Downsizing After Bankruptcy

The bankruptcy process is finally over.  It wasn’t an easy road but with the help of bankruptcy attorney in Los Angeles you received that discharge.  Now what?  This is a question that lingers in the mind of discharged people.  The same attorney may have to lend a hand again to help adjust to this blank slate you’re in now.  A person cannot exactly live life the way it was before; changes must happen to not fall back in that hole again.  One way to do that is to downsize.  The definition of downsizing is ‘making something smaller’ or ‘to reduce in size.’  Here are examples of things that need a downgrade.

Home

The home you live in now looks like a masterpiece but it isn’t worth staying in if it’s going to be foreclosed.  Downsize and get a smaller home you can afford.  There are plenty of beautiful homes out there that are less inexpensive.  Those homes are easier to purchase because it costs less.  It forces a person to bring only the necessities into a home.  This will stop overspending.  Taxes and mortgage are cheaper.  If a person does fail to keep up with payments there will be less debt than the previous home.

Car

That expensive car looks good as it cruises down the street, but it won’t look good to the wallet.  Bankruptcy wiped the slate clean so start over by purchasing a car you can afford.  The car a person can afford may not be the car of your dreams.  The purpose is to reach your destination not to show off, so if you can the best car to get is one that is used.  The point of purchasing an affordable car is to build credit.  Pay the monthly payments and build a trust with the dealership.  Once the car is paid off wait a few years (until a person has a job and is making money) and then trade it in for a newer model or fix the old one up to look new.

Credit Cards

How many credit cards can a person spend at once?  Most certainly not five, and most definitely not ten.  Now that bankruptcy wiped the credit card debt away only has one.  That one card should be a secured credit card.  This will help you to spend better because it holds a certain amount of money ($500 or less) hostage for a year.  The company will give it back once it’s over.  Another reason to use secured credit cards is to build credit.  Paying the full amount is the way to do it.  Don’t spend anything on the credit card a person cannot afford to pay the credit card company.