Spending money

[lillaimof2kids]

OK, we've been struggling like crazy for the last 2+ years trying to stay ahead. Well everything caught up with us in July 2007 and I gave up trying and decided ch.7 was my only way out. I quit paying cc's and dh closed up his business in Jan. 2008. Now that dh finally has a job with a steady weekly paycheck and we're not paying the cc's or bus. loans, we actually have a bit of money. (Nothing that hinders our filing, we're still under the median.) I turned in all the information needed to file last monday...current bank statement, last paystubs, etc. We're just waiting to hear the date of our 341. Will I be limited on the amount of money can be in my checking account at my 341 meeting?

Now my ?...
Am I limited as to what I can spend money on? Are we allowed to go to dinner or a movie? We haven't done any of these kind of things for over a year. The weather should be turning a bit nicer, next month we should be able to start planting flowers. Am I allowed to do that stuff?

The only money we've spent during the last couple years are necessity items like food, gas, ins., dr. visits, meds, utilities, shoes/clothes when the kids outgrow them. We did get a decent tax return back, because we lost our butts so bad. Our attorney told us to spend on needed items...so we bought, clothes, new gutter for the house, side of beef, stocked up my cabinets with food, caught up on all bills, paid employment taxes we were behind on, paid house ins. for 1 year, car ins. for 6 months, 2 mo. of health insurance, etc. Everything our attorney approved of.

I appreciate any help! Thanks so much!

[MaxedOut]

I’m no expert just speaking from experience but we continued to live semi normal eating out occasionally, movies once in while, bought a few new outfits for work. Spent money on the kids for Easter. It’s nice to have cash : ) but I think its ok to do these things just no trips to Europe or cruises right now. We’ve had are 341 and are waiting to be discharged.

I'm editing to say that we did these things and it had no effect on our BK at all.


Good Luck to you.

[justplaintired]

yeah I wondered these things too. No trips planned, simple things like gardening. Outside projects, small stuff. When is it safe to spend what money you have budgeted for this stuff? I am working hard on a budget and I do have some money I wanted to use for my gardens. Can you get in trouble for that? Eating out is MacDonalds nothing expensive.

[keepmine]

What you are describing is just a normal, reasonable lifestyle.
It won't be an issue in your bk that you are going to a restaurant or working in your garden.

[lrprn]

No trips planned, simple things like gardening. Outside projects, small stuff. When is it safe to spend what money you have budgeted for this stuff?

You have to spend money on food and spend money on home improvement (I count gardening here ) . Your trustee couldn't care less if you get a few dinners at McDonalds and some flowers for the yard. Trustees are looking for the big money returns or attempts to hide assets - typically by buying items worth more than $1K very close to filing. Eating fast food and buying some plants for the yard don't even come close! Go enjoy yourself - you've earned it!

[luvHm]

It hasnt been an issue yet here, with three kiddos and a busy lifestyle McDonalds is a weekly thing for us! Im far from an expert but Id guess you are ok!

[lillaimof2kids]

Thanks for the replies. I feel better now. I could care less about eating out. But I want to do my gardening!! It's one of my favorite things to do.

[southernbelle]

May I ask another question just to be clear? After filing, are you saying that normal expenses are okay and to keep it that way until the discharge? I'm just wondering because I've been doing that, but I remember reading somewhere that a chapter 7 is a snapshot of the expenses/income you have the day you filed.

Just me being confused again. Thanks.

[laurannm]

I think the key is making sure you aren't charging anything to your CCs. And, like lrprn stated, as long as your purchases aren't big ticket items (and thus would throw up a red flag), you should be fine.

For what it's worth our lawyer basically told us to continue living, just don't take any Caribbean vacations

[southernbelle]

Thank you, that's a relief. I cut up the credit cards in October and have been living on cash/debit cards since then. I just didn't want to get into trouble because I have a couple of birthday presents to buy in a couple of weeks and needed a new pair of tennis shoes.

[justplaintired]

You have to spend money on food and spend money on home improvement (I count gardening here ) . Your trustee couldn't care less if you get a few dinners at McDonalds and some flowers for the yard. Trustees are looking for the big money returns or attempts to hide assets - typically by buying items worth more than $1K very close to filing. Eating fast food and buying some plants for the yard don't even come close! Go enjoy yourself - you've earned it!

Oh thank you, thank you, thank you! I so want to plant flowers, I look so forward to this time of year and making my yard come to life with flowers and now you made me see that is ok. So, now once this cold snap breaks I am going to go buy myself a few flowers. I guess in a way that is a home improvement, I never really thought of it that way.

I was asked last summer to be on a flower walk that is sponsored by a local gardening club every couple of years, I am not a member of the club, but they asked me and my house to be on it, I said I would do it but that was before we ended up here. It is a non profit thing for me. Just something they do in this little town I live in. All of my gardens have been planted for a long time, but I do like adding a few annuals and now I think it will be alright to do that.

So thank you again, I can now buy some flowers I have until the end of June to make my yard look pretty and if I plan it right, I should be able to get it done.

[Phillymanhere]

I am filing for bk in early July. I mentioned to my lawyer that there was a swimming class I wanted to take over the summer with an acclaimed swim instructor. Told the lawyer it would cost $500. Would this upset my bk filing, I asked.

The lawyer, who is a trustee, said no. He said I probably had regular athletic and health club expenses and this was one of them. He uttered a funny phrase akin to Potter Stewart's funny line about identifying pornography. The lawyer said "you know inappropriate spending when you see it." In other words, there is no one standard against which to judge the reasonableness of spending. You know it (unreasonable spending) when you see it.

He told me a story about early on his practice when he was baffled by discrepancies in grocery spending. One family might have $300 a month groc bill, another of the same size $800. Well, the first family shopped sales, used coupons, planned meals ahead of time. The second fam didn't do those things .... But there is no rule against spending more money on something than another family.

Anyway, good question posed here. But my sense of it is that we bk folks might tend to lose sight of what's a legitimate expense .... Gardening, occasional eating out, movies, theater--those are actually not considered frivolous according to my attorney, and as I said, he's a trustee.

[laurannm]

Exactly...now if you went out and bought a plasma TV, they may frown upon that