Less than 5 months to go

[downhill]

Boy, I wish I would have found this forum 31 months ago when we filed chapter 13. It would have helped a lot in saving my sanity.

We only have until the end of December 2006 and we will be done with our Chapter 13.

We pay $2700 per month for 36 months. It's been horrible. My husband gets the monthly payments garnished from his paycheck and gets paid every two weeks. His check ends up being like $280.00 every two weeks, which is always gone quickly now that gas is so expensive.

We have been living off my paycheck for everything. (house, utilities, groceries, medication, clothes, pet supplies, entertainment, etc...) Plus our daughter went to a private catholic school up until this month. So, for almost 2 1/2 years of our 3 years of Chapter 13, we also paid tuition. I am not sure how we did it. A lot of robbing Peter to pay Paul.

We have survived but it's been very tough especially having two teenagers that like to wear Hollister, Abercrombie, and American Eagle clothes. We tightened our budget and I assured them that once December 2006 is over, we will have more money. I didn't tell them about the Chapter 13, but told them that we'd have almost all of our major bills paid off.

It's not their fault that we got into the financial crisis that we were in. It was definitely my husband and my fault. Mostly mine since I did the bills...or rather, since I did not do the bills. I have ADHD (Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and my husband has ADD (Attention deficit disorder) so neither one of us have any desire, interest or skill in doing bills.

We have been married for 16 years. What gets us in trouble is when we decide to buy a four wheeler from someone for a great deal instead of making a house payment. Or if we decide to buy a mini bike because its a once in a lifetime deal instead of paying the electric bill.

Since we only have 5 months to go on our Chapter 13, we have really got to get a handle on our impulse buying. Our problem isn't shopping at new stores or using a credit card. We go to thrift stores or garage sales and see something that we just have to have. (It's an ADD thing.)

Once the Chapter 13 is over, we will be such a loving happy family. Whoever said that money can't buy you happiness, never filed Bankruptcy. I figure that if we can get through a Chapter 13, we can get through anything together.

Good luck everyone. There is a light at the end of the tunnel.

[Jman30]

Wow - Congratulations on making it so far in a Chapter 13!!! You are really in a very exclusive club....something like only 10% of Chapter 13's make it through completion!!

You should be commended for your amazing job. If you ask me, I think you have already learned a valuable lesson about impulse buying.....think of the absolute nightmare the last three years have been for you every time you want to buy a four wheeler instead of making your house payment or buy a mini bike instead of paying the electric bill. I am sure you have learned to budget over the last three years......you just need to stick to your guns now.

You mentioned you both have ADHD.....have you gotten help for this? My sister has this and she is on mediciation (I don't know what kind) and she is doing MUCH better.

On a different note, I commend you for still being able to do what you have done for your children. You mentioned that you never mentioned to them about the Chapter 13. I took the opposite approach with my children. I was very upfront with my oldest as to why things were so tight. I wanted him to see what could happen if you don't take care of your credit or finances. My parents were VERY closed off about money....they never taught me the value of good credit or how to balance a budget or live within your means. I think alot of my financial problems stemmed from the fact that I never realized the full implications of bad finances. So with my children, I have been very honest with them.....I want them to understand the importance of being a financially responsible person....I want them to learn from my mistakes, so they will have a better future than me.

Just my two cents.

[downhill]

Thanks for the positive feedback. I had no idea that so many Chapter 13's don't make it through to completion. I didn't even know that we had a choice to "not" finish it.

As far as whether we have learned to budget properly....NOT. The reason why I mentioned buying a four wheeler when we don't have any money for it is that my husband just did that last week. Some guy at his work told him he could bring it home and pay him when he could. The guy didn't ride it any more and knew that my husband and son enjoyed riding them. My husband said he'd do a side job to pay the guy for it. Oh well...

My husband and I had both gone almost our entire 36 months of Chapter 13 without telling anyone that we had filed, with the exception of his boss. Since our payment comes out of his paycheck.

Just last Friday evening, I needed to borrow money from my sister for gas and a few groceries until I got paid on Tuesday. She said she'd run it over to my house but commented that she can't support both herself and me. When she got to my house, I had all of our Chapter 13 paperwork out and confided in her that we had filed and that was why I am always broke. Because we were surviving on my paycheck until December 2006. It was quite a relief in telling her. She promised she wouldn't tell anyone. I told her I'd be able to lend her money after December if she needed it.

