I never in my life thought we would be in this position. My husband and I are both devastated but we dont have any choice as far as we can see. My husband went from earning about 1200.00 a week to 800.00 and all the credit card companies we dealt with are raising or have raised their minimum payments and interest rates. We are in Michigan and there are no jobs. I homeschool my oldest daughter who has a chronic illness and a full time job is not an option for me as long as she needs me even if I could find one. Dh works every second they allow him to work but we are now to the point that after the minimums are paid on things and we put gas in the vehicleds there is little or no money left for even the bare essentails. I have been having to even charge groceries. You know the classic dog chasing my tail scenario. We retained an attorney and he said the house is not in any danger. We owe 10,000 to 15,000 more then its worth and no money could be made from its sale. We dont have anything large that is of any value for the court to sell either. We are allowed to have 10,000 in personal and ordinary household items. Dh and I have sat down and hashed out a budget for if things go as the lawyer says and agreed that if as the attorney says secured credit card offers will start rolling in as soon as the bankruptcy is discharged we will not get one for at least a year. Then it will be in the custody of dh at all times becasue I am the weak one. He is very strong and can resist the urge to buy something that he wants very much. I however have learned to do without quite a bit in the last year and see things differently now then I ever did. I never ever ever want to owe a credit card company anything again. If we have this debt erased and can begin fresh we can start to save a little money and have learned that we are not entitled to instant gratification that credit cards allow. We will save for things and appreciate them much more this way as well. Right now we both feel like we are in this dark dark place of fear and not knowing what will happen next. I told my dh I am getting through the day by saying to myself in a 6 months this will be over and just a bad memory and we will be starting out fresh if the courts allow. I also pray . Alot. Its all the "ifs" right now that are so stressful. The creditors have not started calling yet but they will in the next week or so and I am dreading it so much. I know its my fault though I have to face the music. The lawyer has told me what to say and that is what I will do but it is still scary as hell. Thanks for letting me ramble and if there is anyone here who has been through this can you please tell me what it was like for you and what happened that you didnt expect and what wasnt as bad as you thought it would be?