How the hell did it get this bad?

In September I met with Price Waterhouse Cooper to talk about going into bankruptcy. I have a Visa with a limit of 11,000 that was over that limit; and a credit line with a limit of 18,000 that was bumping against it. I was in my overdraft every month, have an arrears account on my old cell phone, and could see no way out.

Almost everyone in my family has been in bankruptcy. It almost felt inevitable.

PWC coached me through the process and my account rep was warm, supportive, awesome. She too felt that bankruptcy was likely my best option.

We started wrangling details and, long story short, the process turned into three months. I opened a new bank account and essentially ignored my debt during the process. Also during that time I met with my bank (and primary creditor), the Royal, and the rep I spoke with there was appalled that I'd consider going into bankruptcy over 'just' 30,000. She pitched a possible debt consolidation. I was working at a non-profit--that was a good 5/6 of my gross pay for a year. It felt overwhelming.

New wrinkle: I got a job at the central headquarters of a financial institution. I'm sure which one will come up later, but before I name it I'll check to see if this will get me into trouble. Anyway, the new job came with enough of a raise, and the added wrinkle of a bonding requirement that involves a credit check, that I decided to reconsider bankruptcy.

So here I am, figuring out what to do. And blogging it.