conversation: User (wonkyman91): "Hey all.\n\nI have yet again fell on misfortune and I'm not sure how to get up this time. I have supported myself since I was 19 and got everything I own from money I made. My parents are overseas so I do not have a safety net. I've been on my own since 2009, through school, work, etc.\n\nBackground:\n\nI studied engineering in school. So my job prospects are good. Recently I was working for Fortune 500 comp up until July 2016. I was paying double rent at the time, and had about 3-4k in credit card debt. No big deal since I owned my car and I had no school loans. \n\nAt the time I was living in a city I did not know anyone in, so my life outside of work had nothing going on in it. I'm not an outsy person, so I kept to myself and built a PC. at this point I may have accumulated 5K in debt. \n\nBack in June of 2016, a company approached me for employment. My current job was a contract and this company was offering direct hire. So I figured, why not apply and at least get a tour of the plant. Low and behold. They extend an offer for me. The most enticing thing about this company is the fact they are located in a city I have lived in for years, so I knew some people and was comfortable with. But I had to pay double rent since I had just signed a contract near the 500 fortune contract company. The new direct hire company also offered me relocation assistance of 5k, on the stipulation that I work for 5 years at least, and If i quit or get fired the first year, then I have to pay them back.\n\nOnce I got the job with the new company and moved back to the city I lived in before. I was in a bad place emotionally, bad relationship and basically depressed. I figured I should reward myself by getting a loan to my dream car and get rid of the one I currently had (where the fuck up started). This car was not a new model. The year was 2016 but the car was 2007, it was the year I wanted. But the guy who sold it to me did beat it to hell. \n\nAt this time in the events. I had maybe 4k in my bank account. Gave the relocation to the new lease and essentially maxed all my credit cards to fix this car, and figured once its running good, then hey I'll just pay off the cards one at a time. At this point I may have had 10k in debt. \n\nThen I got extremely sick and had to go to hospital and accumulated around 5k in debt, 3k of which I paid with a credit card.\n\nMy rent is 1000/mo, car loan was for 12k @ 250/month. insurance was 150. internet/phonebill/utilities were around 300. and I was wasteful. I'm not going to lie.\n\nThe new company would pay me after tax 4500. I would send 1k for my family overseas and 1500 for my bills then have around 1500 a month saved.\n\nRight off the bat I'm not going to hide it, I'm pretty wasteful and kept pouring my money onto the car, which had bad parts after another (New tranny in 2 months. 4k, new engine rebuild 2k, new drive shaft, new fuel pump, new spark plugs and coils, new calipers and master cylinder and brake booster) I was honestly pouring my money into it, and the more I did, the more broken stuff I found.\n\nThis brings us to the current moment. I do not want to go over my history and get the "you should have done this or that". I'm at the present, I stand at 20k in debt. 10k in car loan. I bought a beater for 1k since my dream car kept braking down. I stopped sending money to my family, and I trimmed on my spending.\n\nBut then I got fired. for reasons I do not wish to disclose. Throughout this whole time. I had not been paying my cards, figuring if I pay them off each one completely at once everytime, the creditors might remove the late fees.\n\nI had insane amount of debt collectors calling, from the hospital, from the car loan, from the credit cards, and my credit score sits at 420-430 right now.\n\nI have 8k in my bank account and my least ends in about 2 more months. so I have 2K more payments to make.\n\nThe job wants their money back (5k plus 350 initiation fee plus 1361 as tax gross up? is that last part even legal?)\n\nSteps I have taken so far:\n\nGot rid of the insurance on the "dream car" and Ready to return it to the bank.\n\nHave talked to a friend and we will be looking to sign a lease for a house where I make around 300/mo payments if my situation doesnt get better.\n\nI have applied for collectively 23 jobs and while I'm getting call backs and interviews, most of these processes take time.\n\nMy options:\n\nI'm thinking of declaring for Chapter 7 bankruptcy because I'm not sure how to pay all that debt if I cant get a job.\n\nOr try to find a job before these creditors take me to court.\n\nMy question:\n\nHow will declaring bankruptcy affect my future employment opportunities? what should I do now to ENSURE that I get employed.\n\nIf I can just get employed, then I will steer back on the track. I will return the car, cut my bills in 3rd through living with a friend and sharing expenses. getting rid of high insurance and car loan will save me a ton\n\n**Will declaring bankruptcy ruin my ability to get future prospects? how badly is that? My criminal background is clean and my work experience is fantastic.**\n\nI'm not looking for scolding, just a direction to move forward. I have learned from my mistake, which I'm proud to say is the only mistake I have ever made in my independent 8year. If I had the old car, I would have probably been able to pay off my debt and be in a better place right now.\n\nBut this is where I'm. on my knees. asking for your help.\n\nThank you"
  Self: "Full disclosure- TL:DR - that being said, you have nothhing to worry about in regards to getting a job. I am 30, lost my 100k plus job due to substance abuse. Got my life straight, had about 75k in unsecured debt, filed bankruptcy, just got a new job paying even more than before. You're good."
  User (wonkyman91): "Sounds good. It really makes me feel good knowing people do make it through"
  