Bankruptcies Continue Upward (Surprise, Surprise)

Although the change in bankruptcy laws back in 2005 put a hell of a hamper on bankruptcy filings, the graph still looks pretty much the same: up, up, and away! The numbers may be smaller, but the climb is still pretty darn steep.

The data currently available only extends to the third quarter of 2008 (or the second, depending on where you look), but the number of filings was up over 12% from the first to second quarters, and a little over 5% from the second to third quarters (which I suspect is either an anomoly, or everyone’s already bankrupt – which I doubt). For the year of 2007, the average increase was 8.3% quarter to quarter. The rest of the world isn’t faring too well either, with filings up over 12% from Q2-Q3 in the UK.

Yes, yes, I know I’m more than likely just rehashing old information that everyone’s already heard already. However, the number of bankruptcies from Q1-Q3 2008 are almost as high as all of 2007, and there’s still one more quarter left to report – a quarter I’m sure nobody wants to hear about. The combination of ballooning mortgage payments and massive job losses makes bankruptcy about the only viable option for quite a number of people, even if they do manage to sell the house while avoiding foreclosure. It’s just a big downward spiral – the companies are running in to trouble and downsizing. The workers are taking lower paying jobs, if they can find them, and can’t pay the bills they used to be able to pay. Or, they end up on unemployment (which pays pretty terribly, $4.45/hr in my case), and then they REALLY can’t pay their bills.

Oh, wait. That’s right. THAT’S ME! The company I was working for brought us in because business was booming, they were buying up tons of product, and needed people to move it. Soon enough, though, they realized they were buying way too much product, didn’t have the room for it, and started buying less and less. Coincidentally (or not), due to the downturn in construction, contractors were buying their product less and less. You can see where we found the time to play football in the warehouse, off the recieving docks, and up toward the roof. I suppose that statement is enough to explain why they laid off a bunch of people (myself included).

I’m trying to and will continue to try my damndest to avoid bankruptcy. For one thing, it seems to be a royal pain, and I’m sure I would have uncontrollable levels of nervousness throughout the numerous meetings, hearings, etc. But mostly, it’s a matter of personal responsibility. I’m not saying that people who have had to file for bankruptcy lack this, as every situation is unique. However, I know I can get out of this myself, no matter how long it takes. I’ve had considerable help from my mother, and plan on paying her back as well at some point. With how much she’s helped me over the past couple of years with truck repairs, loan payments and the like, I’ll probably end up picking out a nice round number (like $10,000) once it’s all said and done – but I’ll do it.

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