Chapter 13 Experience Please

[aa06a47]

Wanted to start a thread to see how people are doing in there Chapter 13 experience. What do you struggle with, what have you done to overcome it, has it made your life easier, worse, etc.

I am new to the Chapter 13 plan. My first payment will be made around the 26th or so, it has to be posted by May 3. I don't want to be late on my first payment, so will mail it early.

Here has been my mistakes so far:

1) Paid my lawyer too much instead of breaking it down into more payments. This month was a beotch to say the least. I only get paid 1 time per month, and I paid my attorney the fee on the first of the month. By the 15th, I had basically only enough money to buy food, gas for my vehical until the end of the month. Suggestion, see what the min is for your lawyer to file your case. I thought I had given my attorney her min payment, but I reviewed some of her other cases on pacer, and uh, well, I paid her more than anybody else did.

2) If my payment plan gets confirmed, I should not struggle, though I will be month to month. It is the dang emergency stuff that I haven't figured out how to handle.

[jane taylor]

Glad you started this thread. Today makes our second complete month of our Chapter 13 payments. My husband gets paid every other Friday and works for a larger company so it's easier to get a wage order done there. So far we are doing okay; actually we are doing much better. We are really trying hard to stick with the envelope system and stash away any extra money that we save. The hardest part for me is handling those pesky little things that seem to come up. I am learning to say "no", mean it, and not feel guilty about it. My kids will thank me in the long run.

I guess I'm a little concerned about my husband's surgery coming up this summer. We couldn't wait any longer to file and had to do it in February. He has an account we're including in the BK at the hospital where he will be. I don't know if they will be cooperative or not. Thankfully, his attending physician knows our situation is so understanding. My husband did not ask to have a chronic illness, nor is it stress related like everyone wants us to believe!! (Sorry--pet peeve of mine!)

Sorry so long. Again, thanks for starting this thread and good luck to you!

[SinkingFast]

We're not 13,........... yet. We're not anything yet. But we're having problems handling the cash only thing.

Last month, we paid the attny's fee and filing fee in full. Just to get that out of the way while we had the money. There went our extended warranty cancellation money. Good thing we paid that in full tho.

Dang Landlord situation threw everything into a tizzy. Our attny said get out. The longer we stay the greater the risk of more problems. So we are, and he's gonna BK against her for the remainder of the Lease.

We found a place but we had to cough up a security deposit this month. We're looking at possibly as much as a half month's pro rated rent next month on the new place to move. Plus, we're gonna have to rent a truck. And there may be deposits to some of the utilities. Amazing moving just a few miles and we get a whole different electric company, gas company, and water company. TG we aren't filing BK against any utilities! If there are deposits, hopefully the aren't huge.

Because of all this, we haven't been able to set aside the monies for car repairs, auto insurance premiums, clothes, etc., that we should be doing.

I felt bad about buying a ham for Easter dinner, but that has actually paid off, as it turns out. $25 for a brown sugar cooked, spiral sliced ham and we've eaten off of it since Sunday. 6 days, 6 people, and only $25 for meat. Not bad. But may I say I am getting tired of ham??!! Hopefully, the pig dies with dinner tonight and we can have some ground beef or beans for a change!!

[jane taylor]

We had recycled pot roast last night in the form of barbecue. Made banana bread out of overly ripe bananas. (I've got an awesome recipe if I do say so myself!!)

We still waste way more than we should and I am trying to do better with that--freezing leftovers, etc.

[13inOR]

Good advice in both cases. Here is the best advice I can give:
While its true that we need to plan ahead to a certain extent, for larger heat bills, car repairs etc, I also think you need to strike a balance between that
and also taking it one day at a time.

My husband is the type of person (glass half empty) that tended to dwell on the amount of months looming ahead of us. I was able to take it one month at a time, view it as getting out of debt, and move on.
He moped and moped for the first couple months till I wanted to scream. Finally I said, "do you want me to make you a paper link chain with 29 months so you can tear one off every month and watch it get shorter, like you are in kindergarten or something???!!!" I was just kidding about that, but turns out he actually liked the idea. I guess hes a visual person.....
So anyhow ( I know everyone probably thinks this is wierd), but for his sake I actually made a paper chain with 29 links out of construction paper and hung it on the back of our bedroom door. For some reason, that really helped him
and seemed more tangible. Again I know that seems like an odd, childish thing, but seeing the chain get smaller made him feel like the end was in sight
and he was accomplishing something.

So not that everyone else might be helped by such a thing, but the bottom line was he needed something to remind him to take it one day, week, month
at a time and that there really was light at the end of the tunnel.
For me, looking at the NDC ledger and seeing the balances drop was gratifying.

In light of this, my best advice is to really take time to enjoy life even though you are in a bk,just find ways to cut back so you arent caught off guard when
emergencies arise. And though unexpected things happen to all of us, dont live in dread every day waiting for the other shoe to drop, just try to sock a little away each month and it shouldnt be too bad at all. My husband tended to dwell more on how much money they were taking, rather than how much we had left for the month(which was usually adequate) and that stressed him out more, but he tends to be anxious anyway.

PS: when we paid off the plan 10 months early, my husband gleefully burned the last of the paper chain in the patio fireplace!! HEE HEE that was a good day : ) I think it was a very cleansing experience!!
Good luck!!!

[Goldline]

Me too

I just learned that my Chapter 13 that was to have been filed 2 weeks ago before the filing fee increased has not yet been filed. I have e-mailed, sent a letter by postal, faxed an inquiry, and called the office all without any response from anyone. The office is 3 hours away so it's not like I can go camp on their doorstep.

I can certainly empathize with scraping by on groceries, etc. for a month just to come up with the attorney's fee. They sure don't have to go without, do they?

