Good wishes for you, I have been through bankruptcy and my husband still dealing with fallout from his.

Personally I advise anyone who is considering bankruptcy to not do it, but you say you have done all the research and it is your only option. If that is true, the most important thing is not to live as though you have no debt, and never let it happen again.

I realized after my filing that I could have paid everything I owed through Consumer Credit Counseling and been done with it much sooner. I avoided further debt later by using them, and more recently visited them only to be told to follow a stricter budget for three months and then come back if I couldn't do it. Long story short, I made a big decision for me, I gave up my car. I was working, and lived near a bus stop, but it was a struggle adjusting to life with no car. Five years later I was an unofficial advocate for alternative transportation. I now have a beater that was gifted to me, but I would still use the bus for certain trips. I had to let something go, and I never thought I could live without a car, but I did.

When I met my husband-to-be, the hardest thing he had to tell me was that he had recently filed bankruptcy. He thought it was all discharged, but we are discovering a tax lien that we are just beginning to investigate. I know he feels he has let me down, but I know too well how easy it is to shrug off things that overwhelm you. Time and action are my remedies. We have some goals together that require us to face our money fears and I hope to see those goals realized soon.

I read on a enewsletter that I get,The Dollar Stretcher (www.stretcher.com) about a movement by doctors to lower medical costs by changing how they bill. It may or may not be helpful to you now that you have the bills, but I was impressed by its logic and intend to consider it for us. The website for the movement is www.simplecare.com. I do not take all advice at the Dollar Stretcher to heart, but have found interesting reading and some ideas that I like.

If anything I said was helpful, I am glad. Sometimes it just helps to remember you are not alone.

Suesilver