Payment to trustee makes no sense

[getatnard]

I'm so frustrated, when calculating my payment chapter 13 makes no sense. my gross monthly income is 4200 dollars my expenses are 3000 a month and my payment is 975. The problem is 4200 is my gross but i only bring home 3600. Because of the money i make i have too pay back 100%. Some of my creditors offered me settlements for half the balance i'm wondering if its too late. Can things like health insurance and taxes be added as expense or am i stuck. I really have no room to wiggle on expense, i pay
rent 750
car 444
child support570
car, life, rental ins 120
gas 300
food 300
elec 80
cable, internet 150
cell 65
clothes 25
tools for work 150
entertainment 50

which comes out to be 3004. i cant file on my tools for work because i always need tools im a mechanic. If i do that i wouldnt be able to buy any tools

[MSbklawyer]

You're doing this pro se aren't you? It's hard to tell without looking at it, but I'd venture to guess that you're not including your necessary taxes and other withholdings on your means test.

[getatnard]

You're doing this pro se aren't you? It's hard to tell without looking at it, but I'd venture to guess that you're not including your necessary taxes and other withholdings on your means test.

no i hired a lawyer

[newbie2]

I'm so frustrated, when calculating my payment chapter 13 makes no sense. my gross monthly income is 4200 dollars my expenses are 3000 a month and my payment is 975. The problem is 4200 is my gross but i only bring home 3600. Because of the money i make i have too pay back 100%. Some of my creditors offered me settlements for half the balance i'm wondering if its too late. Can things like health insurance and taxes be added as expense or am i stuck. I really have no room to wiggle on expense, i pay
rent 750
car 444
child support570
car, life, rental ins 120
gas 300
food 300
elec 80
cable, internet 150
cell 65
clothes 25
tools for work 150
entertainment 50

which comes out to be 3004. i cant file on my tools for work because i always need tools im a mechanic. If i do that i wouldnt be able to buy any tools

Yes. YES. Your taxes that are deducted from your paycheck as well as health insurance premiums (and any other allowable payroll deductions) should be subtracted from your gross income.

Do not sign that petition and file it until you have a workable plan. Make another appointment with your attorney and go over it with him/ her and make sure that ALL allowable deductions are taken.

[Flamingo]

I don't think the OP has seen an attorney yet and is doing the calculations himself/herself. To the OP - before you freak out over your situation, take a complete listing of all your bills, monthly payments, recent paystubs, sources of income, listing of assets and your most recent federal and state tax returns into several appointments for free consultations with BK attorneys. If you have already done so and are giving us this information after seeing an attorney, you had better see a few more. Best of luck to you.

[newbie2]

I don't think the OP has seen an attorney yet and is doing the calculations himself/herself. To the OP - before you freak out over your situation, take a complete listing of all your bills, monthly payments, recent paystubs, sources of income, listing of assets and your most recent federal and state tax returns into several appointments for free consultations with BK attorneys. If you have already done so and are giving us this information after seeing an attorney, you had better see a few more. Best of luck to you.

The 2nd post in this thread by the OP stated that he hired an attorney. Hopefully the numbers he is crunching aren't the ones that the attorney drew up.

[getatnard]

i didnt sign petition but me and the para legal argued about a half an hour about the numbers. I forgot to ask about the payroll taxes. She had some of my income numbers were wrong, there was no way i made the money she said i made. i already paid the money to them. i will be calling monday for sure. i just cant see a trustee approving this plan.

[momofthree]

Does the plan payment include your car payment? If so, it would come out almost exactly to your bring-home pay....

[getatnard]

Does the plan payment include your car payment? If so, it would come out almost exactly to your bring-home pay....

no, i thought it did when i first saw it but she told me no.

[SMinGA]

How are you paid, and how are you calculating your monthly net income?

Such as if you earn $2100 gross/$1800 net every 2 weeks, are you thinking $3600 is your net income? If so, that could be part of where the #s are not working. Since there are more than 4 weeks in a month, $1800 x 26 pay periods per year / 12 months = $3900 per month average.

There are some things you should be able to add to your budget... CLothing/apparel. Personal care. Medical. Vehicle maintenance. Those may not be $ you spend each and every month, but estimate an average and the idea is if not used one month you can save it for when you do need it.

i didnt sign petition but me and the para legal argued about a half an hour about the numbers. I forgot to ask about the payroll taxes. She had some of my income numbers were wrong, there was no way i made the money she said i made. i already paid the money to them. i will be calling monday for sure. i just cant see a trustee approving this plan.

[getatnard]

so i figured out what happened. i get paid every week. i gross around 1250 and net around 875. she looks at it from a month per month perspective, so while i see i'm only grossing 5000 a month she counts it as 5541 a month. same goes for net. my payment is still too high though because its 100% repayment plan. i still cant afford it though so i dont know what to do. part of my debt is from taxes and i gotta increase my withholding.

[momofthree]

Your payment should be based on your dmi, not on forcing you to pay back 100%. Adjust your withholding to where it should be in order to break even, & make sure she includes your medical insurance as well. Whatever is left over should be your payment. Are you trying to keep non-exempt assets? Or are you a no-asset case?

[getatnard]

no asset she included my health insurance but she said she'll run numbers tomorrow.

[SMinGA]

You really can't move forward until you adjust your withholding so that you don't have future tax bills. You don't know what your true net income will be.

As to expenses, make sure you are calculating those correctly - as well as your income. If you spend $75/week each on gas and groceries then that is actually $325/mo each rather than $300. $25 here, $25 there - it can add up. Perhaps make 2 categories: monthly bills & weekly expenses. That way you can make sure the list of expenses you give your attorney is right.

This is how it should work:

Your expenses minus your bills, minus your expenses = DMI
DMI = plan payment

If things go the way they should, you can afford your plan payment because all your expenses are accounted for.

There can be an exception. You may have more priority debt than your DMI has room for. How much do you owe in taxes? How much of your atty fee will be in the plan?

part of my debt is from taxes and i gotta increase my withholding.

[getatnard]

already paid attorney fee owe 12000 in federal and state taxes. another probably is my income comes from two jobs. being they only use the last six months my part time jobs was pretty busy so i was getting alot of hours probably 35 plus, but now im fighting to get 30 hours. also my part time job pays you a vacation check on your anniversary so in jan i got a check for 3 weeks which gave me a bump also.