being poor really sucks

[flower04]

Had a cushion (2 months living expenses saved), had to blow it all on car repairs and a huge medical bill. Now we are sweating it out until next Friday. Please tell me it gets better.

My son's bday was a few days ago and we literally had NOTHING to give him, thank goodness I had a cake mix in the pantry and family around or else his 7th bday would have been a complete disaster.

[momofthree]

Sorry you're going thru a rough patch right now, luckily you had that e-fund available when you needed it! Count your blessings.

How far are you into your ch.13 plan?

[newbie2]

Had a cushion (2 months living expenses saved), had to blow it all on car repairs and a huge medical bill. Now we are sweating it out until next Friday. Please tell me it gets better.

My son's bday was a few days ago and we literally had NOTHING to give him, thank goodness I had a cake mix in the pantry and family around or else his 7th bday would have been a complete disaster.

I'm so sorry. I can't imagine how difficult this is when you have young children. For the most part, yes it does get better. You've already made it through one huge hurdle (having a savings so that you could pay cash for those emergencies.) That is something to be proud of.

[Flamingo]

What's tough in a 13 are the bills that come after filing that need to be paid on top of that Chapter 13 payment, utilities, etc. Those are the dreaded car repairs, new tires, appliances going bad in the house, roof starts leaking, etc. If something really bad occurs that costs a lot and is a needed repair or bill (i.e., the water heater blows and the repairs are several hundred dollars), call your attorney - sometimes the trustee will allow a skipped payment which can be tacked on the end of your Plan. I understand the severe financial straight jacket you are in now as we spent many sleepless nights wondering how we were going to make it to the next payday with only $10 in the checking account and we both needed gas to get to work. It does work out and you do survive and are better off for going through the experience and learning how to budget and live on cash without having to whip out that credit card.

What we did to save for gifts (birthdays, baby showers, etc.) cause they always arise, we saved the changed in our wallets at the end of each day and put the change in a large jar and absolutely did not touch it. You'd be surprised what you can save. You will also need to learn to have to cut back some more somewhere to have funds to save for car or other needed repairs; another thing is to learn to barter with friends/family. Can any of them do car repairs/house repairs, can they fix appliances, do plumbing, etc.? If so, in exchange for their services, watch their kids, paint that room they need painted, cut their grass, etc., etc. in exchange. It worked for us tremendously.

It does get better and you do survive. However, if you find your expenses are just becoming unbearable and you have no funds to make that Plan payment, contact your attorney right away.

[flower04]

Flamingo, thanks. If this was the week our payment would be due, we would definately be screwed. I would have already contacted the attorney. As I type, we have $50 in our checking account TOTAL. And, 5 more days to make it until the next pay day. Thankfully, we get paid two more times before the trustee payment, so we'll have to be super careful. We'll be a few days late to pay some other bills (utilities, etc.).
We also have a family reunion to drive to that last week of the month and that will take some extra gas $, not to mention we wont be able to participate in some of the activities because we have no $ to contribute to teh cause. No one in the family knows of our situation. In a moment of desperation, I put some furniture on Craigslist, but nothing has sold yet.

My kids have about $100+ in their piggy banks, which I'm serioulsy thinking about raiding, but that would take me to the ultimate low.
We are about 13 months into a 36 month plan, so I guess I should be happy that we made our first year, and happy that we had cash to cover everything. It just took so long to save up that cash, well, almost a year. I don't know how we are ever going to get ahead again.

Thanks for the support and for letting me vent-

[cwillie]

Know how you feel - we had $2.16 (really) in our checking account and no other money until payday which was ten days away! But, we each had enough gas in our vehicles to get us to and from work and we had some food in the pantry. We made it of course, but being poor does suck! We are 24 months into our 36 month plan and beginning to start the countdown. Hang in there, you will make it!

[lrprn]

You've had a tough 13 ride so far, flower04, that's for sure

Hopefully another big medical bill won't happen again, but if you do get another one to pay before your 13 is done, rather than paying it all in a lump sum and putting yourselves at risk financially, first talk to the physician's or hospital's billing office. They may be willing to spread the payments out over several months without charging interest and also agree not to report late payments to the credit agencies. We had to do this during our 13 as well and the billing offices gave us several months to make the payments at an agreed amount and not ding us. We kept our part of the bargain and so did they.

Other non-secured creditors besides medical (dental, car repairs, utilities, etc) may be willing to spread out post-13 new bill payments as well - it never hurts to ask first.

We're here for emotional support and venting as needed, because most of us 13ers have been right where you are right now and understand how hard it is. Hang in there! Your emergency fund can be built back up as you did the first time. In the meantime, do your best to think positively about the hard-earned financial discipline you all have now! That's a huge step forward and something to be proud of!

[jmac]

So they take so much pay during a 13 people have to go days without money? Must be a real tough with kids...Why do soe people story sound so much better then others?? Good lawyer? good planning before 13?

[newbie2]

So they take so much pay during a 13 people have to go days without money? Must be a real tough with kids...Why do soe people story sound so much better then others?? Good lawyer? good planning before 13?