As far as the ADHD/ADD, my husband and I were both finally diagnosed and medicated last year. My 13 year old son has been medicated since preschool (off the chart hyper).

I am really trying to budget.

[$$only4ever]

Congratulations!!! You are definitely an inspiration to us who are making our monthly Chapter 13 payments. I love success stories!

[miss puff]

What gets us in trouble is when we decide to buy a four wheeler from someone for a great deal instead of making a house payment. Or if we decide to buy a mini bike because its a once in a lifetime deal instead of paying the electric bill.

we have really got to get a handle on our impulse buying.

boy does this ever sound familiar!!! *looks around and whistles*
lol, welcome downhill-buying an electric scooter sounded like way more fun than making the truck payment a few months ago . glad to see you are almost done with your 13.

[13inOR]

Congrats! But seriously you do need to get a handle on the impulse buying or it will be too easy to get into trouble again.... and also avoid the temptation to "live it up" too much when you feel like you have extra money, its much better to have a savings. Of course, theres nothing wrong with buying some fun stuff now and then, but do be careful. I know we feel restricted and it feels great to be able to keep our "own" money again, doesnt it!

[bkdone]

Boy, I wish I would have found this forum 31 months ago when we filed chapter 13. It would have helped a lot in saving my sanity.

We only have until the end of December 2006 and we will be done with our Chapter 13.

We pay $2700 per month for 36 months. It's been horrible. My husband gets the monthly payments garnished from his paycheck and gets paid every two weeks. His check ends up being like $280.00 every two weeks, which is always gone quickly now that gas is so expensive.

We have been living off my paycheck for everything. (house, utilities, groceries, medication, clothes, pet supplies, entertainment, etc...) Plus our daughter went to a private catholic school up until this month. So, for almost 2 1/2 years of our 3 years of Chapter 13, we also paid tuition. I am not sure how we did it. A lot of robbing Peter to pay Paul.

We have survived but it's been very tough especially having two teenagers that like to wear Hollister, Abercrombie, and American Eagle clothes. We tightened our budget and I assured them that once December 2006 is over, we will have more money. I didn't tell them about the Chapter 13, but told them that we'd have almost all of our major bills paid off.

It's not their fault that we got into the financial crisis that we were in. It was definitely my husband and my fault. Mostly mine since I did the bills...or rather, since I did not do the bills. I have ADHD (Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and my husband has ADD (Attention deficit disorder) so neither one of us have any desire, interest or skill in doing bills.

We have been married for 16 years. What gets us in trouble is when we decide to buy a four wheeler from someone for a great deal instead of making a house payment. Or if we decide to buy a mini bike because its a once in a lifetime deal instead of paying the electric bill.

Since we only have 5 months to go on our Chapter 13, we have really got to get a handle on our impulse buying. Our problem isn't shopping at new stores or using a credit card. We go to thrift stores or garage sales and see something that we just have to have. (It's an ADD thing.)

Once the Chapter 13 is over, we will be such a loving happy family. Whoever said that money can't buy you happiness, never filed Bankruptcy. I figure that if we can get through a Chapter 13, we can get through anything together.

Good luck everyone. There is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Good for you that you guys have been able to stick it out this long. I understand the ADD thing, and I commend you for working thru your situation. If I might make a suggestion here... just some thing that I have started doing and its really helped.

I opened an account at a bank that is not convenient for me to get to. I went online and set it up so that my paycheck is direct deposited into this account. My entire check, except for $200, goes into this account. So basically, every payday I get a paycheck for $200. Out of this $200 ($400 a month) I pay for groceries, gas, and entertainment. Thats it. So when I spend my "allowence" I'm done.

I set up all of my bills (mortgage and utilities) to be auto deducted from this account. I dont have a debit card for this account so accessing this account is nearly impossible since its closed by the time I get off work every day. This way, the bulk of my check goes into the account and my bills are paid automatically.

I wish you guys the best.

[miss puff]

This is excellent advice bkdone-something I think I am going to implement ASAP! Thanks

[Jman30]

I truly believe that being a Chapter 13 is one of the most difficult things anyone can go through, except maybe an illness or the loss of a loved one. I can't speak for everyone....but I KNOW I have learned my lesson. Once I am out of this Chapter 13, I will never be back into this situation again. I have learned so much and I am sad it took me going through this experience to figure it all out, but the lesson I have learned about financial responsibility will carry me the rest of my life.

