MasConcepts Incorporated

Made a ton of money playing options during COVID and thought I was invincible. Then the market turned, lost most of it, and instead of stopping I kept chasing. On top of that I lost my job, got into a pretty bad depression, played League all day, moved back in with my parents. Hit Master tier while my credit score was in the 500s. Priorities right? By the end I had over 150k in credit card debt, unsecured loans from Upstart, BestEgg, and a couple other predatory loan sites I can’t even remember anymore. All with insane APRs. All of it.

The worst part was the shame. I had a high paying job in tech before all this. How do you end up 150k in debt making six figures? I felt like the dumbest person alive. That shame is what kept me from filing for two years. I thought I could dig myself out. I couldn’t.

Let everything go to collections, had 3-4 lawsuits against me from Discover, Chase, and a couple other creditors. Changed my number twice because of the calls. I’m not gonna sugarcoat it, I didn’t want to be here anymore. Like at all. Filing for bankruptcy honestly saved my life.

Don’t listen to people who know nothing about it. Everyone in my life told me not to file. None of them were paying my bills.

Shoutout to my bankruptcy lawyer who held my hand through the whole process. Really wish I did it sooner. It was only $2000 to get rid of 150k worth of debt. Best decision of my life.

Came out with a 621 which surprised me. After that I KNEW I was not making the same mistakes again. Went cash only for a few months, started budgeting everything down to the dollar, got a secured card and only used it for gas and groceries on autopay. Boring shit. But boring is what works.

The hardest part was figuring out what to do and when. Spent weeks going through Reddit, YouTube, and eventually had a heart to heart with my uncle who went through it. He’s got 2 kids, owns his house, bankruptcy didn’t even take it from him. But he told me he was so close to ending it before he filed. We just sat there and cried together. I had no idea he went through that. That conversation changed everything for me.

So I just started writing everything down week by week. What I did, what moved my score, what was a waste of time. That process alone helped more than anything.

I’m 30 now. Sitting at a 740. Looking at houses for the first time. Never thought I’d be here. The shame fades. The score comes back. You just gotta be patient and not do anything stupid.

If you’re going through it right now just know it’s not the end. It feels like it but it’s not.

TLDR: Filed ch7 at 25 with 150k in debt. Now 30, credit score 740, looking at houses.