Comments on: unsecured debt update (not pretty, but tidier)

By: debt kid

debt kid — Sun, 18 May 2008 19:05:53 +0000

@ Jim – The bankruptcy got discharged a few months back. So, all done on that front!

By: jim

jim — Sun, 18 May 2008 13:20:27 +0000

I know it’s been a year but hows that bankruptcy going

By: Not a Trader

Not a Trader — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 17:49:44 +0000

A couple of things you may already know, but there they are anyway:

1. The debt to your mother will be on an equal footing with other debts if you do a bankruptcy: you cannot favor some lenders over other lenders. So don’t think you can “BK” (as the term du jour seems to be) your debts to WAMU, credit card companies, etc., and then preferentially pay back your mother. Your BK lawyer will probably have the details on this.

2. The “insolvency” issue on taxes owed doesn’t apply to back taxes already owed (or current year taxes). It may apply to “forgiven debt,” which will not get treated as taxable income, but insolvency doesn’t erase IRS or state tax debts (or payroll taxes for your business).

And given your monthly income, which is fairly substantial (even if your outflow is also substantial), you may have a hard time convincing the IRS you are “insolvent.”

Merely having debts exceeding assets is not insolvency, as tens of millions of Americans are in this boat.

NAT

By: Lost Cause

Lost Cause — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 22:12:50 +0000

I would pay more attention to the IRS, because they can nail you for 3% + 3% penalty per month. On the other hand, you can make a deal with them in most cases. Put them close to the top of the stack. They are the only creditor who can put you in jail.

By: debt kid

debt kid — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 19:04:57 +0000

The car is only worth 12 maybe 13K. I owe 17+ on it.

By: debt kid

debt kid — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 19:03:09 +0000

My $400 payment to my mother is priority #1. She depends on that $ each month, so whatever cash I have goes to her first and then down the line of priority I’ve established.

By: John

John — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 19:02:20 +0000

so sell the car. i don’t get it. seventeen thousand is more than i have ever paid for a car. i believe i paid sixteen thousand for a jetta once. now i drive a cheap honda. maybe good hondas aren’t so easy to find. but a three thousand dollar car is. that’s ten thousand right there. that’s right, i live in the upscale Roanoke neighborhood, and drive the biggest junker on the block. it beats working. budgets mean sacrifice, or they aren’t really budgets.

By: ZINTRADI

ZINTRADI — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 16:02:33 +0000

Well, i will second everyone else… debt is a lot like alcoholism or any other addiction… you have to admit theres a problem first before you can get better.
I wouldn’t short your mom, then you would be just like your roommates that stiffed you.
I would pay her something, consitantly and faithfully every month.
I aggree with you about bankruptcy… it looks like a fair amount of your debts are small business loans… if you get everything disharged, does that mean you’d be out of business and have to start over? Of course, that may just be the consequence… either way, you have to pay your mom back. bankruptcy wont make her stop being your mom.

By: all things good staff

all things good staff — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 10:39:04 +0000

While your debts are substantial, they are not astronomical. You’re merely orbiting the globe, not locked away in a little capsule blasting toward the Oort Belt never to return like Casey Serin. It’s sort of like you have a mortgage to a non-existent house–the amount owed is in that range (granted, it is unsecured)–not unfathomable.

And if you had to, you could probably put paying your mom back on hold until you paid off your other, less sympathetic lenders, and that would make the necessary monthly payments a lot easier.

By: debt kid

debt kid — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 07:53:04 +0000

John,

Yeah…I bought the car new. Dumb mistake. (one of many during 2005…)