24,000+ in debt

MissTexas2006,

Your monthly payment depends upon different factors. Your financial ability gets first preference always. Counselor prepares a payment plan as per your affordability so that you do not find it difficult to pay.

Obviously, the total debt amount, rate of interest play vital role to determine the payment plan too. IMO, your counselor would be able to give you the actual figure.

You can consult a bankruptcy lawyer to know about the fees of filing bankruptcy. After October 2005, filing bankruptcy has been costlier than previous days.

Thanks stan,

Also 10,000 of the debt is a private student loan, can it be included in ch. 13 bankruptcy or credit counseling?

Student loans are not covered under any bankruptcy laws. You will definitely have to eventually pay your student loans if they are federal loans. Take it from someone who found that out the hard way. They will have to be paid off or arrangements made, but you can do it. I was in the same perdicament with my student loans and eventually paid them all off.

Student loans are consolidated. There are certain companies that help to consolidate student loans. You might like to see Student debt consolidation forum of this site.

Miss Texas, I would have to strongly urge you to consider consolidation FIRST. If it does not work out for you, you can always file for bankruptcy later. However, once you file for bankruptcy, it is too late. You are stuck with the negative consequences of a bankruptcy for year.
Especially since you are considering a Chapter 13, I think you should first look into debt consolidation. With a Ch 13 bankruptcy, you will still be making arrangements with your creditors and setting up a payment plan. With consolidation, you make a similar payment plan but you avoid all of the negative effects of a bankruptcy. A bankruptcy can stay on your credit report for up to 10 years. Whatever you decide to do, please take the time to research your options and make the wisest decision. I have unfortunately seen many people who were led to believe that bankruptcy was their best option when it could have been easily avoided.