Okay, so as most of you know, I was laid off from my job in November. Ammon was laid off in December and ever since has only had six weeks worth of work until he got his current job a month ago. Both of us have been receiving unemployment payments, which admittedly have helped us keep our head above water. However, because of the debts we accrued earlier, we are now in the unpleasant position of picking our financial battles. We have tried to get a mortgage modification from our bank, but they only offered to lower our payments $110 a month for the next four months to help us 'get back on our feet'. Then we are required to pay all of our back payments (currently four months worth). Sound a little ridiculous? Yeah, we thought so. We make barely too much to qualify for the "Making Homes Affordable" program until my unemployment payments run out in five weeks. However, according to our lender, once I stop receiving that money, we will not be making enough to qualify for any of their modifications due to our 'debt-to-income ratio'. You still with me?
As I mentioned a few months ago, we had to surrender our Silverado, so we are looking at having to pay the deficit after they sell it. Plus we have three almost maxed out credit cards and our one vehicle (on which we owe about $6000 more than its worth). Our credit prevents us from qualifying for a refinance, so now we are thinking of filing for bankruptcy. Other than our mortgage and the Silverado, we have been able to pay everything on time (yippee for us?). I'm not posting this for a pity party. We made our bed (and then someone wet in it, ripped the sheets and pulled all the stuffing out of it!!...), so we need to accept responsibility. BUT we also know that we can't continue like this unless we somehow find more money. Something's gotta give.
I'm posting this to reach out for any advice or experiences that may be helpful for us in this situation. We aren't exactly proud of the decisions we made to get us into this mess, but I feel we are doing the best we can now with what we still have. So please, any help would be... helpful! ;-)
