bankruptcy and the sharp edge to a tough timeYou’re sitting at the kitchen table, poring over the bills – again. What impact does it have on your family?

If you’re deep inside your own financial problems, you’re probably not in a frame of mind to think about those around you.

You don’t see their faces as they watch you grimace over the past-due bills.

When you’re talking with a debt collector, their reaction isn’t in your field of vision.

And you don’t know the impact on them when you snap, nerves on edge as you worry about how to pay the creditors before they sue you.

Don’t fool yourself.

The Things That Form Your Views In Life

Matt Bellamy, front man of the rock band Muse and partner of actress Kate Hudson, credits his father’s escape from debt with his own success.

According to an interview with Bellamy in The Sun:

“Money and success haven’t really changed my beliefs or opinions over the years. When I was growing up my mum and dad split when I was 13 or 14 during the early-’90s recession. At that time my dad went bankrupt and it played a huge part in it all at home.

“I experienced the sharp end of a tough time, living with a single parent, my mum, and she was really struggling to get a job. These are the things that form your views in life. They are established when you are growing up and being raised. That stuff doesn’t really go away, that stays with you.”

Overwhelming debt led his father to bankruptcy and his parents to divorce. Though this has instilled in Bellamy something of a Depression Era Mentality that drives his work ethic years later, it crushed his family.

The Problem, Not The Solution, Sharpens The Edge

Some may say that Bellamy’s father’s bankruptcy was what caused the, “sharp end of a tough time,” but those who work with people experiencing bill problems know otherwise.

Bankruptcy signals the end of the debt collection calls. It marks the moment that the bills stop showing up in the mailbox.

And the day a bankruptcy case is filed is the day the arguments stop about how to pay the bills.

This, in other words, is when the sharp end dulls a bit and conversations can involve other things.  Things like family, togetherness, and the future.

Dull The Edge For Your Family’s Future

It doesn’t matter how you take care of your bill problems. There are lots of options out there, and your solution may not be the same one as the next person’s.

Regardless, you need to get a handle on things right now. Call a reputable credit counselor. Talk with a lawyer. Ask your accountant for a recommendation. Go to your local clergy or community leader to find someone who’s good at what they do and will treat you properly.

If you don’t, the impact on your personal life will get worse. The sharp edge will get sharper until it cuts you and your loved ones to ribbons.

And that’s not a good place to be.

Image credit:  Kent, J