He needed a plan.
We started by looking at his budget. It turned out that he lives in Cambridge but works in Toronto, so he spends a lot each day on gas for his car, and for coffee and food. He leaves Cambridge early each morning to drive to work. On the way he stops for a coffee and a bagel. He's on the road all day, and he stops frequently for coffee, another bagel, lunch, and more coffee.
When we added up when he was spending buying coffee and food on the road, it was well over $100 every week. As a result he had no money to pay his debts, and was getting deeper and deeper into debt.
I suggested a relatively simple solution: make your own coffee and lunch.
He said it was worth a try, so left my office and went an bought a big thermos for his coffee. He already had a coffee machine at home.
There was no way he could ever repay his debts; they were too large, so earlier this week he came in to file bankruptcy. He had this amazed look on his face. When I asked him to explain, he told me that he had taken my advice.
Before bed each night he fills up his coffee maker, and he makes his own lunch. When he gets up in the morning he pushes the button on his coffee maker. When it's time to leave for work, he packs his lunch and fills up his thermos full of coffee.
He still drinks just as much coffee as before, but he told me that other than paying for gas for his car this week, it only cost him about $10 for coffee and lunch; and that's for the whole week! He told me that before he started "brown bagging it" he was spending $10 each day BEFORE LUNCH!
The look of amazement on his face was because, for the first time in a long time, he had cash in his pocket!
He was not thrilled with having to file personal bankruptcy, but he is happy that now he has a plan, not only to deal with his debts, but also to keep his expenses down so he won't get into trouble again.
That's what I call a fresh start, and that's exactly what we are trying to give everyone. If you need a plan and want a fresh start, give us a call at 310-PLAN (no area code required) or e-mail us and let's get started.
posted by J. Douglas Hoyes, CA, Trustee @ 12:11 PM
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