13 Months To Go

[Barbisi]

Well, once 2021 officially starts in mountain time, we will have 13 payments until the "end" of life as we have known it for almost four years.
This year, beyond the horrors of Covid-19, we faced a near-layoff for my husband in May, followed by multiple car breakdowns which totally depleted the stimulus payments, braved the trustee's substantial payment increase bolstered by a poorly timed job retention raise and a very necessary major surgery for me, which we were fortunate to be able to pay off through the HSA (since we had reached the co-insurance rate.) The four year old Samsung refrigerator decided to stop cooling and freezing, but for $300 we were able to fix it through the manufacturer. (The all important fan died,that's all.)
What we are grateful for is he is still employed, the four cats all seem to be healthy and all were able to get vet care and shots, the ailing furnace is still working during many frigid nights, my surgery was a success and so far I am not experiencing any side effects, I am still able to get regular chiro and PT treatments, and we do not have cancer or Coronavirus (yet) .
I hope 2021 is at least no worse for us and is in fact much better for the rest of the world.
Whether the trustee decides to raise the payment again ,we will have to just wait and see! And whether major home appliances and/or home systems (like the swamp cooler or furnace ) decide to go to that big junk pile in the sky, as well as the two autos, again we will find out soon enough!
Happy New Year to all!

[shipo]

Two years ago today I was in an almost identical boat as yours, in my case I had 14 more payments, and I remember being able to start seeing that figurative light at the end of a very loooong tunnel. Yeah, the excitement starts building from here on in, and by this time next year it will be palpable. Keep us posted.

[Barbisi]

Thank you shipo! Hope your year is full of continued prosperity!

[sophieanne]

Barbisi Hi-I was thinking about you..it’s nice to hear from you. I’m starting a countdown calendar for you! I’m wishing you a good start to the New Year!!! in fact, Happy New Year to everyone 🤗

[Barbisi]

sophieanne best wishes for a prosperous New Year! Thanks for that countdown calendar and good cheer!

[VolFan]

Very happy for you and Zombie - it has been a long road, for sure. I have read your many posts with anticipation (you're an excellent writer), and yet, often in horror when you share stories about your trustee.

When I filed almost 5 years ago I was assigned to 1 of 2 eligible trustees in my district, and my attorney said, "She's the hard one." That statement alone was enough to scare me completely, but I have to say she has been very easy to work with and never even hinted at adjusting my plan payment, even with a significant income increase of right at 10% each of my last two years. I have exactly 2 months remaining, and I'm now allowing myself to believe my plan completion is going to be a reality very soon.

Best of luck to you in this new/final year!

[Barbisi]

Hey VolFan I think you write well too! The attorney told us our trustee was the "easier one" to deal with,and that as you wryly noted, is certainly not the case!

[shipo]

Very happy for you and Zombie - it has been a long road, for sure. I have read your many posts with anticipation (you're an excellent writer), and yet, often in horror when you share stories about your trustee.

When I filed almost 5 years ago I was assigned to 1 of 2 eligible trustees in my district, and my attorney said, "She's the hard one." That statement alone was enough to scare me completely, but I have to say she has been very easy to work with and never even hinted at adjusting my plan payment, even with a significant income increase of right at 10% each of my last two years. I have exactly 2 months remaining, and I'm now allowing myself to believe my plan completion is going to be a reality very soon.

Best of luck to you in this new/final year!

Congratulations on getting near the end; one year ago today I had two payments remaining, and on the advice of my attorney, I scheduled the second/final one to be sent a week or so after the penultimate payment was due; in other words:

• 59th payment due: 26-Jan-2020, posted on 17-Jan-2020
• 60th payment due: 26-Feb-2020, paid on 03-Feb-2020, posted on 07-Feb-2020

Given the Discharge process starts the instant the final payment is posted, by paying it as early in the final month as possible, you get a jump on the order date for the discharge; mine was ordered on 04-Mar-2020. As soon as the final payment was made I started checking NDC.org daily to confirm its posting date, and then *finally* got a Pacer account to track the process between the final payment, the Discharge, and the final Closing. If you're at all like me, you'll be on pins and needles until that final closure comes through.

