Collection calls for other people

Really, as if I don't have enough of my own phone calls I get these too. Theresa Xxxx if you are out there reading this please update your phone number so they stop calling my cell phone, also for the other guy I forget his name but please do so.

I've had this number for years and years so I'm not really sure how my number go to be the number for these two people but it is annoying.

I've tried with both the collections that are calling me to stop the calls but they say this is the number we have on file and unless they tell us to stop calling we will continue to call. Really?!?! Is that productive? You aren't getting your message across to Theresa or the other guy who I forget your name... you won't get your money this way duh!

I think I'm going to start copying the numbers they call from down and find out how I can block the numbers.

Tomorrow maybe I'll research how I can find out who is calling and how to write a cease and desist letter and quote the FDCPA (Fair Debt Collections Practice Act) after I find the applicable laws of course, if there is such a thing that outlines this. If they then won't stop perhaps I have a case that will help pay for my own attorney for my own bankruptcy. Now how cool would that be?

Photo By: Casey Serin

Medical crisis and bankruptcy

I am currently reading an article about 'Financial Medicine' over in the Personal Finances section at The Wall Street Journal

The article states that 6 out of 10 bankruptcies are filed due to medical reasons (illness). This is a big reason I am filing so there is some comfort in that I'm not alone. I also find it interesting that there is such a stigma attached to filing bankruptcy yet over half of the reason is inadequate health care or illness. Now I know some things medically can be prevented however things such as getting into a major car accident or having an inherited disease and other issues. I will try not to get into the political aspect of our health care system and the likes.

The article encourages you to check out your policies and plan from there. What is your lifetime maximum, did you even know you had a lifetime maximum? What would happen if you hit that maximum? What about yearly maximums?

What are your risk factors? Do you know what your plan covers should one of your risk factors (Cancer, diabetes....) come into play? What about medications? I know my plan only offers a slight discount on medications.

Often times I have to go without medication if there isn't a cheap alternative because the insurance just doesn't offer enough of a discount. For instance I once got a needed RX there was no alternative to it and the RX was about $115 every 30 days I needed to take this for a few months my discount plan offered $3 off. Other times I only pay a very small percentage so it all depends on what it is covering.

You could just need something as simple as physical therapy, something else I found out is very expensive. Physical therapy is usually prescribed 2-3 times a week for at least 4 weeks, what is your co-pay? Mine is $30 a visit plus 20% of various things such as the charge for equipment used, or the massage therapist etc... for me in the end I had to decide that physical therapy was just too much money in light of having to file because of these types of reasons to begin with. I do have flex spending but obviously not enough to cover PT with possibly needing surgery too (also have to pay 20% of that, you can imagine it could get costly quick).

Karen Pollitz, a research professor at Georgetown was quoted in the article saying "It's perilous to assume that we are protected just because we have a health-insurance card in our wallet." How insightful really! For me this one sentence is so powerful.

What are you doing to protect yourself?

Photo By: jwblinn

Biggest Financial Decision of My Life

So I promised an update, to be honest I've been avoiding it. I feel shame, I feel lots of things.

I spoke with a lawyer, a financial advisor and a credit counselor. All agree that I am in no position to pay off all of this debt, further I keep receiving summons for various creditors and at this point I'm in too deep.

I must file bankruptcy. I've researched, I've agonized, cried, thrown a fit, and felt relief a bit.

The thing is I don't have a whole heck of a lot of consumer debt, I won't get into numbers here but suffice it to say that I'm not here because of credit cards and overextending myself. I'm here because of not ever saving maybe and huge amounts of other types of debt.

I'm at a point where I want to evaluate how I can keep this from happening and I can't say that I can. I can create an e-fund but in order to cover the expenses that are causing this I'd have to have such a sum in there that I'd be hard pressed to save that much in 5 years or less. This is definitely something I need to ponder quite a bit more.

For now... I'm feeling encouraged by this actually and quite a bit of relief. I'm still scared to answer my phone and tell them what the attorney told me to tell them (them being the creditors/collectors).

I can't pay for this attorney up front... I put down a small sum and will pay him off over 10 months and then he will file. In the mean time if I receive any summons for court he told me different things I can file so I'm not garnished and they realize I'm in the middle of all getting a bankruptcy started.

I'm hoping that since school will be out for a bit I'll have some time to earn some extra money to go towards the lawyer. I plan on a garage sale hopefully by the end of June. It won't yield much but its something. I plan on the more expensive items to go up on e-bay. I don't know what else I plan quite yet but I'm hoping that I can earn the cash quickly and just be done with the whole thing.

I did get some good news out of all of this too, but I'm still processing it and how it will all work out.