Getty Images; Jenny Chang-Rodriguez/BI
Eight years ago I moved to New York City from Boston, and it was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do.
When I was looking for apartments, I would get something lined up, feel really good about it, and then it would fall through. Eventually, I was getting close to my move date and had a job lined up, but no place to live. I finally found a group of people that were looking for another roommate to move into an apartment with. The size of the room was huge, especially after I had heard horror stories of tiny New York City apartments, the only catch was that the room I would be in was way above my budget.
I was moving to the city to find a full-time job in the field I went to school for, so I figured I could take on some credit card debt and pay it off once I found the job of my dreams.
After years of looking at my finances through my fingers, I've had periods where I would try to get out of debt. I tried opening new cards with 0% APR for balance transfers, budgeting, and considered debt consolidation. I still would barely make a dent.
After doing the math, I knew I still had years of hard work and an uphill battle — thanks to the high interest rates of my credit cards.
Finally, last December — after eight years of living and financially struggling in New York City — I told my mom I was over $50,000 in credit card debt and didn't know what to do. To my surprise, she suggested I declare bankruptcy.
When you look up how to declare bankruptcy the first several links that come up are websites urging you to not declare bankruptcy. Some of them are earnest sites that want to help, and some are predatory debt consolidation or debt settlement companies.
I read up on these options and read horror stories from people who were scammed or sold a dream that was too good to be true. It was clear that these companies were preying on people's shame — shame that I undeniably feel for racking up so much debt.
After reading so many stories like that, I was understandably nervous to go that route — even though it might protect my credit score.
My parents declared bankruptcy when I was in elementary school, and I watched how hard that was for them. But when I sat down and looked at my circumstances — I don't have any kids, I don't have a car, I don't own anything of substantial value that could be taken — I saw that this is actually the perfect time to file for bankruptcy and wipe the slate clean.
I read many stories from people on Reddit, describing how they don't regret filing for even a minute and that declaring bankruptcy helped them to build the foundation for their lives. There were also stories describing how, if you work hard at it and are smart about it, you can rebuild your credit in about 18 months.
These types of stories were the ones that helped me make my decision to find a lawyer and start the filing process.
I talked to a few lawyers over the phone after looking up bankruptcy lawyers in my area. They asked me to fill out worksheets with my monthly finances. We also talked about how I got into this situation and how they would help to get me out.
Surprisingly, some lawyers offered quotes from $1,500 to $5,000. I settled on a Brooklyn lawyer — that didn't make me feel judged or shamed for ending up in a situation that millions of Americans find themselves in — for a little under $2,000.
The lawyer put me on a payment plan and gave me a list of documents to get to them. Three months later, once I had made my last payment, they started the filing process.
I'm still readjusting how I deal with money and my relationship to spending it, but I've already come so far in these few months not depending on credit cards.
I eagerly await the day I can officially say I'm debt-free, and that day is coming soon.
