Life in a Chapter 13

[parsoc48]

Your message is very encouraging...I'm not looking forward to the next 5 years but am trying to change my attitude! Thanks

[Crainial Access]

Filing chapter13 was the best decision I could make under the circumstances and keep our home and land. We have a great lawyer who created some room in the budget for un-expected expenses. Its wonderful to not have the phone calls and letters in the mail and process servers driving up to the house. I have just started a new position with a substantial yearly pay increase. I am hoping that because I am at 100% payback I will be able to put my extra income towards needed home repairs and savings. Couldn't have worked out better for us.

[workinghard]

Not thrilled, but whatya gonna do...the phones not ringing from collectors and the cars still in the drive but I still worry about making my payments to the trustee and the mortgage co's...it's frustrating trying to squeeze a penny until it screams. On the bright side I've made payments so far equivalent to being 10% out of debt

[heavenlybet]

MajorMike-can you share where online you can make some extra money? The surveying, online shopping you mentioned I would love to do!
Thanks!

[Gerry]

I've just begun the process of a Ch 13, but honestly, I'm cautiously looking forward to life under the plan. The allowable expenses are more than I've had to spend on those items for the past few years. A clothing allowance?? Wow! Medical allowance?? You mean I won't have to decide between paying a creditor and taking my meds?

I haven't had my 341 yet and my plan is still unconfirmed, but being able to get caught up AND have a budget for necessary stuff seems wonderful right now.

MajorMike has the right idea, IMHO. If you can find a way to bring in a few extra bucks every month, you're that much better off. I met a guy at the local farmer's market last year who sold nothing but sweet potato pies. He used his mama's recipe, baked like crazy for a few days before the market, and sold out every Saturday. It wasn't enough to support himself, obviously, but it gave him a good cash pad in his pocket for the week. In addition to stepping up my wholesale, I plan to start a part-time web site and hosting business. It may not bring in a fortune, but it'll help.

Is there a topic here with suggestions for part time jobs? If so, I haven't run into it yet. That would be a helpful sticky, no?

[krielly]

Gerry, good luck to you. Its great that it looks as though you will have extra $ each month, but don't forget the absolute most important thing!!!!!!!

SAVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SAVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SAVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SAVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Put some of that away for lifes unexpected surprises. There WILL be at least a few.

It will be tempting, I'm sure to spend money that you haven't had prior to this, and that's ok, to a certain extent. But I can't say it enough.......put some $ away for those rainy days, and it will make the ups and downs of your 13 a lot easier!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Welcome to the 13 club!!!!!!!!!!!!!

K

[heavenlybet]

13 club .... haha love it. Makes me feel more human and less of a loser. I am still looking for other lawyers. Wish me luck!

[chakra7]

Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! Hate it!

At first, I didn't hate being in a 13. I had a good attitude about the whole thing and viewed it as a challenge to get and keep my finances in order and come out of financial bondage. I have been in my plan for a year and seven months now and it has become increasingly hard to survive under these stringent conditions. I was treading water, so to speak, by the fourth of the year last year in '07, barely breathing until filing taxes and getting a refund this year in Feb. Yet, because I have an ARM, my mortgage payment continuously goes up, decreasing what little available funds I had to work with to begin with. Child support is not coming in, hasn't been since Dec. (currently working on that legally)

I consulted with my attorney, telling him my whole paycheck is going toward the bk - is this allowed? He was of no help and went about adding a late claim (unsecured) because in his words "I owe the money, I need to pay it" even though this creditor dropped off my credit report before I filed in '06.

So life on a daily, weekly basis is HARD. I have to borrow $5 here, $10 there just cover basic necessities (gas, food) I have two children and can't even plan for their future expenses such as college savings. I will have to sell my house because after this stimulus payment comes (for me a paper mailed ck), I have no reserve funds to get me by for the remainder of the year. I will be looking to rent a place to live (hopefully) and plan to convert from a 13 to a 7. It has become almost impossible for me to stay the course with a 13.

Oh, also, I was looking at refinancing and that is not panning out either.

I still have hope and I am thankful for my health, my children's/family health and wellbeing and that I am basically ok. But mentally, psychologically, this whole process is very taxing, very stressful and very trying. Nothing really prepares you for it and it's not something you can really share with those around you for fear of being judged in all kinds of ways. So I am prayerful and hanging in there, but being candid in saying this sucks.

