commissioned based. I balanced budgets, ran departments, managed a staff of 21 and made money for my company. Somewhere along the line, I totally lost control of my own finances. I kept thinking I could control what was happening to me, our sales would increase and so would my commissions and bonus, and I could pay down more debt. My side business really was not in danger of floundering as badly as my partner and I thought it would, I thought I could get an additional part time job to make ends meet (part time jobs that met my schedule were almost non existent, most part time jobs in my area are non existent). It still amazes me how successful I was at my job and I could not make it translate to my personal life. Where did I go wrong? God I lived in such a fantasy life!

I had stopped almost total use (emergencies only) of credit cards for a number of years and all I did was work on paying down the balances. I'd pay my minimum plus extra on each card. I transferred balances so I could pay down and get rid of cards. For a while, it was working, then the couple sort of late payments and the drastic rise in interest rates. A couple cards came down after a lot of time on the phone, a couple did not. My personal life also seemed to take a weird turn and it seemed like all my good luck in life came to a grinding halt. I felt like someone had cursed me (seriously-I went from really good to moderately bad to freaking miserable in a few short months) My minimum amount due increased and the progress I was making paying down balances came to a grinding halt. One credit card minimum due more than doubled, I first thought I had missed a payment, I had not, it was the increase in the interest rate and the increase in the minimum amount due. I had a minimal emergency fund that I dipped into when I should not have (unexpected dental visit, unexpected home improvement emergency). All of the above plus some other really stupid financial decisions ALL added up. Last summer I lost my job, I also had an unexpected $1000 medical emergency (my health insurance was a $5000 deductible plan and at the time no HSA) and my side business cost me the rest of my savings (I bailed out of the business a month later when it was apparent my partner and I were not going to be successful and I could not spend anymore money on it and they were not willing or able to live up to their part of the partnership work wise or money wise-can you say Betty the Doormat?) and I while I got a new job almost immediately, it did not start for three weeks. Between the medical emergency, the lag in unemployment (would have only been one week of salary), the side business draining my account, I just lost control and silly me, I stopped paying my bills to pay my mortgage, buy food, pay my electric bill. I just got soo depressed.

It all came to head months later. I got served with a summons, try as I might to negotiate a payment plan with one company, they did not want to set up a plan (I had set up a special repayment plan with Bank of America when they bought out my old CC, it was a reasonable and prudent plan and the those folks did not make me feel like I was evading my responsibilities, they worked with me to come up with a reasonable plan) and the Marshall came by my house with a summons. That is what finally drove me to my attorney's office and now here I am. 43, facing bankruptcy, facing a major life change, and wondering if I will be able to keep my house and if indeed I have hit bottom and can I bounce back. My house needs repairs, my car needs work, two of my dogs hate each other and are making me crazy (one is for sale or free to a good home, they are good with people and other dogs, just hate each other) my computer is on it's way out, my body feels like it is breaking down. When I get stressed I eat, I've eaten so much that I've gained two sizes (not good).

Finding Ladies in the Red was a breathe of fresh air yesterday. Here is a woman who had it all and lost it all. Her list of famous people who have declared and survived bankruptcy was a good read. Even though her experience with insolvency (I like that term so much better than bankrupt) was horrible, she has made lemonade out of lemons. Ms M&P wrote and said she had a friend who declared bankruptcy last year and is on her way back up.

Part of my process for this year is trying to use the Law of Attraction and Creative Visualization to put me in a better frame of mind and to help get back my focus. I put together a poster of various sayings, goals, and pictures of things I'd like to accomplish/have this year and two of the sayings where A Fresh Start and Starting Over. By using this process I have achieved two of my goals and am working on achieving the others.

I think that once I survive the court date, I will have a Fresh Start to Start Over with my life. Having these Personal Finance blogs to read has also been very helpful. I cheer when a Tough Broad reports she paid off a credit card and I can relate living like a college student. You do what you have to do to make it work. I love the post Saving Diva had on inexpensive cosmetics, I think it's great Krystal at Work as maxed out her RRSP this year (though I wonder how she manages to work as much as she does and play in all those hockey leagues, far too much energy for me!). Laughing at Gilded Butterflies writes wonderfully about sensibly using her credit card to manage her life and finances to help simply her life. Even though Jenn Lancaster is not a true PF blog, reading her books really make me laugh. I too have dumbed down my resume to get a job, any job, have spent a ton of time tanning (melanoma be dammed) and I admire her dedication to lose all that excess weight (it has inspired me to find a way to afford a gym membership again, I could stand to loose at least 30 if not 45 pounds myself) and can't wait to read the new book when it comes out. I'm totally envious of Karyn Bosnak for coming up with the novel idea to grub shamelessly on line for money and one of my favorite lines (Swipe, sign and it was mine). Each time I read a new blog, I find some great blog links, some PF, many not, most pretty darned good reads!.

My plan for the rest of the month is to lay low, keep working on the decluttering of the house and my life (I have not let my desk get out of control in three weeks). I've put some books on half.com, but no takers yet. Probably time for a price reduction or a change in inventory. Since I don't have any spare money to spend on anything (I had the shopping spree and the other attorney's fees), I will re-evaluate my budget progress for the past month, plan my October budget and work hard on visualizing a new and better life for me and my dogs. Keep blogging folks!