Completed the pre-bankruptcy paperwork that we will need at the lawyer’s office in the AM.  I ‘think’ we have everything set up and ready to go.  LOL, I am going to miss screwing with the collections people, but am quite sure that they will keep calling anyway.  Oh well.

It is truly amazing when you really sit down and put every creditor on paper.  When the paperwork printed out, there are 5 pages with 5 slots per page to list creditors……I needed a separate sheet of paper.  Looking at the bills, 90% are in my wife’s name only.  Of the $100k or so, @ $26k is actually in my name, but that definitely brings about a decision that many people will simply not make:  I married my wife and said vows that included verbage about “in good times as well as in bad”.  This is a bad time in our lives and the support that we have shown each other has been simply amazing.  Looking back on it, I should have been more aggressive with our debt pay down plan.  I should have achieved my wife’s ‘buy in’ more harder and I should have been on top of things much more……BUT, I wasn’t.  So……tomorrow, 10am EST is the first step.

Had a heck of a time with my computer.  Computer crashes and unfortunately, I am on Windows XP Pro…….took almost 3 weeks to find my original “full version” disc.  Then after Windows is reinstalled, my video card takes a dump…..lol……yet another reason to have an emergency fund?  You betcha.  Look at it objectively, my computer is just under 5 years old (ancient by today’s standards) and the average life expectancy most likely is not much beyond that.  If I had just put back $5 per check, I could have walked into a Wal-Mart and simply purchased another computer ($5 x 26 =$130 x 5 =$650).  Oh well……

I call Monday to schedule our appointment with the bankruptcy attorney.  Yep, the time has arrived; however, I am still border-line shocked that we have been able to ride this out this long without being sued, garnished, etc.  Unreal.  Looking back on it, at times I wish we had simply sucked it up and put our noses to the grind stone a little tighter……then again, I am already working 13.5 hours per day on average and that is enough.  If Capital One and the rest of the gang want to figure it out, simply do not extend credit beyond what that person should be able to reasonably afford.  As with my job, I still struggle with the decision from time to time, but we are just ready for the crap to stop.

LOL, for the most part, I actually love to screw with the collectors.  Heck, might as well make it fun, right?  For some ideas to what to do when a collection specialist calls your home:

Simply take the phone off of the hook and see how long the collector stays on the line saying “Hello?”  LOL, one working for Home Depot held the line for 8 minutes.  Other times, I will answer the phone in a really cheerful voice, listen to their scripted opening speech and then simply mess with them.  Most of the collectors do not understand our indifferent attitude to the entire situation.