MasConcepts Incorporated

I am in a really bad debt situation. My husband wasn’t working the last 4 years while in school and raising 5 kids with only my income killed us. We have about $100,000 in unsecured debt and $55,000 in secured debt. Of course I didn’t know how bankruptcy works so I waited until my husband started working after graduation and a month before that I got a raise at work. It kills me to know if I had filed 6 months ago I could have qualified for Chapter 7 and had more options (should out to the attorney I consulted with back then who told me I didn’t qualify).

Essentially, with the cost of living we barely get by. We stopped using credit cards almost a year ago, cash only, but also stopped making payments on our unsecured debt at the same time. We have bills, a mortgage, 7 mouths to feed, birthdays, childcare costs etc. and I was hoping that with my recent raise and him working (he is a teacher so he makes very little) that we could get out of the hole we got ourselves into but that’s not looking like a viable option.

I finally got out of my ADHD shame brain and spoke with a local bankruptcy attorney today and we don’t qualify for Chapter 7 (we are only like $3,000 above the income threshold). But when we were going over the process for Chapter 13 I got really overwhelmed and nervous about the amount our payment plan will likely be. If that and all of my RSU bonuses that vest in the future going towards it I just don’t see how we will survive. I don’t want to spiral and not take action but I’m also SO nervous about moving forward with filing since we are already so tight on our budget and spending as it is.. I would love some insight and advice on how flexible the process can be to settle on numbers and amounts, because the anxiety I feel daily about money and future legal action being taken against me for this unpaid debt is also a weight I need to get off my shoulders.