How's life in a Ch13

[funcritter]

I'm one year into making payments and life has been better than ever. I took a vacation last month and will be taking another one next month and another before the end of summer. I have lots of vacation time from my job. I couldn't do that before my BK. Last vacation was back in 2008.

I was lucky on my BK in that my payments are only $150 and that is only because of my attorney fees and my car was worth $2,000 over the allowed.

I afford my mortgage, cellphone, satellite TV, internet food clothes and my credit card payment. My $150 payment is much much easier to afford then the $50,000 debt that was taken away by my BK

[fslady]

Filing Ch 13 was a hard decision but one that was at least 1 year overdue. I don't regret it for 1 minute - and I have 8 payments to go!
Like Momof3, I use coupons as much as possible, discovered shopping at discount places like ALDI, and in general just cut back on purchases thinking first "Do I NEED it or do I WANT it?" That saved a lot of unnecessary spending. Now with nicer weather, I'm grilling out more, cooking ahead for the week and not going to the store nearly as often which also prevents any impulse buying.

Most of all, I can sleep at night which is priceless.

[BigJohn]

If it is on super sale, I generally buy it.

hamburger $1.49 pound.
White onions 6 pounds for $1.00
bananas 3 pounds for $1.00
Potatoes 10 pounds for $.98
dozen large eggs for $.88
pork chops $1.29 a pound
rice 3 pounds for $1.00
dried beans 5 pounds for $1.00


yes I even buy the kool-aid 8 for $1.00

[IamOld]

These food prices may make it worth going to AZ for!!! Hamburger - maybe here where I live that's possible...

Onions, yes, bananas (love them) yes, potatoes...SHOULD BE - but 5 pounds are about $3; dozen eggs are about $1.49 lowest price around my neck of the woods, pork chops are around $2/lb, rice beans more or less... kool-aid - I'll die first :-)

If it is on super sale, I generally buy it.

hamburger $1.49 pound.
White onions 6 pounds for $1.00
bananas 3 pounds for $1.00
Potatoes 10 pounds for $.98
dozen large eggs for $.88
pork chops $1.29 a pound
rice 3 pounds for $1.00
dried beans 5 pounds for $1.00


yes I even buy the kool-aid 8 for $1.00

[BigJohn]

IamOld, there is McDonald's senior drinks and coffee for $.69.

[IamOld]

:-) THANKS! I FEEL old...sadly I am not a senior citizen...although I wish I were...

I try to stay away from McD - it literally makes me sick.

I will admit here...that when I teach at one of our locations at night there is a Panda Express across the way...I will admit that I have found it hard to break that habit...$8/meal usually comes after unpleasant class-break phone call to home because of unpleasant (long story) talk with spouse. So that's my vice...if I have class at that location I need to resist Panda express :-)

If present spouse would let me, I can make stews and soups that are good and pretty inexpensive to make...sadly that is not, domestically, an option.

[BigJohn]

I have a young man who rents from me. He also works at a Far East Asian style restaurant. When he comes to the store, he provides my wife and myself with FREE food - even the rice.

[lillymarlene]

I am 6/48 payments into my 13 (not confirmed yet) and I will say that it sure beats life last year. I am no longer deluged by creditor statements, my phone is turned on and I can sleep at night. This is really the first time I've been out of debt, well except for things like the mortgage, and tt payments, since I was 17 years old.

Everything now comes out of either mine or my boyfriend's money, so I now consider every little purchase. No more mindless plunking down the plastic. But, I don't mind, and right now I hope to never see another credit card again. Chapter 13 has to be one of the best teachers, ever.

[pnut22]

Life is good. No worries when you get the mail. I have 9 months to go and can't wait to rebuild my life.

[Mayo]

I'm nearing the final 6 months of my 60 month plan. Our marriage is much better, by not having the constant pressure of not dealing with your debts. Used to on Saturday Mornings they would start calling the house phone at 8am and not stop until 9. It's nice to not have to deal with creditors at all anymore. We pay cash for everything. I had a car wreck last year and my truck was totaled out. We took the money and our income tax money and paid cash for a nice used car that was much better than my tuck. Listen to people like Dave Ramsey and Clark Howard and they'll give good advice for living a debt free lifestyle.

