The Jacksonville Bankruptcy Bar Association hosted its January luncheon Thursday at the Radisson. Attorney Thomas Abbott spoke to the group about a program his employer, the Bankruptcy Law Firm of Lansing J. Roy, offers free to its clients.
Life After Bankruptcy, a four-session workshop intended to prevent debtors from repeating past spending mistakes, covers finance, money management, mitigating unfavorable credit histories and how to borrow money intelligently.
“An awful lot of people follow the same, habitual pattern of overextending themselves and getting back into bankruptcy again,” said Abbott, a credit counselor and admitted former Chapter 7 filer.
“Why we decided to do this is that they’re not getting training anywhere else. Basic human nature is to want it all and to want it now. Most people treat credit cards as an extension of their income,” he said.
Sound practices such as running a household on a cash basis, paying yourself by putting a little cash into savings each month and preparing for emergencies were a few of the techniques he mentioned.
The classes in financial responsibility have been offered every month for the past two years.