Arggghhhhh!!! My only goal in life is to not see these three letters "NSF". This year alone we've probably spent hundreds of dollars on overdraft fees. We finally get our heads above the water and because of the timing of when checks clear, automatic payments get debited and when our paychecks come in, our $2 cup of coffee becomes a $22 cup of coffee. Go figure. Is there anyway for our hard earned money to go somewhere other than the fee bucket?!

Hello Saving Advice Bloggers,

My name is T & my hubby's name is Jay.
We have just finished paying off our attorney's fees and will be filing for Chapter 13 Bankruptcy at the end of the month. I have been in search of some sort of forum to vent about this and finally I found www.savingadvice.com.

How did we get into this financial mess?
What a great question! As convoluted of a mess as we've been since before we met (probably stemming around when each of us turned the credit company's favorite age 18), it simply comes down to thinking available credit was available cash.

We are past blaming ourselves, each other, our parents, and the society we live in which happens to be very fast paced. At this point, "Keeping up with the Jones'" is not in our vocabulary. The words "Tighted up you belt" come to mind. That's the situation we will be put in starting August.

We could have been let off the hook of all our debt had we filed for bankruptcy before the laws changed in 2005. We would have been eligible for Chapter 7 full liquidation. "Free and clear" as I describe it. But we make too much money.

So here we are with the Ch. 13 Wage Earner's Plan. Basically, it's a consolidation loan/repayment plan.
For the next 60 months, our disposable income will go towards our debt. In the end we would pay less of the overall amount due and now we don't get those harrassment calls from the collections agencies.

I can only be positive and say that we are being responsible and paying our debts. We are looking towards the future and when we have kids it will be our fresh start.