Who We Are
On the surface, we're your average American family. Husband and I are in our mid-thirties, we've got one kid living with us 2/3 of the time (my husband's daughter). We both work, both have a nice vehicle to drive, we've owned our home for four years now and fixed it up ourselves. Oh, and we're about to file Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
For purposes of anonymity, I'm going to dub my husband Mr. Fix-It, because he is a truly handy guy to have around and because his first instint when anything goes wrong is to figure out how to fix it.
My step-daughter, I'm going to dub "the Star," because she's the light of our lives and also loves being the center of attention.
Why I'm Writing This
When I was doing web searches prior to making that fateful decision, I couldn't find any personal stories following people as they were going through the experience. I figured maybe writing down our experiences and emotions as we go through this might help someone else down the line. Of course, I'm sure laws differ from state to state, and since I'm trying to keep this as anonymous as possible, I'm not going to identify our state, but maybe the general process is the same.
I also want to use this blog as some kind of personal accountability for myself. In the past, I know I've had a tendency to overspend on "non-essentials." Out of necessity, that's been pared WAY down the past couple of years, but I still get these urges.
So I'm going to brag about the frugal-ish purchases that I make, if only to make myself feel better. I know that my husband is really depressed over this situation as well - even though he's never been rolling in money, he's always had the ability to take $100 and spend it however he wants over the weekend. Not being able to do that is putting a big crimp in his personal satisfaction with everything these days.
In the end, this blog will end up being part helpful instruction, part accountability-keeper and part personal pick-me-up.
