Asian Journal- The Filipino-American Community Newspaper

DEBT problems can easily take over your life. You can quickly spiral into trouble and unless you can find a way to keep the situation under control, you will soon face a financial crisis. Most people are often shocked to find themselves in this situation for the first time in their life. Are you in a serious debt crisis at the moment? What circumstances led you to where you are at the present moment? You’re interested in finding a solution to your problems, aren’t you?

You know you’re in a serious debt crisis when you cannot even afford to make the minimum payments on all your debts and still meet your basic living expenses. Maybe you’re behind in your mortgage and car payments. Perhaps you are facing foreclosure, an auto repo or are being threatened by creditors with lawsuits and wage garnishments. You’re probably afraid to even answer your phone or open your mail. Are you confused and don’t know what you should do next? If you are in this situation right now, I ask you not to panic. However, you should also have a plan of action to stop things from getting worse before it’s too late. If you fail to act, you have no one else to blame later but yourself. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

Many people are in denial and won’t even admit to themselves that they are in financial trouble. If you ask them how much they owe, they can’t even tell you because they haven’t totaled their liabilities to see where they are. These are the people who tell you that they don’t even open their statements anymore because they refuse to see how bad the situation is. Being in denial is NOT the best way to get out of a financial crisis. In order for you to figure out a solution, the first step is to acknowledge that a problem does exist. If you can’t even take this initial step, you’re fooling no one else but yourself!

Of course, no one ever gets into debt because they want to. Debt problems happen when you spend money that you don’t even have. Do you know how many people actually spend their paycheck before they even see it? Now wonder they are broke every payday! I think this is the reason why payday loans (like Cash Call) have become so popular and lucrative for the money sharks.

As a bankruptcy attorney, I see a lot of people who are so buried in debt and it is so obvious that without filing for bankruptcy, they don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell to ever get out debt in this lifetime. And yet, the first thing that they are worried about is not having any more credit cards to use after bankruptcy! What are these people thinking? They haven’t even gotten out of the financial mess they are in and they are already worried about not being able to borrow money again? Does that make sense?

To get out of a serious debt crisis, you sometimes need to change your way of thinking. After all, if your old way of thinking was correct, you wouldn’t be in the current mess that you are in, would you? Thus, you probably need a new approach to your problem that could help you rise above your circumstances and see things in a different light.

OK, so the first step in dealing with your debt problems is to first examine yourself, your spending patterns and your old way of thinking. Bankruptcy is nothing but a tool, if you may, that can help you get a fresh financial start but unless you learn from your experience and make needed changes, you are only bound to repeat your past mistakes.

If simply hearing the word "bankruptcy" scares you, I understand how you feel. But in some cases, bankruptcy may be necessary in order to recover financially. Of course, it’s not for everyone and if it can be avoided, it should certainly be. Is it right for your situation? For a free consultation, call Toll-Free 1-866-477-7772 . We have offices in Glendale, Cerritos and West Covina.

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None of the information herein is intended to give legal advice for any specific situation. Atty. Ray Bulaon has successfully helped more than 4,000 clients in finding solutions to debt problems. To schedule a free attorney consultation, please call Ray Bulaon Law Offices at TOLL FREE 1-866-477-7772.

(www.asianjournal.com)