Jmac, everyone's Chapter 13 plan is different. Things may be tighter for one person then they are for another. This is especially true if the budget was trimmed very close in order to keep unexempted assets, or to keep a house that had hefty arrears.

And yes, a good lawyer helps also. Immensely.

[flower04]

Thanks all. Part of the reason we are in this mess to begin with is medical bills, and an ongoing medical treatment. We have budgeted an amount in our 13 budget for these expenses, just some months are much worse than others. Thank goodness we have decent insurance or else we were really be screwed.

Our attorney is shark and she worked it so we could keep part our tax return this year to pay for a needed medical treatment that was considered "elective" so insurance wouldn't pay. That really helped a lot! A good attorney is worth all the money IMO!

We just moved to a new place and we did request all of our utilities on a payment plan. They were able to do that for gas/electric/water/sewer within reason. So, we are doing good there and we've never been late (so far) except now it looks like we'll be late on two of them. Lrpn, I think I will call and see if they can work something out with us.

The thing that is so hard is that it is like reliving the feeling of failure that "I filed for bk" everytime we have to deal with this stuff and somewhat embarassing. Although, the two people that know that we have filed haven't questioned our reasons for filing based on our medical bills, etc.

SO now, I'm trying to figure out if I should ask my Dad for a "loan" until we can get caught up again--like $500-$1000--at least to get through the reunion so my kids can participate with their cousins. He's offered it a bunch at difficult times, but we have always wanted to prove to ourselves that we could do it. He is the only family member who knows about our finances.

[mitupper]

This is so so familiar to me. We have young children, and recently my son had his 7th birthday. We literally had no money and nothing to give him. This is terrible, but I heard from someone that Walgreens here takes checks from pretty much anyone. So I went there and got about $75 worth of food and a few items for gifts for him just so we could have a birthday party for him and he'd have some gifts. They weren't really great or nice or anything, but it was something. As far as the check to Walgreens, they tried to put it through the bank, and it didn't go through and then they tried again about a week later, which was after payday, and it went through that time. So, it did get paid, just later.
Our Chapter 13 plan does allow extra built in to the plan for food and saving for a rainy day and such, but sometimes things happen like medical bills or car break down, or whatever, and you end up going through it. I think that can happen to anyone, even not on a Chapter 13 plan. So it's not really the plan I don't think, just life. Things going wrong can be expensive, and for some reason it usually happens around a birthday or family reunion or something!

[jmac]

I often wonder if filing is right for me, Sometimes i think just let them garnish me i will work a little ot to cover it but I'm not out of debt for a long time, All my payments add up to more then 25% of my pay if this happened.

I then realize its in my best interest to do the 13 and hopefully get a payment i can live with maybe do a little ot on the side, not enough to change payment but enough so i don't have the being broke sucks story to talk about.

I take home around 4500 a month and can handle a 800 or so payment for 5 years but if there going to slam me and take 1500 or something crazy may have to go with option 1.

I have about 80k in unsecured and 40 in secured debt.

[runnersdelig]

I often wonder if filing is right for me, Sometimes i think just let them garnish me i will work a little ot to cover it but I'm not out of debt for a long time, All my payments add up to more then 25% of my pay if this happened.

I then realize its in my best interest to do the 13 and hopefully get a payment i can live with maybe do a little ot on the side, not enough to change payment but enough so i don't have the being broke sucks story to talk about.

I take home around 4500 a month and can handle a 800 or so payment for 5 years but if there going to slam me and take 1500 or something crazy may have to go with option 1.

I have about 80k in unsecured and 40 in secured debt.

This about sums it up for me on why I'm pushing to do everything I can to get into a chapter 7. My first attorney feared that they were going to try and take over a lot more from me. So, now I'm just waiting to save up enough money to file for chapter 7. Hopefully in the next 2 weeks. I'd rather have a true clean start and start saving than being under the trustee's thumbs for another 5 years.

[jmac]

My story is a little different, was going to do a chapter 7, well wife, ex wife now got disabilty because she was sick so it knocked me out of the means test should of just filed 7 while she was fighting to get the money lawyer told me not too but thing would of been over before she ever got a penny. Problem is i had 2 boats i had already given back and the bank sold them for nothing plus a old second mortage im on the hook for, still not sure what im going to do but paying towards the 13 just incase. I was already paid in full on the 7 but 13 cost 3k more then a 7 in cali so wheni get that paid in full see what happens.

[sheilaE]

This thread hit home because we have 3 children and I definitely worry about this happening once we file. We plan on filing next month or if we can hold out-then in Sept. The sooner we get it started, the sooner it'll be over, but at the same time the sooner we get it started, the sooner we'll be struggling to get by each month and that is very scarey with 3 kids to feed and take care of.
I'm so upset that some friends of ours are sitting happy and have money each month after filing chpter 7, yet we have to be sentenced to 5 years of financial strain because we don't qualify for 7 and have to file 13. Just doesn't seem right.
Sorry, I'm at a low point this evening