Developing a budget is an easy thing to do.  Sticking to it, well, that’s another matter. It might seem that developing a budget should be an elementary task. But many people are simply not inclined to use spreadsheets, balance checkbooks or lay out a formal budget.It is within everybody’s self-interest to make the effort to outline expenses against income even if it requires getting someone else to help undertake the task. The budget should include monthly income and outgo, projections of expected increases and decreases and some buffer for the unexpected. Continue reading →

A large numbers of foreclosures are displacing families and damaging neighborhoods nationwide. Analysts predict a million people could lose homes this year and policy makers are grappling for responses. As a result of the real estate fcrisis, a rush of people  desperate to keep their homes caused a 57  increase in Chapter 13 filings in Massachusetts for the fiscal year that ended in September.

However, there is one debt the courts can’t touch, that is the mortgage loan on the home where you live. Bankruptcy courts are better equipped to save your car than to save your home. Now, with tens of thousands of Americans facing foreclosure unless their mortgage payments are reduced, support is growing to let bankruptcy courts modify mortgage loans. Continue reading →

Bankruptcy can be a way to help people consumed by their debt. Sometimes, filing bankruptcy is it is a good way for them to get back on their feet. While bankruptcy might relieve the debt burden, it’s far from easy and should your last resort.

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