Hello all, newbie here. Here's my 'story' and I have several questions...

I am a single mom with a ton of debt. Thankfully, NONE of this is credit cards or the like. It is 80% medical bills, and the other 20% is unpaid utilities and bank fees from overdraft accounts. I have called several of the 'debt consolidation' places, pofit and non-profit. Some won't even talk to me because I have no credit card debt. The others want some sort of 2-300 dollar payment up front (This raises red flags.)

Family and friends have advised me that right now, chapter 7 bankruptcy is my best bet.

I work at a job that pays just a little over minimum wage, and don't get child support from my ex. When you add up all my income and expenses, I am barely scraping by. I have no extra money for emergencies, much less anything to try to pay off any of these debts with. Even if I sent each one a few bucks every month, I would be middle aged before it would all be paid off!

Back in February, I bought a brand new car, with the help of my grandparents. They gave me enough money to put half of the car's cost down as a downpayment. My grandfather is the primary owner, I'm secondary and make the payments. Would I be in danger of losing the car if I filed chapter 7?

Lawyers want upwards of 800 bucks to file, Legal Aid won't help me at all because I live with my parents and they have to count their income too... which brings me to my internet research on 'do it yourself bankruptcy'. I found one place that claims to do the whole enchilada for a little over 200 bucks. Another place offers software for 35 bucks or so, etc.

Have any of you done bankruptcy yourself? How dependable, trustworthy are these companies that claim to help you do it without a lawyer? And is it really successful?

I have read a lot of posts in here where several of you have advised each other not to file bankruptcy... What other options are there for me? I've recently become engaged and would like to buy a home with my future husband someday.

Thanks for taking the time to read my post and I appreciate any help I can get.

Michelle

If you need free legal aid, first of all, you don't actually have to state that you live with your parents. You still have a dependent, whom is raised on your wages, so that might help in that area. I have also gone through Garden State Debt Consolidation, and even though they are out of state, they helped me and they are non profit.