Life After Bankruptcy: 7 Tips to Get Your Life on Track
After Bankruptcy
by Justin Koh
Published on this site: August 24th, 2005 - See
more articles from this month
A life in bankruptcy is not an unbearable phase if you look
at it from a positive angle. If you found it unbearable, I'm
sure you won't want to go through it again. While the court
'reorganizes' you by selling your personal assets to pay off
your debts, so too you must reorganize your thoughts and look
forward to live a life of prudence.
Here are 7 tips you can apply to get your life back on track
as soon as possible so that you can find a way to return to
a lifestyle of less financial worries and gradually break
free from the shackles of an unpleasant past.
- Seek sincere help. In modern societies where urbanites
get too busy in their own lives, it is not surprising to
have people whom you know suddenly turn their backs on you
when you seek their assistance. It's like they are thinking,
"I can't believe it. I've never been a bankrupt so
why are you so deep in the dumps?" Forget about these
people. Your immediate family will be the first to know
your situation and only they can give you continued love
and support. Make a checklist of names and how they can
help you as much as what you can do for them, as well as
(very) close friends whom you know can depend on.
- Be responsible. And I mean REALLY responsible.
Once bitten twice shy; don't get mired in debt again. You
can blame on exorbitant increase in the cost of living,
that business partner who sued you or the failing stock
market but they are not going to say sorry anytime. It's
time to take a critical look at your spending habits and
evaluate them, understanding where you have wasted and invested
your money. Do a monthly plan-and-review for your savings
and expenditure. A very good hint of wastage is putting
your money in places you don't know much of. Learn how to
disengage from risks which you can't afford to get involved.
- Get paid work immediately. Get your life productive
again. There is no more greater blessing than learning to
appreciate your ability to earn your keeps. Within your
checklist, you should have a couple of people whom you can
approach in this area. Leverage on your experience and expertise
to make an offer of what you can contribute to their benefit.
- Join a credit union. Such helpful organizations
can offer loans which normal institutions like banks will
not do otherwise, but make sure there's confidence on both
sides that you can repay the loan.
- Far too many people never had a concrete financial/retirement
plan even though they know it's important. Engage a
financial advisor to be your personal counsel. Set aside
cash reserves for rainy days or emergencies. Find adequate
insurance to protect your remaining assets and family. Avoid
high-risk ventures or 'investments'.
- Keep track of all debts due and paid to your creditors.
Make sure your credit report is updated for the record.
- Sharpen your financial literacy. Robert Kiyosaki,
author of "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" is a strong advocate
for personal fiancial education. You can always pick up
financial literature along the way and think about how you
may change the way you look at your wealth. You never know
how truly rich people think differently about their money
from the rest of us.
As the saying goes, "Time heal all wounds." It
will take years to be a 'normal' person again, but once you
know you have attained the discipline to practice good habits,
there's no reason how you can fall back to the old self. As
you become wiser, you can better inform others about the unhealthy
influences of commercialism and consumerism.
Justin Koh is a freelance writer whose articles have
appeared in most major e-zines. You can find more of these
at: http://www.bankruptcycentral.info
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