The Delete Button Of Life
Anyone who as ever had a web-site has a nightmare. That nightmare is a simple yet scary one. That nightmare is that their entire web-site crashes and they are unable to recover.
Most of the time this is able to be averted by use of the backup file, but sometimes, to some very unlucky (or some may say lucky) web designers, the backup fails and their site is gone for good.
So what does this have to do with bankruptcy? A lot, actually. Our financial situations are similar to designing a web-site. For the most part, things go well. We accumulate debts but then we pay them, and most people tend to live within their means. Then someone gets sick, or laid-off, and for any number of reasons, they fall behind on their mortgage or other financial responsibilities and they have three options, deny the problem, try to fix the problem, or determine that they need help fixing the problem and go get help.
The first option, denial only works for a short time. I have counseled many consumers who were laid off and continued to rack up debt on their credit cards to maintain their lifestyle. These were good people who assumed they would soon find work and catch up. Often they found new work but were unable to catch up and the spiral of debt ran out of control for them. They found themselves stuck in a system designed to make you fail. One of my favorite radio hosts calls credit cards snakes, and that is a good metaphor, because while snakes can be useful in the short term by getting rid of mice, eventually they will run out of mice and try to bite you. These people find themselves financially snake-bit and then they move on to the second option.
The second option is trying to fix the problem. People generally are reasonable and they think that they are going to deal with reasonable people when they call their mortgage company or credit card company. This is simply not the case. They get on the phone with someone who asks them for their account number first, because they are a number, not a name, to their credit card company (this always bothered me). Then they try to explain their situation and ask for help. Depending on which customer service representative they speak with, they will either get a canned answer or an “I do apologize”, which anyone who has called customer service in the United States knows means “We could care less.” After spending hours on the phone with customer service they way I spent my last two days on the phone with my web-hosting company, they come to one of two conclusions. They can fix the problem themselves, or they cannot.
The third option is determining that you cannot fix the problem on your own. There is no shame in this. It is frustrating to admit that you cannot solve your problem on your own, much like I was frustrated that I could not revive the old web-site. It was painful to press the delete button and start over again, and it can be painful to admit that you need to press the delete button on your finances and start over again, but there are times where it is the last, best, option.
There is a “delete button” for your finances. It is called bankruptcy, and it is not for everyone. There are two chapters of bankruptcy that consumers have access to, Chapter 7, and Chapter 13, and there are other financial options available to you such as Mortgage Modification that may help your situation, but only a competent attorney can explain those to you.
Do you need to press the delete button and get your financial house in order? Are you stressed out and unable to sleep at night because of your debt? Are you afraid to pick up the phone? Is the next late notice from your credit card company going to push you over the edge. If so, please contact me today at jim@padebt911.com or call me at 484-221-8014 and I will send you some free information on how to delete your financial stress and get on the road to financial freedom.
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