Smartphone payment plan while in Chapter 13

[anunezal]

I have been in Chapter 13 for 9 months so far. Suddenly my cellphone die. I was looking for buying a new one. I see the options to pay in full, or buy it in a payment plan. The payment plan looks like a better option. I know we shouldn't incur in new debt. But I was wondering if it will be ok to do so as it is called "payment plan"

I checked my plan, and it doesn't allow any credit. I have seen some other plans where $500-$1000 is ok without Trustee approval. Mine doesn't say anything.

Second question, if it is ok to go for the payment plan, will the phone company approve it? They may find I an in Chapter 13.

I appreciate any feedback.

[Clay3007]

I would double check with your attorney but i ran my cell phone over with the tractor in may. I called Verizon and ordered a new phone and had it shipped to me and added 24 monthly payments on to our bill and nothing was ever said by Verizon or the trustee. Verizon was included in our bk for $1000 also.

[shipo]

There are LOTS of phones out there for reasonable money; while I was in my Chapter 13 I needed to buy not one, but two phones and at the time bought to reasonably functional Moto phones. These days the hot setup for low money are the Android One phones, I'm thinking if I was still in my 13 I'd probably opt for something like the Nokia 7.2.

• https://smile.amazon.com/Nokia-7-2-U...MW4/ref=sr_1_5

[Carmella]

Same here. Verizon was in our plan for a very low amount, it was a late payment and the current payment at the time of filing. The payment plan on my phone wasn't even added on to the amount in the plan. As others have said check with your attorney since some things vary from state to state. My gut feeling is that it's not a problem to get a new phone. It was fine with us (I did ask my attorney) and since I have had my daughter's phone and my phone with new payment plans and we added a line for my husband with promo for a free phone (he had prepaid before that). The payment plan didn't count as debt in the same way a credit card would. I have also used payment plans from online sources once were shoes for my daughter's birthday, higher end shoes that had 4 payments and now I bought an air fryer for my daughter who just moved out of the house from HSN which is on payment plan. I didn't ask the attorney so I am not sure if it counts as credit, but it's under the $500 limit each time.

After 2.5 yrs I am getting into the habit that I don't even desire to have a credit card. We had at least 20 of them in the past. Part of me wonders if I will ever have them, but I know we NEED to have one for credit score and we do plan to travel even if short weekend travel so it will be handy to have a credit card. But I really don't see myself using a card like I use to, even for in store promotions (well maybe for an appliance with no interest if you pay it off in 6 months).

[shipo]

After 2.5 yrs I am getting into the habit that I don't even desire to have a credit card. We had at least 20 of them in the past. Part of me wonders if I will ever have them, but I know we NEED to have one for credit score and we do plan to travel even if short weekend travel so it will be handy to have a credit card. But I really don't see myself using a card like I use to, even for in store promotions (well maybe for an appliance with no interest if you pay it off in 6 months).

Agreed, when you travel it is almost essential to have a credit card with at least a two to three thousand dollar limit. Pre-COVID, I traveled a lot (in 2019 I took 34 flights and drove well over 20,000 miles regionally), and I expect to start traveling again in either 2021, or 2022. To this end, I went out and got a secured credit card with a $5,000 credit limit; the only difference between how I handle this card and how I handled my cards pre-financial meltdown is I pay it to zero the day before my next monthly statement is generated, and as such, with two exceptions where a few last minute charges were processed that same evening, each of my statements since I got the card has shown a balance of zero.

[Carmella]

Sounds great shipo I hope to follow that type of plan. Using credit card and paying it off. Not using it for discounts unless I know I have money in the bank and will pay off that 6 months no interest on the eve of 6 months. And only doing it because we should work towards a decent credit score.

[imokay]

I never even thought to ask. I just got a new phone and used the payment plan. When I filed bankruptcy my phone bill included a payment for the phone. It was nice when the bill went down once the phone was paid off, but recently the phone died and had to be replaced. I didn't pick the most expensive phone so my bill is pretty much the same amount it was when we planned by household expenses for the bankruptcy.