I supposed to be getting a call from one of the attorneys to discuss my options. Why I wasn't notified before, I sure don't know.

I'd like to scream. Now I know why people commit suicide.

[SinkingFast]

We had recycled pot roast last night in the form of barbecue. Made banana bread out of overly ripe bananas. (I've got an awesome recipe if I do say so myself!!)

We still waste way more than we should and I am trying to do better with that--freezing leftovers, etc.

The last time I cooked a pot roast, it was huge. Again, I felt a tad guilty for spending so much until we ate it. We had pot roast dinner 2 nights in a row, and then had pulled beef BBQ 2 nights in a row. All from cooking once and adding a few new sides.

Great minds think alike, Jane!! I do the same thing with the left over beef.

When we have a tad of spaghetti sauce left over, I put it in a tub in the freezer and just keep adding the next tad and so on. When the tub is full, I thaw it for dinner instead of fixing a new batch of spaghetti sauce. Then I don't feel so bad about tossing any leftovers if there is any. It's already been recycled once.

[$$only4ever]

We just completed our first year of a 5 year plan. 1 down, 4 to go. Actually we are doing pretty good. I just found that we have to plan ahead for any kind of expense, though and really stick to our budget. We even can put a few $$ aside every month incase of an emergency. Everyone hang in there. It can only get better!!!

[aa06a47]

I just learned that my Chapter 13 that was to have been filed 2 weeks ago before the filing fee increased has not yet been filed. I have e-mailed, sent a letter by postal, faxed an inquiry, and called the office all without any response from anyone. The office is 3 hours away so it's not like I can go camp on their doorstep.

I can certainly empathize with scraping by on groceries, etc. for a month just to come up with the attorney's fee. They sure don't have to go without, do they?

I supposed to be getting a call from one of the attorneys to discuss my options. Why I wasn't notified before, I sure don't know.

I'd like to scream. Now I know why people commit suicide.

Goldline, don't commit suicide, fees went up some, not a whole lot, so the benifit to filing is still there. Keep calling your attorney, I think they are all very slow at returning phone calls. Your attorney may be missing a piece of information. Maybe you can have your attorney take the extra fee out of his/her fee and pay the added cost to file. <yeah, right, but you never know if you don't ask>

[aa06a47]

We just completed our first year of a 5 year plan. 1 down, 4 to go. Actually we are doing pretty good. I just found that we have to plan ahead for any kind of expense, though and really stick to our budget. We even can put a few $$ aside every month incase of an emergency. Everyone hang in there. It can only get better!!!

Glad to hear your plan is going good. I hope it continues to work out.

[jane taylor]

13inOR:

I have always tended to be the anxious type, but am learning each day what it means to live one day at a time as well. The paper chain is not a bad idea!

While this isn't the most pleasant experience I wouldn't take anything for what's happened in my marriage!! We have been through some tough times and are better than ever. There's no pricetag on a relationship so precious! We are looking at this as a more formal debt consolidation program with a bunch of flowery speech. I know that's oversimplifiying the process, but it helps me.

SinkingFast, what a great idea for leftover spaghetti sauce! Seems like I always have just a little more than I need, but not enough to save.

[13inOR]

Jane, I totally agree on the marriage part of it. We have been married 25 years this coming July, and have been through a lot of ups and downs but it seems it has strengthened us rather than push us apart. We got married at a young age, 18 and 20, but have tried to learn from things and get through them together. So far, so good.

And SF, thats a great spaghetti sauce idea. What I have done is take the amount thats left, and use it for my lunch the next day, since we have a microwave at work. It seems like theres usually just about one serving left anyway. But your idea is another way to do it with no waste!

[13inOR]

Another idea to managing on chapter 13 budget, is to buy
your kids clothes off season on clearance in the next biggest size or so. Of course you can do the same with adult clothing.

If you have an Old Navy in your area, they have the most fabulous sales
about 4 times a year. It is nothing to find racks of shirts from 1.49 to 4.99
and jeans from 3.99 to 6.99. I totally outfitted my son there the last 3 or 4 years. The Goodwill can be good too, some areas are better than others, but I swear the Old Navy clearance prices beat our Goodwill prices anyday.

In the spring I would stock up on the winter items for the next year in the next size up, and he would be ready to go when school started. I bought him a new winter coat at Old Navy one year for 4.99. I could usually get him 5 pairs of jeans or cargo pants and 8-10 shirts at ON for under $75. Not bad for a whole wardrobe of new clothing!
Of course the clearance sales items are for the whole family, not just kids, so its a good time to stock up for everyone and save a lot.
Just another idea for stretching that budget!

[jane taylor]

Thanks, 13inOR! We love Old Navy and they do have great sales.

Our situations are amazingly similar! My husband and I have been married almost 20 years and are so looking forward to getting on with our lives. Most of the time I feel like the best is yet to come for us!

[lrprn]

We are getting ready to file Ch 13 in a few weeks and like you, Jane, I'm a tad nervous about what is coming our way. We've gone through the first draft of our plan with our lawyer - staggering to realize we will be paying about $1650/month to our trustee every month for FIVE YEARS, and that does not include paying back any of the $23,000 my husband of 26 years took out as loans against his retirement and the $21,000 of educational loans he took out for our son right before I found out what a mess he made of our finances. We've finally gotten to the point where our relationship is strong again, but the first six months after I realized how badly he had mismanaged our finances were very hard emotionally for both of us. I'm glad we now have a plan in place and are moving forward with some confidence we can make it month to month on Ch 13. To get ready for filing, we've been maintaining a shoestring family budget since last February catching up on overdue mortgage and car loans. It's tough but manageable. The tips here from those of you already in your plans is really helpful - thanks so much!
___________
Filing Ch13 soon...