New Car Repairs and Trustee Checking In

[Barbisi]

Well,the last of the Stimulus payment is almost officially gone - my 2005 Sentra (purchased new in 2004) needs a new starter, among other things. The alternator was replaced (free of charge because of a blessed warranty!) along with spark plugs, fuel injectors and the battery (a tune up).
The breakdown was a familiar one - this time parked at the gym. The car couldn't start and was completely dead and so had to be towed in the dead of night (around 10pm) to the nearby repair shop. Today we got the estimate : around $500.
The lawyer contacted us on behalf of the trustee earlier in the week ,requesting tax documents.
I think even though my husband did receive what looks like a substantial raise on paper and two and a half months of severance pay (causing us to owe more than $1300 in W-2 taxes), we were bombarded with medical supplies and office visits ( i.e. shoe orthotics , greatly increased medical insurance premiums (now $800+ monthly ) , a dental implant ($3000+) new mattress , eye glasses etc.), a swamp cooler repair( $400+), a furnace thermostat repair $500+) plus another mortgage increase of $60+ per month after we scraped together another $1800 to catch up this year on the escrow shortage.
It should be clear to any one we are barely treading water here and need to sell this house, get out from under this 20 year solar panel lease (until 2033) and move somewhere where we don't have a too expensive mortgage with costly upcoming repairs and upgrades ahead. Somewhere where we can occasionally travel, enjoy life more - instead of wondering what will break next and how much inflammation I have to internally endure when the barometric pressure shoots up or down in Colorado. Not to mention no opportunities in my artistic field or cultural events. A zero life.
Finding a job elsewhere probably is the least of our worries,as my husband was getting job interviews earlier this year when he thought he was about to be laid off (again!).
Luckily,we didn't have to move mid-pandemic and mid-BK13, when we don't any control over our financial life.

[Carmella]

Sounds like you are hanging in there Barbisi. It does kind of feel like life is on hold during the 5 yr time period. Much of the time I feel like I am in a holding pattern and will be glad when we can use our paycheck for things that need to get done and not worry that the dryer is on it's last leg. I really thought the dryer would go, I had no idea it would be the refrigerator!

I feel a little better knowing the mortgage will be paid off in October, but we still have the second mortgage that I wanted to pour the money (minus property taxes) into to pay it off ASAP. But I will not be able to do that since I no longer have the second job I will need that money to stop paying bills late and to continue paying taxes since we never have enough to pay the taxes in April and we always owe.

I realized that my take home pay is nearly the same as my husbands and that really helps me to put it in perspective because I have the higher gross pay/pay before BK payment. The amount of take home pay doesn't meet our life style. We were not extravagant, but if we earned that amount of money we probably would not have the same expenses.

I am glad my husband is now more on board He didn't like take over time or anything while I was working two jobs. I asked him to get a second job and he never would even attempt it. And sometimes he would work 6 days in a row (not over time, just end of one pay period into another) and act like it was killing him when I would work 6-7 days on a weekly basis. Now he is working some overtime and that helps us so much due to the lack of my second job. He has the chance to work 6 days in one pay period for several weeks. He finally understands and even made a comment that it won't be forever so he might as well work it. His job is still giving bonuses due to working during the pandemic with the general public.

My job gave us a one time bonus, after taxes it was $180 which I can't complain it's more money than we would otherwise have, but they presented it like we won the lottery LOL!

[Barbisi]

Thank you Carmella for replying again.
Sorry to hear about your refrigerator -with us , it's the swamp cooler and furnace which we fear will go soon .
As for the washer and dryer , as well as the fridge ,they were all purchased new in 2016, so they should survive the BK13 (and subsequent house sale!) unless we have to face some new purgatory before then.
You are fortunate that your mortgage will end in October. As least you aren't desperate to sell and get out from under an unreasonable mortgage as we are.
I hope you can change your payroll payments to help you get through the loss of the second job and the pay period change. They may even expect you to turn over the money from the defunct mortgage. Hopefully you won't have to do that! Ask the experts on here directly if you can.
Yes, I know my life is definitely on hold until Jan/ Feb. 2022 -so many things must wait until that last payment is made before real plans can be made that don't involve the lawyer and trustee! To say I hate this BK13 life is an understatement.
Only some one who is struggling and frustrated can understand how I feel. I know you guys have had a rough go and you're only about half way through.
You hang in there too!

[shipo]

To say I hate this BK13 life is an understatement.

Only some one who is struggling and frustrated can understand how I feel.

The sentiment is shared by many who've been forced into Chapter 13; that said, it seems there are sort of two groups of Chapter 13 filers; those with a combination of a good attorney and reasonable Trustee, and those without. In my case, I had a really good attorney and a very reasonable Trustee; yes, life sucked for the 60 months of my Chapter 13, but I do not remember it being as onerous as what you and Carmella have described. Errr, at least for most of the months; the episode where I needed to decide between $3,000 to repair my old car (then 16 years old and over 200,000 miles on it) with no guarantee it would last the rest of my BK, or dig even deeper into my meager savings to buy a new(er) car and retire the old one. Yeah, beans, franks, and chicken thighs were on the menu for the next few months.

Good luck to you both in getting through these trying times.

[justbroke]

My Trustee was tough but sympathetic. My judge was tough but fair. My Chapter 13 plan was well done... if I must say so myself.

A Chapter 13 is a very strict budget. While it is flexible, it doesn't like to bend. If bent too much, it will break.

A Chapter 13 is not a guarantee. It is primarily designed to fix past sins. It can be unforgiving for new sins (car repairs). It is based on an overly optimistic view (today) based on the sun shining each day, no murder hornets, no COVID-19, and certainly no major events happening.

A Chapter 13 can be somewhat flexible. But, it's not flexible where the budget is already tight. It is not flexible if there is little to no DMI. It can handle short-term economic issue if there is DMI. It will not fix long-term economic issues.

A Chapter 13 isn't magic. It's simply a budget. It's a contract between you and the court which allows the court to protect you from the creditors. It is a pay-to-play system. If a debtor can't or refuses to budget, a Chapter 13 will never work.

A Chapter 13 isn't your friend. It will never love you. It will never bring you flowers. Treat it as an adversary that you need to defeat. Don't become complacent. Don't fall back into bad habits (past sins).

That's my insight into Chapter 13s.

(Hint: just go back and read only the bold text!)

[flashoflight]

The sentiment is shared by many who've been forced into Chapter 13; that said, it seems there are sort of two groups of Chapter 13 filers; those with a combination of a good attorney and reasonable Trustee, and those without.

A good attorney definitely helps and is essential to success. But I think pre-planning the bankruptcy budget six months or more in advance helps a whole lot more. I had to do 90% of the budget work with the attorney helping me on 10% of it when it was a questionable expense like dog toys. A good lawyer will know the trustees and know what will fly and what won't. If I allocate $50 a month for a dog, that's all I'm going to get. My dog will be unhappy that I gave money to your creditors rather than to my dog. If I allocate $175 a month for a dog, pamper my dog pre-BK, and gather up all of the receipts to back it up, then no problem and I have a happier dog. Auto insurance deductibles got reduced to zero, I gave more money than usual to God but still nowhere close to the supposed 15% limit, etc.

Strict budgeting is for the day after the confirmation hearing. That's when I cut the budget to the bone, pocket any savings, and build an emergency fund. That's the whole point of not cutting to the bone until confirmation.

Another issue is not having enough income or too much non-exempt equity to fund the 13 except at a cut-to-the-bone level. No room to pamper the dog or give to God. That's not the tough trustee's fault.

[Barbisi]

<NOTE: This is Zombie13, I thought I was logged in as me, but apparently I was logged in as Barbisi.>
Well, the frustrating aspect for me (Barbisi's partner in Doom and Evil! Buwhahaha!) is the fact that her car broke down, three times or so. Then my car broke down while getting her car. All within 4-5 weeks. Now, I am simply expecting the car to just be dead. So yeah, talk about onerous. Funny thing... both cars broke down, in the same parking spot, a couple of times. I cannot make this up. Seriously! So, call it paranoia, or excessive anxiety if you like. I do not park in that spot anymore. It's like a pit of death, a car repair black hole, for our cars. So yeah I do feel considerable anxiety driving Barbisi's car for sure; the longer it runs, the more confident I feel. When this kinda thing happens over and over again, the frustration just builds up, with nowhere to go; yoga helps, breakin stuff that no longer works helps too. I tell ya one thing, I sure don't feel like singin Zippity Doo Dah, life is wonderful, etc. Aaanyway.
What I try to do is just pay the bill, and keep hustlin'. Do the job, earn the money, pay the bills, and continue working on other revenue generating projects. I am definitely looking forward to selling, donating/recycling the old car; I think it is really ready for retirement. Also planning/executing steps to leave this state; we have a multitude of reasons; looking forward to improving our life.
Thanks for this forum, for the opportunity for each and all of us to vent; it is cathartic to express how we feel here on this forum; it's difficult to do the same, elsewhere: in person, on social media, etc.