Hi, I'm Richard Kistnen. For the last 10 years, I've helped people get out from under the crushing weight of debt and into a life of financial wellness with the financial fresh start that comes when you file for bankruptcy.
The reason you're here right now is because you have debt that you're struggling with, and you need to take action. I agree.
Firstly, it doesn't matter where the debt came from.
For most people that I've worked with, the debt that they had didn't come because of any wrongdoing or bad actions. The debt they were struggling was a result of life simply happening.
For some people it was health issues that caused them to fall behind in debt. I definitely understand that. I, myself, had an emergency surgery a few years ago that forced me to close down my office and stop working. Maybe you had a car accident and couldn't work for some time, and as a result your debt grew to more than you can manage.
For other people, it may be some kind of family situation, like a death. I've had people that I've helped come to me because their spouse passed away, and now the money coming into the home was reduced to less than half. It can also be the opposite, you had a child, but you're income didn't grow with the arrival of a new child, and so you fell behind your debt.
For others, the debt grew because of a change in relationship status. Whether it's because of a breakup or divorce, debt often comes with that kind of change in relationship status. The funny thing about the people I've helped that file for bankruptcy after a divorce - it wasn't the debt that they had before the divorce, but rather the attorney fees paid as part of the divorce that caused them to fall behind on payments to debt!
For most of the people I've helped, that were being crushed by debt not because of something bad they did or some kind of trying to cheat, but the debt came because life just happened.
We could go on and on here. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter where the debt came from. You have debt that you're dealing with right now, and one of the reasons that you're here reading this is because you want to do something about it.
I'm sure that one thought you probably had was that you'll pay off the debt by finding a way to make more money.
I support that! I think that we all should always be finding ways of making more money to support our lives and be able to help others as much as we can.
Making more money, though, is not as easy as it sounds. If you work a job, then you're stuck with what your employer wants to pay you. If you go and ask for a raise, your employer will likely give you the run-around about how now isn't a good time for the company, but they'll revisit it in a few months. Meanwhile, you're debt is sitting there and growing by the day!
Maybe you thought about finding a new job to make more money! I agree with that, as well. The problem with finding a new job is that it takes time and energy that you may not have. Also, finding a job depends on the job market that exists. Still more, you may find that all the jobs that are out there that do pay more money require some kind of further schooling or certification. That would be nice, but who's got the time or the money to pay for the insane pricing of tuition while having to pay your rent and all your necessities, plus all of your bills?
Maybe the way to make more money is to start a side business! I support the idea. It's just not as easy as it sounds. You have to figure out what product or idea you're going to sell, figure out deliverability, determine audiences, pricing, all the time and energy to create and market and advertise - and at the end of the day, you may not see a single sale.
I'm not saying that you shouldn't look for ways to make more money, especially when you are struggling with debt. I think that we should always be open and looking for more ways to make more money, whether that's with finding a new job, a promotion, or starting a business.
What I am saying is that, while you're figuring out how to make more money, you should think about ways to get rid of your debt as quickly as possible.
Before jumping to what action you can take to get rid of your debt as soon as possible, though, it would help to think about why it's important to get rid of your debt.
