I don't have enough income to pay for regular living expenses. Is now the right time to file bankruptcy?

Remember, filing bankruptcy allows you to eliminate your debts - credit cards, car loans, bank loans, medical bills etc. While eliminating these payments will inevitably help your household budget, it won’t change the here and now.

Learn more about how to tell whether now is the right time to file bankruptcy through an example.

If the result is the same either way, why not just file and get it over with? 

This is a reasonable question, especially considering the fact that you may have some extra time on your hands to do the work required to file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case. But, filing bankruptcy is an important decision and simply having the time to get it over with is rarely a good enough reason to do it. 

❗❗ The most important point to remember is this: Once you get a Chapter 7 bankruptcy discharge you cannot get another Chapter 7 discharge for another 8 years! So, getting it over with now will significantly limit your debt relief options for years. ❗❗

Why does it matter that I can’t file again for 8 years?

It matters because as illustrated by the example above, filing bankruptcy now doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be able to afford your living expenses. Any new debt you incur just trying to get by until your income comes back to where it was will not be eliminated if you’ve already filed bankruptcy. 

There are other risks to filing now

As mentioned, filing bankruptcy is a big deal. Most folks who end up filing do so only as a last resort and after learning as much as they can about the pros and cons of filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy.