Do people continue to live a normal and happy life after bankruptcy?
When I was thinking of declaring bankruptcy…
I often wonder how people continue to live normal and happy lives after bankruptcy. I had no idea how I, or anyone else, could face life or their friends and family after losing everything. I lost my house, my car and my marriage. And to make matters worse, I was a hundred pounds overweight.
I am about to tell you my story about coming back from bankruptcy and living a normal and happy life again.
I know your situation is not the same as mine, so there is no way to know for sure what your life will be like after bankruptcy. Everyone’s debt, income, ability to manage money, and life experiences are different and unique.
However, my intention is to help inspire you to create a better future for yourself as a result of my experiences.
If you don’t learn anything else…
Remember this…
There is life after your bankruptcy.
Many people believe that life ends when they have bad credit. That’s not true. Yes, living well with bad credit is harder than living well with good credit. But, you can still do it. It just takes a little more work and effort.
If you choose to improve your life, then you can. You are the only one who can make this decision and then take the action to create it. Nobody can do it for you.
Looking back on my life, I believe that filing for bankruptcy was one of the wisest financial decisions I’ve ever made. I realized that in order to move forward in my life, I had to get out of all the old debts from my financial past.
Making the final decision and meeting with an attorney to declare bankruptcy was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. There was a lot of mental anguish and sleepless nights, trying to find ways around not having to introduce myself.
After a while I realized that no matter what I did, there was no other way out but to archive.
I had exhausted all avenues to pay off my debt.
Life after filing bankruptcy
The first thing that happened after the filing was that all my creditors stopped asking for money and I was no longer afraid to answer the phone. The stress about all my debts was gone. A great weight was lifted from my shoulders and I was able to breathe again.
The second part of starting my new life after bankruptcy was having to deal with the stigma of having to file for bankruptcy. The mental part of giving up and admitting that I couldn’t pay my debt was devastating to me.
I had always paid my debts in the past.
After the dust started to settle, I soon found out that it wasn’t as important as I thought. I realized that the bankruptcy laws were there to help people like me who couldn’t afford to pay.
rebuilding my credit
One of the first things I had to do was get another car after my bankruptcy. I was able to get a vehicle with a small down payment. I faithfully made my payments every month.
I didn’t realize at the time that buying a car was one of the best things I could do to start rebuilding my credit. Looking back, I can see how it really helped increase my credit score.
Soon after I got a secured credit card and only charged what I knew I could pay in full each month.
I also started saving money and paying cash for the things I wanted and needed. I lived within my budget and means. I wasn’t going to spend more than I earned this time.
I received the lessons my bankruptcy taught me about money and how to better manage it.
Today I have two vehicles, I live in a beautiful house and I have a wonderful girlfriend. I now weigh a healthy 160 pounds and am enjoying my life.
