Couch Change

 

I can't even believe I'm writing this and I feel absolutely ridiculous, but ultimately it's good news.

If you haven't been reading my blog, a quick recap:

• I finally tallied up all my credit card debt and came clean to my parents
• They offered to lend me the money but were prepared to implement some strict (but very fair) spending limits
• I sent a note to 2 dozen of my closest friends explaining the above to them
• Then my parents told me they didn't think I should take the loan, because I'd still be in debt, but to their Home Equity line.
• I met with a bankruptcy lawyer on 2/23. I presented him with a spreadsheet of all of my assets except for one, which I didn't have online access to.

And this is where the ridiculous stuff happens.

My grandmother (who I moved to take care of 5 years ago, 6 months before she died) and my parents invested for me from a young age, literally since I was a kid. Over the years, I've gotten dividends from these accounts but largely didn't know where the money was or how much was in the accounts. When I went to tally up my assets, I realized there was still one account that I'd never gotten access to. I'm sure they sent me statements, but I don't keep that kind of stuff around. I cash the dividends or scan the 1099 and move on. 

It's not always easy to get financial institutions to tell you your own damn information. It took me a few weeks and several phone calls and emails to get them to give me my account number so I could sign up for an online account and find the cash value of the stock.

Which was $56,000.

For reference, my personal debt is about $42,000.

I had to lay down and have several people confirm I was reading it correctly.

I met with the lawyer again on Tuesday and he informed me I do not, in fact, qualify for bankruptcy.

So. I have put in a request to sell most of the shares. I will be paying off and closing my personal credit cards. My business still has debt but that is OK--I wasn't going to bankrupt that debt anyway. 

I still need to budget. I still need to get to the emotional center of my spending. I still started three new jobs this week. 

But my lawyer pointed out, and I agree, that the "nice" thing about bankruptcy is it forces you to get everything out on the table. I have learned a ton about myself and reaffirmed what an amazing support team I have around me.

So the journey isn't over yet. But it's definitely taken a different turn.

Thanks, grandmother. <3