“I made a terrifying discovery: after 17 years of credit card abuse, my cards were full and I couldn’t juggle payments anymore.”

What have you bounced back from? Black and Blue man tells the story of how he drown in debt and through Debtors Anonymous , backruptcy, and his therapist, allowed him to bounce back financially and emotionally from it. Have you ever bounced back from major debt?

This is a comment by Black and Blue Man on the post “Open Thread: What Have You Bounced Back From?“

In September 2010, I made a terrifying discovery — after 17 years of credit card abuse, all of my cards were finally exhausted and I could no longer juggle them to make my minimum payments.

At first, I took steps to try and deal with it. I finally broke down and admitted to my psychiatrist that I had a problem; I began attending meetings of a local chapter of Debtors Anonymous (DA); and I began to proactively contact my creditors to work things out.

Alas, it was much too little and much too late, and dealing with my creditors became so overwhelming that I stopped answering my ‘phone and didn’t check my mailbox for three weeks.

At one point, I imagined a near-future scenario where (a) I’d lost everything and (b) I would be secretly sleeping at night at my workplace and using the shower in one of the men’s toilets.

There was one option left, but for a while I couldn’t contemplate because it seemed the most terrifying of all – bankruptcy.

Until one night not long before Christmas 2010 when I discovered a website that explained what bankruptcy was actually all about. It gave me a lot of food for thought, and ultimately I realised that this was the only option I had left.

With that website’s help I put together the required paperwork, and on 14 February 2011 the Australian Government officially declared me a voluntary bankrupt (so, yes, Valentine’s Day will always have special significance for me, although not as intended).

Just over two years later, bankruptcy has enabled me to bounce back financially. While I certainly regret the 17 years of foolishness and financial illiteracy that led to 14 February 2011, I have greatly appreciated the opportunity that bankruptcy gave me to start over again, this time get it right with my money, and live a good financially-stable life.

My psychiatrist, now retired, was a big help, as he had been since mid-2007 with helping me live with depression and OCD — but special mention should go to DA. I haven’t been back for a long time, but I will always be grateful for DA being there during some of the darkest months of my life.

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