"Bankruptcy of a School Teacher"

First of all bankruptcy sucks! We borrowed from family. We borrowed from friends. This is not a one income society anymore. Embarrassing! Swallowing my pride! You do what you can to help feed your family.

I'm a teacher in Tennessee and my wife was a hostess at a restaurant. We bit off a little more than we could chew with the purchase of a house.

When my wife learned that the restaurant where she worked was under investigation for a whole host of tax and immigration violations, she took it as a red flag and resigned.

Unfortunately, the loss of her income set us way behind with our bills. We were on the brink of losing our home, when bankruptcy first popped into our thoughts. We couldn't find another way out of this situation with our home.

The real estate market plummeted and we were unable to sell our home. Foreclosure was an "F" word we didn't want to hear. I don't know the exact terms of it but filing Chapter 13 allowed that "F" word to stay off of our credit report and we were able to stay in our home. We were also able to get our fees waived which provided a little relief.

Seven years is a long time for this to be on our record, but the burden has been lifted. Our family is great and will co-sign when we would need a new car. The payment plan we are on is feasible. A teacher's income is tight, but this is feasible.

I can't recommend bankruptcy or not recommend it. It's a personal choice. I'm still not sure I made the right decision, especially this time of year. Part of our agreement took our $4000 tax refund to pay off some school loans. Not voluntarily, but without a choice the money was allocated to that loan. It helps pay it down, but we needed the money.

Contributed by Ed from Tennessee

[note from USA-Bankruptcy-Guide: Ed's post-bankruptcy situation with the tight budget might be alleviated if he were to adjust his W-4 to have less money withheld in taxes. Not only would that increase his monthly take home pay, but it would also reduce his large refund at the end of the year that he has no control over. The more control you feel you have, the better your life after bankruptcy will be.]