Can i file for bankrupcy while in college?

Question

I am a student , still in college, i have over 20k of cc debt and adding student debt to that as well.
i do work, but i cant dedicate myself to working 24/7 to pay my debts, I live off of financial aid from school, and not from my employment money, i am on my own, no parental assistance.

my credit right now is good, all my credit cards have good intrest rates, some are fixed at 8, others are prime plus 1.49 , or something similar.

I own no property or stuff of value.

I constantly pay the minimum and then charge for necessities like food b/c i have no money left. My rent is 800 and i have about 1000 from financial aid with wich to live on. Plus my job but in order to do well in school i cant work that much, i work very little, sometimes making less than a 100 a paycheck, soemtimes around 300.........

Would i be able to file for bankrupcy?

or would i be required to quit going to school and to get a job to pay solely for my debts?

No one claims me as a dependant. I can not cut money anywhere, i dont live on campus, or in dorms.

I pay my minimum payments because i then in turn chargemy credit cards, my debt always grows bigger . I dont plan on getting my student loans excused...... my student loans are only 5500.

Answer 1

The short answer to your question is yes, you can file for bankruptsy if you are on your own.

If your parents are still declaring you as a dependent on their taxes (I'm not sure how old you are), you may have a problem doing so.

Will you be granted bankruptsy status? Only maybe. It sounds like you can still make minimum payments on your credit cards, so I am not sure if the court will accept your petition (you'd have to talk to a lawyer about it).

I would recommend taking a long hard look at your situation. Ask yourself a few questions.

1. What will I gain by filing for bankruptsy? Bankruptsy is a one time in 7 years thing. I believe student loans can not be discharged. If you are only in your 2nd year of college, you file for bankruptsy, and you rack up another $20K in CC debt the second 2 years, you are stuck with it. There is no way out for you again for a long time. Does it make sense to file now or file later?

2. Is college worth it? College is an investment. While you are in school, in reality you are losing a ton of money. You are probably giving up at least $20K to $30K a year by not working and going to college instead. Is your investment going to pay off in the long run? Does your major make good money and is in high demand (like nursing)? Is your major poor paying and tough to get into the field (like journalism)? Take a step back and figure out if accumulating all the debt is going to pay off or are you going to college because everyone tells you that you should. Never lose sight of the fact college is an investment. Would it make sense to keep a stock that is only going to cost you money and never make you anything?

3. What are your expenses? When I was young and busy, I fed myself for under $1 a day in college (easily). It looks like you clear at least a few hundered a month to live on (a fortune to most college kids). Do you have a cell phone? Cable TV? You smoke? You drink a lot? Is it cheaper to live in the dorms and use the school meal plan? You have a car you don't really need? Think long and hard about what you spend money on and if you really need those things. You don't need a car and its associated expenses if the bus will get you there. A cell phone is a luxery, not a necessity. Maybe you really make enough money if you sacrifice, or maybe you don't. Take a long look and do some soul searching to see if you really can survive off what you make. You may have to live off of Mac and Cheese, but perhaps you can at least prevent your debt load from increasing.

Also on the line of expenses, can you cut some of the classes at the University and take them for 1/4th the cost at a community college and transfer them in? That might save you a ton of money.

4. Should I file now or later? Related to my first point, would it be better to file now or later? Perhaps you really are screwed and are sinking. If you have 6 months left in school (or even 18 months), it might be better to do your best to weather the storm for awhile longer and discharge all your debt when you are done with school and get a fresh start in the working world.

Good Luck to you. I hope things work out.

Answer 2

Sorry about your complicated memories. in case you may loose an more beneficial $50/week both by increasing your earnings or lowering your expenditures, you may ultimately eliminate this debt. Any route you pick should not be straightforward. Your first step should be to list all of your loans out on paper and get an certainly finished. if you're contemporary on any loans, save paying the minimum on them. The homemade plan is the most artwork, yet has the least lengthy time period damage. save up some money and attitude the creditor with the smallest debt. contact them and tell them you've $X(some fraction of the steadiness) available to pay off this debt. Ask them in the journey that they can settle for this volume. in the journey that they are hesitant, tell them that you're pondering financial ruin(meaning they get no longer some thing). in case you may't get many of the lenders to artwork with you, credit counseling and/or financial ruin are maximum acceptable. the reason i'm hesitant to point financial ruin is that you're so youthful at this aspect, you don't need some thing which will stay with you for 10 years. in case you may shrink your debt by ability of one thousand this year and strengthen the relief by ability of 500 a year, you'd be debt loose in 5 years(1K+a million.5K+2K+2.5K+3K). you also must have particularly clean credit at that aspect. in case you bypass the financial ruin route you may nicely be on your mid-20s and having a really complicated time figuring out to purchase a house(or getting a automobile personal loan).