[krielly]

I don't know how else to put this other than this.......your lawyer sounds like an ass!
I can't believe he has taken this attitude regarding the late claim, say nothing about the struggles you are going through. You should insist on a modification of your plan. I would think your attorney, and the trustee would want to do whatever they could to ensure your success with the plan. The fact that your mortgage continues to climb should be enough of a reason to modify your plan, say nothing about other expenses which continue to climb for all of us, fuel, gas, etc...........

What percentage of payback are you at, and for how many months?

We had a creditor file a late claim (about 1-2 mos late). I brought this to the attention of the trustee when I found it on pacer. He filed a motion to deny the claim. That's right......the TRUSTEE filed the motion. The claim was denied.

I'm so sorry you are having such a struggle. Please don't let your lawyer yank you around this way! Gosh this ticks me off!!!!!!!

K

[bkdone]

For me, the day to day processes werent so bad. We have a young family so there is always the 'want' to do something fun, or buy something new, but no money for it. Christmas was hard since we had no credit cards to juice up. But luckily no one was able to detect that our finances were in trouble. Often times once we'd made all of our payments and bought groceries and gas, there was very little left. We'd go to the $3 movie theaters...eat dinner before we went or sneak candy in so we didnt have to pay the snack prices at the theater. We'd gracefully bow out of 'family dinners' at restaurants that we knew we could not afford to go to anymore. Just really lived broke for several years before I finally had enough.

Although I was greatful for the Ch. 13 (no collector calls...no threatening letters, etc...) it was the endless anxiety about the due dates...did the mortgage company receive their payment...was the plan payment rec'd on time...did it post... Why is the Trustee sending me letters that they are submitting a motion to dismiss my case? Endless letters that I didnt really understand, and an attorney that we'd only seen 2 times...once at the initial consultation and again at the 341 meeting. His 'assistant' wasnt often available or pleasant to work with, and life was just too hectic to stress about the BK all the time.

We refinanced to get out of the BK, and I am glad I did. Not everyone can or wants to do this, but for us, it was the right decision. I am almost 2 years discharged, and I am still carrying the weight of the BK each day. What I mean is that I obsess about my credit now, and I make sure everything is paid on time and that I dont use credit excessively. I have learned some MAJOR lessons from this whole experience, and I appreciate the knowledge and wisdom that has come from it. I am teaching my family about credit and how it works...how the decisions they make will impact all the other aspects of their lives if they abuse their credit when they grow up.

In this depressed economic time, more and more of the 'Joneses' will find themselves over-extended and facing a financial meltdown. I am glad to have been a part of this forum for so long and I truly have felt supported here.

Sorry... I'm rambling now.

[Gerry]

Save, save, save - yes, yes, yes! I'm looking forward to that box of envelopes and adding a few bills to them on payday.

Since we opened our business in January of 2006, we've poured every dime into it. No vacations, no new cars or furniture or baubles, no new clothing (well, okay, I did buy two clearance sale bras for $5 each last month), maybe three movie nights in two years. The only time we ate out was to use restaurant gift certificates given to us by our kids for xmas.

So how did we get in trouble? I guess I'm a lousy accounts-receivable business person, spending reserves on advertising, adding new products to the line, keeping the doors open, all with the idea that sales would pick up eventually. And they did - our sales quadrupled in the last year - but not soon enough to save us. That, I should've seen coming. All my business mentors kept encouraging me to hang in there, that the first two years are always tough, that if I stick with it, the business will turn around, etc.

~sigh~ Should've closed the shop a year ago and saved myself a ton of grief.

Anyway, closing the shop and cutting out that overhead, plus with Steve going back to work and me drumming up part time work, I'm confident life will be a bit easier for us. But I really feel for young families going through this. Our kids are grown; I can't imagine trying to keep up with kid-related expenses on a tight budget.

[heavenlybet]

Gerry.... LOVE your Avatar pic... :-)

[sunnysiderays]

heavenlybet

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference."

"Heavenlybet" Thanks for having that with your posting.... It is a great message.

[heavenlybet]

Thanks Sunny- It helps me cope with what is to come!

[workinghard]

I read about some budgeting plan called MVelopes which is supposed to help you put your money where it needs to go and for what. I read a couple pages on the website then just got depressed, they charge for the envelopes too LOL everyone wants to make a buck. The one thing that keeps me sane is coming here and reading about everyone elses struggles makes me see in not the boat all alone and I feel your pains.