It would be nice to see your personal list of creditors and amounts for everyone

[Lajazz947]

The median income in California is about $60k. How were you able to qualify the means test with $40k+ above the median?

I make well above the median in California and when you take my state and federal taxes, mortgage , overage for the operation of my business and the allowable deduction I ( on paper) qualify.

Now, I expect a fight from the trustee because I have good income and high debt but I have everything documented and I think that worst case scenario I will have to pay SOMETHING back in a 13.

There IS a way to qualify even if you are over the median income.

[slam22]

The median income in California is about $60k. How were you able to qualify the means test with $40k+ above the median?

We were over the median by about 60k and were able to qualify for Chapter 7 based on our overall expenses which included mortgage, all taxes and everything else. We discharged about 300k in unsecured debt as well as any liability for our 1st mortgage when we walk away from that sometime next year. We have been living rent free since our last mortgage payment in March. We are socking away a lot of cash right now so that when we do have to leave our house we are going to be in pretty good shape. All things considered we are pretty lucky.

[debtmonster]

1st mortgage = $417K
Heloc = $242K
Car 1 = $27K
Car 2 = 12K
Citi (8 cards)
B of A (4 cards)
Wamu (4 cards)
Wells fargo (2 cards)
Capitol 1 (2 cards)
Discover (1 card)
Chase (1 card)
J c penney
macys
Mervyns
kohls

total cc unsecured $110K

Thanks for posting your list. We should be able to tally these all up and get great averages after enough people post them.

[BKorbust]

1st Mortgage 340K
2nd Mortgage 90K
Citi CC 32k
Citi CC 15K
BofA CC 25K
Chase CC 16K
Cap One CC 5K
Target CC 9K
Auto 17K
IRS 80K
State Taxes 15K

[debtmonster]

IRS 80K
State Taxes 15K

I don't feel sorry for those leeches at all!
Involuntary debts suck!

[Overmylimit]

I live in Northern Ca and I was told by the 1st lawyer that the median was 66k.

My highest credit line was 125k. And they base it on income and your credit score which at the time was close to 800.

Most everyone who makes the kind of money that Debtmonster is asking about is self employed.

[debtmonster]

I live in Northern Ca and I was told by the 1st lawyer that the median was 66k.

My highest credit line was 125k. And they base it on income and your credit score which at the time was close to 800.

Most everyone who makes the kind of money that Debtmonster is asking about is self employed.

That proves that college is a waste. Why go through all of that hassle when you could simply be in your own business and make 3 to 20x more than working a day job?

That has been proven here recently.

I thought those $150-300k incomes were from day jobs. Here I go, being wrong again, just like I did with all of my past decisions that are putting me into BK.

[Cali]

We aren't self employed and most of my friends aren't either. So college can help you make very good money in the right industry.

That proves that college is a waste. Why go through all of that hassle when you could simply be in your own business and make 3 to 20x more than working a day job?

That has been proven here recently.

I thought those $150-300k incomes were from day jobs. Here I go, being wrong again, just like I did with all of my past decisions that are putting me into BK.

[debtmonster]

We aren't self employed and most of my friends aren't either. So college can help you make very good money in the right industry.

I don't know of any jobs where you can make $300k. That would be well worth paying $50,000 for a Bachelor's Degree to make that kind of cash.

[Cali]

I know attorney's, doctor's, Dean of Law and some CFOs that make that type of money. But it comes down to your location, experience and education.

I don't know of any jobs where you can make $300k. That would be well worth paying $50,000 for a Bachelor's Degree to make that kind of cash.

[debtmonster]

I know attorney's, doctor's, Dean of Law and some CFOs that make that type of money. But it comes down to your location, experience and education.

To start careers like that, you need to plan your career practically right out of high school. I'm 20 years behind the 8 ball on those deals.

$40-50k is about all I can get, no matter what state I move to.

I've been talking to my wife about picking a good state for web programming once we foreclose. I'm up in the air between Chicagoland, Maryland, Tennessee or some other nice state with lots of good jobs and fairly low cost of living.

[Overmylimit]

Cali is right I know lots of people who went to College and have careers who make that kind of money. I didn't mean ONLY self employed make that kind of income. I myself didn't go to College, but I would have liked to have gone if even just for the beer and girls lol. The other thing people don't understand is that if everyone decided to be in business for themselves we would all be out of business because who would be the customers?

[debtmonster]

Cali is right I know lots of people who went to College and have careers who make that kind of money. I didn't mean ONLY self employed make that kind of income. I myself didn't go to College, but I would have liked to have gone if even just for the beer and girls lol. The other thing people don't understand is that if everyone decided to be in business for themselves we would all be out of business because who would be the customers?

It's called "b2b"... LOTS of businesses have businesses as their customers. I've worked at companies that never dealt with consumers.

Back in the day lots of people worked for themselves. It looks like it's going to come to that point again where we have to since day jobs have all gone overseas.

[beachymama]

Mortgage (current home) monthly $1581.22 balance approx $298K
Mortgage (vacant home) monthly $850.01 (this is the lowest pick-a-payment) balance approx $196K
HELOC (vacant home) monthly $589.00 Variable rate, was over $1100 when stopped paying in Dec 07—now charged off)
Amex Delta Skymiles monthly $385.00 balance approx $17.5K
Wamu Visa monthly $225.00 balance approx $9K
Gymboree Visa monthly $100.00 balance approx $4.5K
BOA Elite Rewards monthly $375.00 balance approx $23K
Wamu Line of Credit monthly $50.00 balance approx $1.3K
Wells Fargo Line of Credit monthly $125.00 Variable rate, balance $23K
HSBC-GM Card monthly $85.00 balance approx $3.7K
Discover monthly $150.00 balance $7K
Sams Club monthly $50.00 balance $350.00
BECU Visa monthly $300.00 balance $13K
BECU Line of Credit monthly $350.00 balance $17K
Regions Visa monthly $450.00 balance $17K
Capital One Mastercard monthly $200.00 balance $16.5K
Hilton Honors AMEX monthly $110.00 balance approx $5.5K
BECU (Car) monthly $368.00 balance $19K

[Cali]

College was party time, undergrad and grad.

Cali is right I know lots of people who went to College and have careers who make that kind of money. I didn't mean ONLY self employed make that kind of income. I myself didn't go to College, but I would have liked to have gone if even just for the beer and girls lol. The other thing people don't understand is that if everyone decided to be in business for themselves we would all be out of business because who would be the customers?