This time, I'm for real.

I realize I began this blog with every intention of being taken seriously in August of last year. A lot has happened since then - I left Los Angeles for Austin, Tx in order to pursue school, a relationship, and a less costly city to live in. In the six months since I moved here, it has come to my attention that it is necessary and right for me to file for bankruptcy. I simply cannot bear to make another credit card payment to my cards with 29.9% APRs and see the balance never go down. I'm paying almost $500/month in interest alone, and with the measly $1200/month or so I earn waiting tables at a family tex-mex joint, I can't afford that at all. I never could, but I've been draining my savings for six months and have realized enough is enough.

That said, I've also met with a couple of very nice bankruptcy attorneys this past week, and have been told that my case will cost me about $1800. That includes filing fees and credit counseling, but still. If I had $1800 in the bank still, I wouldn't consider myself broke. So as of today, I have decided that I'm going to file pro se. I'm also going to switch banks so as to protect my cash assets since I have a credit card with the same bank I do my checking.

I have been warned that due to the new bankruptcy regulations of 2006, filing pro se may not be the smartest option if I can scrounge up the money for an attorney, but I'm a smart girl. I'm sure I can figure it out. My book on filing chapter 7 should be arriving on Saturday, at which point I can begin the mountains of paperwork I'm sure this will entail.

Other preparations include buying a used printer/scanner off of Craigslist for $25 so as not to pay $1/page at Kinko's for my printouts of bank statements, filing forms, etc.

I'm also going to start tracking all of my spending in a little notebook. As wonderful as Mint.com and online banking can be for tracking where you spend your money, I am a waitress. My income is 99% cash. So 99% of my spending is untraceable via the internet. And rather than stop keeping cash on hand, because I like to use cash, I'm just going to track everything more closely. It's the first of the month, so I figure today is a good day to start.