When we hear the word “bankruptcy,” we immediately imagine a bunch of guys in business suits screaming “I am ruined!” and jumping from the Stock Exchange balcony. Well, you are probably not one of those guys, but your minimum monthly credit card payments are already higher than your rent, your cards are maxed out and no one is giving you new ones because your credit rating is lower than the South Pole.

Your salary might be enough to live on, but not with the regular payments to the credit card companies. What’s the point of having a job, if you don’t see any of that big salary of yours? But you are afraid to quit because your salary is the only thing between you and those nasty phone calls from the collection agencies. Like those couple of times you had to postpone paying – one time because of that impulse buy of a huge flat-screen TV and the other time, right after that skiing trip – you still owe the hospital for that one – and it’s more than you can ever pay. The hospital’s collections people still call you sometimes, hoping to eke out a few bucks. Add to all that your student loans – and running away to hide in the Amazon jungle suddenly sounds like a great idea.

Now – that’s what the bankruptcy is for – to give you a breather from the endless vicious cycle of interest rates and monthly payments. There are a few different types of bankruptcy, but the one you would benefit the most from is called “Chapter 7.” In a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, your debt gets discharged, but your assets get taken away and sold to pay back your creditors. Fortunately, the law provides for exceptions to that rule – you’ll get to keep all your furniture, clothes, a TV, your laptop, etc. – up to certain value. Your “Mona Lisa” and your yacht with a private jet would be taken, however. What, you don’t have a private jet? Exactly! If you are like most people in dire financial straights, you’ll get to keep your belongings, but your debt will go away.

Once your bankruptcy petition is filled out and filed in court, you will have to go for a hearing in front of a bankruptcy trustee, who decides whether to grant you a debt discharge or not. The trustee wants to ascertain that you are not hiding a stash of gold coins or a “Mona Lisa”, because if you are – he will want it for your creditors. If he sees that you have nothing of the sort, he will order all your debt discharged. Well, almost all of it – some debt, like student loans, for example, will stay with you practically forever. But, most debt, such as credit card bills, car leases, medical bills, and home loans will be erased. The discharge order doesn’t becomes final right away – if, say, you win the lottery during the next few months, the trustee will want his share.

Now you can finally take those skiing lessons you’ve always wanted to take, go for a vacation or maybe even start saving. You will be able to get new credit cards eventually – quite soon actually – credit card companies prefer somebody fresh coming out of bankruptcy to someone who’s never declared Chapter 7 before. That’s because one can only do a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy once every 10 years. So, don’t repeat the same mistake again – remember, you won’t be able to get rid of your new creditors for quite a while. So, before whipping out that credit card, stop and think how much better it feels without those monthly payments. Try and keep that feeling for as long as you can.

If you live in New York or New Jersey and are thinking about bankruptcy, drop me a line – our law office helped hundreds of people discharge their debt. Once your debt is discharged and you are ready to start anew, read about ways to make money in this hilarious guide – GetRichandQuick.com.