How Bankruptcy can help you get the fairy tale ending you deserve

Imagine you're working overtime and taking on every available shift just so you can earn enough money to meet the minimum payments on your credit cards and line of credit. You’re called into a staff meeting where your supervisor announces that, due to a reduction in profitability, the company will be eliminating all overtime.

When you look around the room, most of your co-workers seem elated. They hate having to work overtime. You do, too — but you also need that extra income. How else will you keep up with your monthly bill payments?

You spend a few sleepless nights recalculating your budget. What if you ride your bike or walk to work? Perhaps you could forgo your vehicle altogether, that would save a lot of money... But not nearly enough to get you out of debt.

As you lie awake, you realize the problem isn’t your day-to-day living costs. Your problem is you don’t have a plan to get out of debt. You’ve been working so hard just to keep your head above water. Every month, it’s always the same. You’re never any further ahead in terms of paying off your debt. 

There must be another way

For the first time, you realize maybe those ads you’ve been seeing online and hearing on the radio are meant for you. Your situation always seemed so normal. It occurs to you that may only be because you can’t remember a time when you weren’t living paycheque to paycheque. 

The ads talk about getting out of debt and getting a fresh start. Is that really possible? You decide to make a call and find out. Afterall, what can it hurt?

The person on the phone offers a list of available appointment times and tells you the initial consultation is free, confidential, and you don’t have to commit to anything. You feel a little bit of hope creep into your otherwise negative thought patterns.

A world of possibility

You hold your breath throughout the first appointment, desperately hoping the person sitting across from you has a solution to your financial woes. She asks some questions about your debts, assets, and income — and tells you about bankruptcy might be a good option.

Your car is the only real asset you own, and you were ready to give that up anyway. That little gleam of hope steadily grows into the realization that there may be a solution available — one that could transform your financial world in as little as nine months. 

Then comes the kicker: The License Insolvency Trustee tells you not being able to work overtime will benefit you in the bankruptcy. Your monthly payment is based on your income and without any overtime, your earnings are low enough that a Bankruptcy will only cost you $200 per month.

In just a few minutes you’re feeling several years worth of stress melt away. You can work less and still get rid of your debt. Your time will finally be yours again.

Perhaps you can join the local running group… Or maybe just stay home and catch up on the latest shows everyone keeps talking about. You can’t remember the last time you felt this relaxed or hopeful for the future. That night, you sleep so soundly you almost miss your alarm the next morning.

Your moment of transformation

After taking a couple of days to think things over, you decide Bankruptcy is the right option for you. You fill out the forms, gather the necessary documents, and provide everything to the Licensed Insolvency Trustee.

Within a week you have another appointment to sign the documents. The Trustee reviews the entire process in detail, including what’s required from you to obtain the discharge from your debts. You feel confident that you can complete all the duties and know you can ask for help at anytime if you need it.

Part of the Bankruptcy process involves attending two counselling sessions. At first you feel intimidated as to what these will entail. You pride yourself on being responsible and have worked hard to manage your debts. The last thing you want is to feel guilted about filing a Bankruptcy. 

But like every apprehension so far, your initial fears quickly subside when you meet the insolvency counsellor. A lovely, warm individual, she merely wants to help you understand what went wrong and how you can avoid it happening again. She walks you through some helpful budgeting tips, including how to save for financial emergencies. 

Unexpected costs have caught you off guard on the past, and you instantly recognize her advice will help you avoid relying on my credit cards when they invariably arise in the future. Having a plan in place gives you tremendous peace of mind. Your finances are going to be okay, even if your car breaks down or you get sick and can’t work for a few days. 

Bankruptcy hasn’t just helped you get out of your debt; it’s helped you find hope for your financial future.

The future is in your hands

Prior to your insolvency, you’d never paid your credit score much mind. You always received credit whenever you had applied for it in the past.

When you decided to file your Bankruptcy, you resigned yourself to the difficult but necessary reality that you were never going to be eligible for credit again. Though this was the one thing still causing some anxiety.

Homeownership was always a dream of yours. And how will you manage simple, everyday tasks like pay for parking without a credit card?

But as you learn in your counselling session, a fresh start means just that: You’ll not only be able to rebuild your credit — you’ll get the skills and knowledge to do so effectively and relatively quickly.

The counsellor explains that a secured credit card obtained from a new bank can help you begin rebuilding your credit soon after you receive your discharge from Bankruptcy. With a couple years of responsible use, you’ll eventually qualify for an unsecured credit card, and a wide range of credit products — maybe even including a mortgage — not long thereafter. 

In the grand scheme of things, it looks like Bankruptcy will actually get you toward your financial goals sooner than if you’d kept working all those extra hours to make the minimum payments.

Your fresh start awaits

At the end of the nine months, you have completed all your duties and receive your automatic discharge. All the debts you owed at the beginning of the process are now gone and you’ve learned so much along the way. 

You have only one regret: You didn’t reach out for help sooner.