Adjusting to Life After Declaring Bankruptcy

Many people refuse to consider declaring bankruptcy because they’re terrified of what life will be like in the aftermath. Much of this fear is completely misguided: while declaring bankruptcy does have a huge effect on you, the results are not permanent, and adjusting to your new life doesn’t have to be difficult. In fact, this rare opportunity to restore your financial standing from scratch can help you get your life back and better than ever before. Here are a few tips for adjusting to life after declaring bankruptcy.

Let Go of Your Guilt

If you’ve declared bankruptcy or are considering declaring bankruptcy, it’s normal to experience feelings of guilt or shame. Many people think that declaring bankruptcy is a sign of failure, and that’s honestly not true a lot of the time. No matter what your circumstances, let these feelings go—they won’t help you improve yourself. Instead, focus on turning those feelings into motivation to get your financial freedom back. A better life awaits you, but it’s up to you to embrace it.

Reflect & Regroup

One of the most important things you can do to prevent yourself from falling victim to bankruptcy again is to reflect on how you got to this situation. Was it because of any bad habits you may have had? Was it purely because of a string of bad luck? Could you have done anything differently? Taking some time to look back on how you got to this point can help you develop a plan for avoiding falling back there again.

Build Good Habits

Now that you have this opportunity to reset, why would you stick with the same habits that may or may not have contributed to your bankruptcy in the first place? Now’s the perfect time to create good habits that will help you rebuild your credit. Create a budget and stick to it, no matter what. Create a calendar to make sure all of your bills are paid on time. Little things like this can go a long way towards regaining your financial freedom.

Make Good Decisions

Want to avoid falling into debt again? Start taking your financial decisions seriously and think through them completely. Do you really need to be paying for luxury items when your ability to make other payments is stretched thin? Careful evaluation of your decisions can help you determine whether spending your money on them is a good thing or will only contribute to you falling back into trouble.