[downhill]

Well... it's finally here.

My husband gets paid today and today's paycheck is the last one that our chapter 13 payments are supposed to come out of.

And today's my husband's birthday. What a wonderful birthday present!!!!
Except that he has the stomach flu.

So...he's at work, knowing that when he gets his tiny little paycheck this afternoon that the next one will be a full check, but since he has the flu, he can't totally enjoy the feeling of today being such a memorable day.

Oh well...it could be worse. A LOT WORSE. We've survived 36 months of WORSE, at $2700 per month.

Knowing that sometimes it takes weeks or months for a Chapter 13 to get discharged, his boss said that he won't send in any more of his paychecks until the trustee says that additional funds are needed.

Hmmm...I wonder if there are any statistics that show how many lawyers that were hired for bankruptcy are also hired by their clients to file divorce papers. The last 36 months have been very very difficult but we survived.

I'll keep you posted.

[aa06a47]

Well... it's finally here.

My husband gets paid today and today's paycheck is the last one that our chapter 13 payments are supposed to come out of.

And today's my husband's birthday. What a wonderful birthday present!!!!
Except that he has the stomach flu.

So...he's at work, knowing that when he gets his tiny little paycheck this afternoon that the next one will be a full check, but since he has the flu, he can't totally enjoy the feeling of today being such a memorable day.

Oh well...it could be worse. A LOT WORSE. We've survived 36 months of WORSE, at $2700 per month.

Knowing that sometimes it takes weeks or months for a Chapter 13 to get discharged, his boss said that he won't send in any more of his paychecks until the trustee says that additional funds are needed.

Hmmm...I wonder if there are any statistics that show how many lawyers that were hired for bankruptcy are also hired by their clients to file divorce papers. The last 36 months have been very very difficult but we survived.

I'll keep you posted.

Wow, congratulations. Sounds like you had a rough time but chose to get it behind you. That is great.

I would contact the trustee and make sure there are no more payments left to be made. Just to keep my sanity I guess.

[JollyGG]

What will be even better is that full check two weeks from now.
Congratulations.
I'm sure routinelly most of that extra money will go to savings, however do you have any special plans for part of that first large check? I know I would.

[downhill]

Even though we survived three long Chapter 13 years, two weeks seems like an eternity away for when my husband gets a full paycheck.

As far as spending the first full paycheck or two (or three), we have to catch up on bills that weren't included in the bankruptcy, such as utilities. And I want to make a few extra house payments. I never want to get into a near foreclosure situation again.

Since we filed, I have heard of several people we know who also filed, either Chapter 13 or 7. I have not told anyone in 36 months that we filed, except for one of my sisters (in August) and my husband's boss. When someone tells me they filed, I feel like a knowledge expert on the subject but I have never been one to air my dirty laundry.

Bankruptcy is a bad thing that sometimes happens to good people and once it's over, we will be stronger for having gone through it!!!!!

[toomuch]

Well... it's finally here.

My husband gets paid today and today's paycheck is the last one that our chapter 13 payments are supposed to come out of.

And today's my husband's birthday. What a wonderful birthday present!!!!
Except that he has the stomach flu.

So...he's at work, knowing that when he gets his tiny little paycheck this afternoon that the next one will be a full check, but since he has the flu, he can't totally enjoy the feeling of today being such a memorable day.

Oh well...it could be worse. A LOT WORSE. We've survived 36 months of WORSE, at $2700 per month.

Knowing that sometimes it takes weeks or months for a Chapter 13 to get discharged, his boss said that he won't send in any more of his paychecks until the trustee says that additional funds are needed.

Hmmm...I wonder if there are any statistics that show how many lawyers that were hired for bankruptcy are also hired by their clients to file divorce papers. The last 36 months have been very very difficult but we survived.

I'll keep you posted.

WOW!! Congratulations!!!!! I can feel your relief.

My husband and I have not filed yet and are still working on the "pre-filing" aspect of it. To be honest, I am quite concerned about keeping our marriage together once this starts, if it's a 13. However, at 53/52 years old, it's not so easy to just throw in the towel.

Anyway, congratulations and may 2007 be your best year ever!!!

Toomuch

[Peevee]

Congratulations ! I got a question since you was under the old plan. When they set your payback amount did it stay the same throughout the duration?