Here we are at Filing +5. So far I've spent 35 dollars since filing, on groceries. I get paid today and the rent is due, as is a truck payment. Fortunately I'll still have enough left to pay my insurance and buy a few more groceries before next payday.

We've been living on cash only since last December so that's been no adjustment at all. What hurt the most was using all my cash to pay for the filing and paying ahead on some other living expenses so I didn't have to exempt a lot of cash. Even though I couldn't pay my creditors I still kept a reserve of cash for emergencies since I didn't have any available credit.

Looking forward the immediate goals are to make sure that the mortgage and car payments stay current. I'm currently in negotiations with the credit union to lower my car payment by $250 a month. Second is to start building up a savings account. Right now it will be stretch to add $25 a month to it, but we are focused on doing that anyway.

To make sure that happens, I sat down over the weekend and plotted out my monthly income and expenses on a calendar. This way I know that just because I have $300 left over from this paycheck, doesn't mean I have an extra $300, because next paycheck might be $200 short. So I'm paying much closer attention to my income and spending.

We're expecting a small pay increase in January, then a decent tax refund in Feb (we did exempt our tax return, but most of it will probably be child tax credit and earned income so they are exempt anyway.) Unlike years past, the anticipated refund has not been "spent" yet. We are planning on building up the savings and getting our doctor paid back with those funds.

All told I'm feeling pretty good about where we are now and thinking the future looks fairly bright.