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• Bankruptcy should be considered as a last resort; not as a first
• If you do decide to file make it a sound decision instead of an emotional one
• The ramifications of filing bankruptcy are more than just getting your debt cleared
• What bankruptcy won\'t do for your finances
• What happens when you write a bad check to the Girl Scouts

Talking
\\n about Bankruptcy is not something I enjoy doing. It is also something I
\\n hope you are not going through. However I field calls and emails all
\\nthe time from people who feel like they are stuck and their only way out
\\n is to file. To me Bankruptcy is like divorce, there are good people who
\\n go through divorce but is isn\'t something I suggest people go through.

But
\\n with that being said, I\'m not angry or disappointed in you do end us
\\nfiling for Bankruptcy protection. However I recommend filing only as a
\\nlast result, after you have tried everything else first. On today\'s
\\nlesson we cover three things to do before filing for bankruptcy.

1. Assess
   \\n your finances-When you are getting hounded by creditors and you don\'t
   \\nknow how you are going to come up with this months rent payment it can
   \\nbe hard to sit down and spend some time with your finances. You might
   \\nfeel like what\'s the point and the stress will want to make you not
   \\ncheck your mailbox for fear of getting more bills. It is an emotional
   \\nsituation and you can feel like you just want to give up. But put the
   \\nemotional energy into know your financial situation better. It will help
   \\n determine if you are truly bankrupt. I have found a lot of times that
   \\nbad financial situations are a result of just being disorganized. But
   \\nfinding out what your income and expenses are each month might allow you
   \\n to see that there are other alternatives to bankruptcy.
2. Don\'t
   \\npay your creditors-Hear me out on this one. I\'m not saying stiff your
   \\ncreditors when you have the money to pay them. But what I am saying is
   \\nto sit down and make sure that you take care of your four walls.
   \\n After that if you have money left over you can then pay your other
   \\nbills. But if you don\'t have anymore left over then you can\'t and don\'t
   \\npay anyone else. If you have a difficult time not paying your bills on
   \\npurpose well what do you think will happen when you file bankruptcy? But
   \\n by focusing on your needs first, you gain back some control of your
   \\nfinancial life. Once you regain control then you can go back and save
   \\nsome money and settle later with your creditors. That way you can hold
   \\nyou head high that you tried your best, your creditors got some money,
   \\nand you are able to have your life back.
3. Ponder the ramifications of filing-Filing for Bankruptcy might seem like the easy thing to do in the short run. But there are long term
   \\n financial consequences to declaring bankruptcy. Other thing you need to
   \\n think about include what will I do for a car if I am giving up the car
   \\nin bankruptcy? What happens to my house? What assets will they seize. If
   \\n you can\'t pay your bills due to no income, bankruptcy does not create
   \\nan income. How are you going to pay for your basic necessities? Also
   \\nstudent loans, which are a major cause of financial strain, are not
   \\nallowed to be bankrupt. How will you pay them? Don\'t file for bankruptcy
   \\n out of emotion. Consider all your options and be at peace with your
   \\ndecision.

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