[CCC]

We are in our last year of a five year plan and overall, it really hasn't been horrible. We've had our ups and downs, but I feel like I've gained such valuable lifelong knowledge about money and life, etc... My kids are still spoiled--LOL, I won't lie, but they have also learned many lessons that I wish I would have learned growing up--such as making good choices, patience and saving, finding good bargains and making your dollar stretch! They have seen us struggle, and have heard mommy say things like, this week is a mac n cheese week--and they might roll their eyes, but they understand too--that money doesn't grow on trees and when the bank account is low, mommy can't just pull out a credit card to buy that new whatever they want item, we have to wait. If I knew then, what I know now, I never would have been in the situation to NEED to file a chapter 13 to save my house and provide a home for my kids. I know I won't ever be at that place again & hopefully my kids won't ever be either. Anyway, my only advice would be to get a GOOD LAWYER and make sure you can live & SAVE within your plan. We have had emergency surgery, missed work, and TWO babies born w/12 weeks time off for both DURING our plan and we were able to get through it!! Was it easy--definitely not--but we did make it and are stronger because of it. Good Luck to all of you just starting out! This forum is filled with so much advice and hope. Hang in there and don't be afraid to ask questions.

Great advice and very inspirational!

[MOMof3]

Gosh everyone! Thanks for making me blush!! Ha Ha. I'm happy to be an inspiration to some of you because I truly feel that if I can do it and make it through FIVE years of this, anyone can! I have gained so much from other's here on this board, I'm glad I can give back! We were the rob Peter to pay Paul family prior to filing. I used to LOVE the blank checks that my credit cards would send me! LOL. We also bought just a bunch of CRAP honestly. We never researched what we really wanted or shopped around. We never saved up for anything. As long as there was room on a credit card, we just bought it.

The original post question asked if you can still buy your kids toys, go out to dinner & have fun...Well, I guess I would say to that that YES you can still buy your kids toys, but you will learn to really shop around to save!! That $20 price difference between Walmart and Target you didn't give a hoot about before when you pulled out that plastic card--well, that is a nice Sunday dinner now or a pack of Huggies and you WILL care! I also noticed how many "things" we had in our house that were really just CLUTTER. The kids would get like 20 little things for their birthday and really only use one or two. We really cut down on the number of gifts and go more towards quality now. We have even done group gifts--like at Christmas we teamed up with our parents to get the kids an x-box 360 w/Kinect. Yes it was expensive, but by cutting out all the little stupid items, it really wasn't bad. Plus, you learn to shop for the best deals too! We got a killer deal on the system by watching and waiting.

Going out to dinner--well, honestly, once the last two babies were born, we really didn't want to scare the poor waitresses and other guests by bringing all four kids in, but we have gone out. I will say though, the last time we all went out I seriously felt like it was a total waste of $70!! Food just isn't that important anymore--in fact I tell my friends/kids/family a lot that I HATE wasting money on food! Fast food especially because with a family of six now, you all know that even McDonalds is running us between $20-$30 a visit--and that in my opinion is just disgusting in so many ways. When you know you can make a nice ham dinner with mashed potatoes & green beans--and even have enough left overs for the next day's dinner for $20, then Eating out is just wasteful!

Having Fun--well, fun is probably in the eyes of the beholder, but I don't think it takes money to have fun. We do go to movies, go to the zoo, etc... but we also do free things like go to the park for a picnic, or just go for a drive or hike, etc... Money might make having fun easier, but I think we do ok!!

[BigJohn]

As far as vactations are concerned - I showed at one of the Federal Parks one day. They took one look at me and immediately gave me a FREE lifetime pass to all the Federal parks.

Went to the Grand Canyon. Cost to get in was zero.

[Lissy]

I will echo the others. My life is so much better now than before I filed. I only wish I'd done it sooner. I live comfortably, all on cash. I have had to learn to save and wait for the things I want instead of buying it immediately with a credit card. That was a huge lesson and something I'd never done before in all of my adult life. I also never used to think twice about paying full price for something. Now, I refuse to buy anything that's not on sale.

As for having fun and buying toys for kids? I take 2 vacations per year and still do regular weekend activities. I don't have children, but I do have dogs and I still buy bones, toys, collars, doggie daycare, etc. for them on a regular basis. It took me over a year, but I was able to completely refurnish my home. I bought a new flat screen TV, leather couch, mattress set, bedroom furniture and living room furniture. All with my cash savings.

I can't stress enough the importance of a good lawyer and a savings cushion. My lawyer got me a doable plan payment and I was confirmed despite minor objections from the trustee. I also have a savings cushion of at least $2,000 at all times for those unexpected large expenses. The peace of mind is invaluable when that money is there. If I had to live pay check to pay check, I think CH13 would be infinitely more stressful.