Wenesday the Day!

[ThisCantGoOn]

[CindyLou]

what is the 11k non dischargeable

[ThisCantGoOn]

Student loan of about $10K and federal taxes $1K.

[TX Bluebonnet]

Hi. Is your pet expense just a guess? The reason I ask is that in the past 12 months we've averaged $69 a month for 2 dogs. That only includes their preventative meds and a couple of vet visits. It does not include dog food, treats, toys, shampoo, etc that I don't have a way to track because we get all that stuff at walmart along with our groceries and other household items. Not to mention the dog doors we put in when we moved into our place last year, nor the new fence around our yard, nor the new replacement dog clippers, nor the ... well you get the idea, pets are not cheap. If you've got any wiggle room, I'd suggest upping that some.

[HHM]

Food seems low. Pet expense seems low for 4 dogs.

[TX Bluebonnet]

Speaking of food... I found something from the USDA that says a low-cost food plan for an individual male is $45.70-48.90 (depending on your age) per week. There are 4 plan levels: thrifty, low-cost, moderate-cost, and liberal. According to the info that goes with the chart: "Bankruptcy courts often use the value of the low-cost food plan to determine the portion of a bankrupt person's income to allocate to necessary food expense." So, taking an average those two amounts, your food expense would be approx $204 a month.

[ThisCantGoOn]

I guessed at the pet expense. Now that I'm adding it up on paper shot should be about $100 per dog per year or $33 per month with 4 dogs, food is about $30 a month, and I should agerage one dental cleaning a year around $200 or $16 per month. My total should really be around $80, not counting the lizard's $1 a day cricket habit. On Tuesday if I need to up my figures in get below $100 DI, I will point it out to my attorney that my pet figure maybe low.

[TX Bluebonnet]

Regarding what I said about the food expense, I don't think I was very clear. I'm not saying you should change your food to the lower amount according to the chart I found. I just thought it was interesting what the chart said. My attorney told me to list what I spend on average, regardless of what I think it should be. Sorry about not being clearer. I'm tired. Time for bed!

[HHM]

Speaking of food... I found something from the USDA that says a low-cost food plan for an individual male is $45.70-48.90 (depending on your age) per week. There are 4 plan levels: thrifty, low-cost, moderate-cost, and liberal. According to the info that goes with the chart: "Bankruptcy courts often use the value of the low-cost food plan to determine the portion of a bankrupt person's income to allocate to necessary food expense." So, taking an average those two amounts, your food expense would be approx $204 a month.

I have never heard of the BK court using those tables. The BK courts use Census data and IRS data as a the base for costs and then use the reasonable cost in the area.

[TX Bluebonnet]

I have never heard of the BK court using those tables. The BK courts use Census data and IRS data as a the base for costs and then use the reasonable cost in the area.

Well, I didn't know one way or the other what numbers they use so I'd done some internet research before I found this forum about food costs.

Here's where I got that information from:

http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/Publication...dminReport.pdf (on page 5 of 80)

The most recent (march 2008) 4 food plans chart is here:

http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/Publications/FoodPlans/2008/CostofFoodMar08.pdf

I'm just reporting what I found. Hope that's not a problem.

[danaf]

So we are allowed to use pet expenses in the schedules? I honestly didn't think we could.....

[sunshine mary]

They used our pet expenses on our schedules too. It wasn't much but it's still an expense.

[Cali]

We are a family of four, and our food is about 700$ per month. Our attorney said that the amount on the US Trustee website was 752$ so we were good.

We don't have pets, so not sure how you would get the amount for that.

[lrprn]

Whether pet expenses can be openly included in your expenses depends on the customs in your local bankruptcy court. Some trustees allow it, some don't.

When you aren't allowed to list pet expenses openly, you can shift those expenses into your food and miscellaneous expenses to include them.

[HHM]

I have not heard of trustees not allowing pet expenses, but you really need to be accurate with teh amount.