[VolFan]

Given the Discharge process starts the instant the final payment is posted, by paying it as early in the final month as possible, you get a jump on the order date for the discharge; mine was ordered on 04-Mar-2020. As soon as the final payment was made I started checking NDC.org daily to confirm its posting date, and then *finally* got a Pacer account to track the process between the final payment, the Discharge, and the final Closing. If you're at all like me, you'll be on pins and needles until that final closure comes through.

I've already been thinking about making both payments (I'm on a biweekly payment schedule) so that the entire amount gets there before the end of February, so I'll definitely look into that. I'm not sure if it matters here in Ohio, as the trustee always waits until the 1st day of the following month to send out payments to creditors, so that wouldn't happen until 3/1/21 no matter what I do. However, that's a great idea and I may just submit the entire amount the first week of February just in case.

And yes, I'm already counting down the days until I get my discharge - it's been a long time coming but here I am...

[Barbisi]

Thank you VolFan for the compliment about my writing skills.
When the BK13 was thrust upon us as our only viable choice, I was enrolled in a screenwriting class from which I had to immediately withdraw. (The trustee would not allow the $150 "educational expense" to be included in our budget.) This was of course a crushing blow. And I think this is when I decided to give up on having a meaningful career.
I had written vignettes and scenes over many years while I studied and tried to perform as an actress , singer and VO artist. This bankruptcy pretty much destroyed myriad years of aspirations while the realization that Colorado would never support my future goals made me aware I needed to leave here as soon as the trustee no longer controlled my financial future and life.
This is why I have hated this BK13 from Day 1 - because I was expected to cheerfully give up my dreams to satisfy the creditors.
Huge congrats on finally reaching the end of the BK13 yellow brick road! Best of luck on a smooth discharge and an easy 2021 -Happiest of Happy New Years!

[Carmella]

Yeah Barbisi the final countdown is approaching! We have 2 yrs and 3 months if I quickly calculated that right!

Maybe once the dust settles you can get back into the writing classes or something similar. I don't know where you will end up living, but I had no idea actors were hired to be "fake" patients for medical students. I recently heard of this and heard it pays well (whatever that means and of course it's not steady work), but if you enjoy acting who knows there could be some sort of job opportunity even if not at full time it could be extra bucks and something fun. Look around once the dust settles and you are able to move on figuratively as well as literally.

[Barbisi]

Hey Carmella!
Funny you should mention the actors playing fake patients -that was something I did in Dallas for a teaching hospital and it was a well -paying and fun infrequent gig.Here in Colorado,by contrast ,the pay was much lower and the atmosphere very oppressive and unpleasant. (I never worked on those here but attended an infomercial-style meeting once.)
As for the writing class from which I had to withdraw once the BK13 was underway,I'm pretty certain that it was disbanded some time ago. And,once this undesirable chapter of my life finally ends, I believe concentrating on relocating away from here will yield better long term results. Colorado is culturally and artistically dead - some foolish native-born and deluded transplants just haven't figured that yet and continue to tout Colorado as the next NM, Atlanta, or Vancouver (where many successful TV shows and films get made)! They continue to limp along working on "free student films"
and atrocious no budget "productions"! I've had it with their embarrassing , grade Z contributions and so have others that I worked along side in the past. Droves of them have migrated to NM, Georgia or LA. Only the pot -loving mountain- climbers remain boasting of Colorado's infinite greatness! LOL

[lostinnola]

Congratulations on getting near the end; one year ago today I had two payments remaining, and on the advice of my attorney, I scheduled the second/final one to be sent a week or so after the penultimate payment was due; in other words:

• 59th payment due: 26-Jan-2020, posted on 17-Jan-2020
• 60th payment due: 26-Feb-2020, paid on 03-Feb-2020, posted on 07-Feb-2020

Given the Discharge process starts the instant the final payment is posted, by paying it as early in the final month as possible, you get a jump on the order date for the discharge; mine was ordered on 04-Mar-2020. As soon as the final payment was made I started checking NDC.org daily to confirm its posting date, and then *finally* got a Pacer account to track the process between the final payment, the Discharge, and the final Closing. If you're at all like me, you'll be on pins and needles until that final closure comes through.

I am glad you mentioned this. I imagined this plan in my head a week or two ago and it is good to know it worked.

We have 9 more payments and will be on our way. I can't wait to refinance my mortgage.