Bankruptcy Lawyer Blog

Now that consumers everywhere our cutting back spending a lot of businesses are slowing down and laying off workers. Consumers are taking their medicine and reigning in spending, but it’s coming on very fast and it will be a painful 6 months, if not 2 years.

Businessess need to trim payrolls, especially in the auto industry, but it’s all coming at an unfortuntate time with the holidays coming up. Consumers are buying less manufactured goods and now China is feeling the pain as their factories are not running at anywhere close to capacity. This means that shipping overseas shipping costs are now a fraction of what they were 2 months ago. And oil, it’s below $63 a barrel, an amazing low considering it was $143 just a couple months ago.

This will all run it’s course, let’s hope it’s only 6 months to a year of pain and not 5 years.

If you’ve filed for bankruptcy and are getting ready to come out of it, it may seem paradoxical, but you need to get right back on the horse and start applying for credit cards. Each credit card will have a different credit balance, which is exactly what you need. It will take a ton of discipline, but you will need to start making small purchases and then paying off the balance right away at the end of the month. Don’t get crazy and start spending more than you make, you don’t want to end up back in bankruptcy.

Be very cautious with your new credit lines – there will be a tendency to spend, but fight it. Set a regular amount you can’t go over – maybe $300 a month, some low amount that you are very comfortable with. Using credit cards after bankruptcy is the right thing to do, just be smart about it!

For a long time we have all been living beyond our means. I have not taken out personal credit card debt, but when my small business got in a pinch we had to find credit cards to get us through. I hate taking on that debt, but we looked around for low interest rates and got a solid deal. We were hoping that the economy would be turning around quickly so we could increase revenue and start paying back the debt. So far it hasn’t really happened. I’m hoping that once the election is over and spring time rolls around, people will be feeling more inclined to make some purchases. It’s stressful to have debt hanging over your head, but it doesn’t mean you necessarily need to resort to bankruptcy. Consult with a professional if it gets down to it - take a look at the Bankruptcy Lawyers in our directory - they can help you when you need it most.