29/10/2025
I know I've talked about it before, but I'm really thinking I'm going to have to do Chapter 13. I have what's a decent job in my area, yet after all the years of bad jobs and living off of credit cards (needing them for running the rescue, doctor bills, etc), I essentially go from near $4000 when I get paid to under $600 JUST from those bills and loans (unsecured ones).
I then have $600 available for food for the cats, vet's, gas, food for myself (the cats will always be fed before I stuff my face), and anything else like clothes or the $50 I sometimes allow myself for entertainment like a video game or renting a movies.
I was barely making it, but after the surgery I had to have on my mouth, 15 extractions, bone grafts (lots due two plus years of 60-100mg of prednisone daily, constant vomiting almost daily) that loan was the tipping point. My dental insurance paid $200, CareCredit paid $3000, the other $10000 (to finish the surgery and get dentures so I could eat, which with the 8 intact teeth or so I had was not easy) was more than apparently was manageable.
I sat in the car a long time that day, looking at all the bills carefully and it all should have been manageable...I'm not sure how I went wrong. My mouth was literally full of pus and abscessed, my face hurt all the time, so I went for it. I no longer hurt, I can eat, and my colitis has honestly not bothered me since about a week after surgery.
What advice or opinions can you all offer? Experiences you can share?
I understand they take a big chunk of your income for debt repayment, but surely I'd be left with more than a few hundred dollars a month? Ive started to try and chickened out two times.