Expenses

[AvisNovak]

When listing your expenses do you list what you currently are spending or what you would spend if you had the money? For instance..right now I'm washing my clothes by hand and I have a dryer so I dry them here but if I had the money I would be going to the laundromat and using the washer/dryer there.

I have no health insurance because I can't afford it and I don't spend any money on entertainment. Can I fill out what a reasonable person might spend on these things or is it strictly what you are currently spending. I also cancelled my cable yet I see that is an allowable expense.

[justbroke]

Generally speaking, your expenses should be forward looking, but that doesn't mean that a Chapter 7 Trustee won't question them. A Chapter 7 debtor that is under-the-median doesn't need to worry too much unless they have unusual expenses and barely pass the means test. However, your expense should still be reasonable and you can use the UST Means Test expenses as a guideline. Just because there is a category for something, that doesn't mean you can claim that expense.

For example, the Means Test guideline expenses already has a category for the national standards (see the link below). For a single person there is a category for "Apparel & services" which includes new clothes, dry cleaning, and typical care (such as laundry/wash). Three's also a misc category of $157 and even a category for housekeeping supplies.

If you are going to file Pro Se, you should start listing every single expense that you have down to personal hygiene, household, food, clothing (even if you're not buying new clothes, but could), etc.

Means Testing: https://www.justice.gov/ust/means-testing
National Standard: https://www.justice.gov/ust/eo/bapcp..._standards.htm