At what point would you throw the towel in ?

Mrs_Sparkle

Bankruptcy is not an option for me- I would lose my job and that would be devastating. Plus I have the attitude that I got myself into this mess so I can damn well get myself out again and learn my lesson.

lynzpower

I would go BR if I had no other option- after all, if I had no other option what choices would I have IYSWIM?

I agree with beanie, there are some among us who go BR a number of times, and see the whole thing as free money. They however are not the sort of people who you find on MSE after all are they? Those among us want to sort it out, they look for other options & exhaust them and in time, realise BR is what they must do ( sometimes the creditors make that decision for them)

what does bother me if anything is for those people, those who dont come to MSE, dont have that stigma & shame, they do it time and again as beanie says.

Cultuire has changed, the shame isnt really as bad as it used to be, and yes, for those who have no choice ( such as earwig, or those with collapsed businesses, failing health etc) they havnet chosen not to service thier debts by hook or crook, they tried, but it was beyond the point of trying. Some people, as beanie says, dont try, jsut come back nad do it time and again.

Its these people that give BR a "bad name" and I dont know what the answer to this is. Financial education is one response, as is a real life restriction on credit to those who have been BR. How DO these BR people get the opportunity to run up credit they can illafford and go BR 2nd & 3rd times?

hypno06

lynzpower wrote: »

I would go BR if I had no other option- after all, if I had no other option what choices would I have IYSWIM?

Its these people that give BR a "bad name" and I dont know what the answer to this is. Financial education is one response, as is a real life restriction on credit to those who have been BR. How DO these BR people get the opportunity to run up credit they can illafford and go BR 2nd & 3rd times?

I agree, that for most it is the last resort - all other options exhausted and I would do it myself if I absolutely had to, as I am sure most people would, although never taken lightly.

Also, I know that I am "lucky" in a way because I inherited some money from my Dad which I could pay off my debt. However, if I could have him back, I would gladly give up the money and go BR in an instant (which is where I *could* have ended up had I not received his inheritance, IYSWIM?). That is partly my reason for being so determined that I will not go BR or into IVA etc, because I would feel as though I would be letting him down, and that on its own is worth fighting for tooth and nail until the very last.

As for how to help stop it happening time and time again, perhaps there should be some sort of compulsory mentoring for a period of a few years to help people form their good habits and stick to them. Perhaps it is a lack of support that contributes in some way to the same situation happening again, and after all if they did not have their LBM first time round, then they *will* make the same mistakes again, as will any of us who have gone down the consolidation route etc without truly learning our lessons.

mrsspendalot

tomterm8 wrote: »

YEACH! They could go to jail for that:eek:

Yup, its naughty isn't!! They are discharged now etc. but you can imagine our concern at the time!!

ZTD

lynzpower wrote: »

Cultuire has changed, the shame isnt really as bad as it used to be, and yes, for those who have no choice ( such as earwig, or those with collapsed businesses, failing health etc) they havnet chosen not to service thier debts by hook or crook, they tried, but it was beyond the point of trying. Some people, as beanie says, dont try, jsut come back nad do it time and again.

Well bankruptcy has become easier - minimum time until discharge has gone down from 3 years to 1 for example. Also due to rather rampant credit expansion, companies are desperate to lend to even the most marginal borrower, so the "penalties" for having a less than pristine credit record are rather less.

lynzpower wrote: »

Its these people that give BR a "bad name" and I dont know what the answer to this is. Financial education is one response, as is a real life restriction on credit to those who have been BR. How DO these BR people get the opportunity to run up credit they can illafford and go BR 2nd & 3rd times?

Well as soon as the credit market starts to contract, bankrupts will be among the first to be prohibited from borrowing. This will make them less desirable as spouses/co-buyer of houses etc. That will (in effect) increase the "penalties" for (downsides of) BK, and will also help change the "culture" towards bankrupts.

The "once-only" BKs will also be tarred with this brush.

Then I would imagine that the Government will tighten up on the bankruptcy laws, possibly to a draconian degree. I can predict that simply because that will make the situation worse, and that's what governments do...

Gemmzie

Hmm I didn't realise it worked that way too, so it's a relatively good time to borrow? (In the correct DFW way of course)
Bad time for mortgages?

I'm not sure about the towel line, but it's getting alarmingly close

ZTD

Gemmzie wrote: »

Hmm I didn't realise it worked that way too, so it's a relatively good time to borrow? (In the correct DFW way of course)

It's an easy time to borrow. Unfortunately, the best time to borrow is when it's hard. Alas, life's like that...

Gemmzie wrote: »

Bad time for mortgages?

See America. Where they lead, we follow.

Gemmzie wrote: »

I'm not sure about the towel line, but it's getting alarmingly close

Oh? What's happened?