Ok, so after many hurdles, my wife and I are on the home stretch to getting confirmed. (We are in Michigan, so 60 months doesn't start until confirmation - so will have paid an extra 6 months if all goes as expected).
We got our objections back from the trustee late last week. Most stuff we can work through, just need to document some expenses and stuff like 401k loan end date and other administrative stuff. Since we get a 341 status sheet prior to the 341 that lists any "potential" concerns, we covered as many of those items as possible in the 341 meeting.
One item though is really sticking with me. We are a family of 4 (added newborn as of 3 weeks ago! YEAH!) We put down $750 for our food expenses. The IRS standard is $752, so I figured we were fine. I didn't bother saving any receipts since, well, we were under the IRS guidelines so why would anyone object. Lo and behold, the trustee objected to our $750/month to feed a family of 4 stating that was excessive and unreasonable!
If you do the math, $720/month means $2 per person, per meal. So not like $750 means we are eating caviar and prime rib every night! Plus, with a newborn, that means formula which is crazy expensive.
I asked our attorney about this (who is really good, and has emailed me about 20 times since Friday afternoon) and he basically stated - Get what receipts you can, print off bank statements with grocery store charges. He also stated that "The IRS standards aren't automatic. You have to show your expenses are reasonable and necessary."
Anyone have advice/experience with this?
We got our objections back from the trustee late last week. Most stuff we can work through, just need to document some expenses and stuff like 401k loan end date and other administrative stuff. Since we get a 341 status sheet prior to the 341 that lists any "potential" concerns, we covered as many of those items as possible in the 341 meeting.
One item though is really sticking with me. We are a family of 4 (added newborn as of 3 weeks ago! YEAH!) We put down $750 for our food expenses. The IRS standard is $752, so I figured we were fine. I didn't bother saving any receipts since, well, we were under the IRS guidelines so why would anyone object. Lo and behold, the trustee objected to our $750/month to feed a family of 4 stating that was excessive and unreasonable!
If you do the math, $720/month means $2 per person, per meal. So not like $750 means we are eating caviar and prime rib every night! Plus, with a newborn, that means formula which is crazy expensive.
I asked our attorney about this (who is really good, and has emailed me about 20 times since Friday afternoon) and he basically stated - Get what receipts you can, print off bank statements with grocery store charges. He also stated that "The IRS standards aren't automatic. You have to show your expenses are reasonable and necessary."
Anyone have advice/experience with this?
Yeah, that is what we are doing. And I have documentation on our bank statements of probably 98% of all purchases, but unlike gas, electric, cell phone, etc... A trip to the grocery store encompasses more than just one budgetary line item. So we will have receipts for a limited time to do what we can.
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