Recent Charges at walmart or Target or Costco

[mmenz22779]

are charges made at these stores using a unsecured visa or mastercard better than going to say home depot other specialty retail stores.

I ask because i have come to realize that we may need to file for BK in april, may or june as we may not have no disposable income any more (new child YIPEE

I am not sure if i will file but want to get my ducks in a row early and not wait till last minute.

I need to get some house hold items, such as lawn equipment (i had to cancel my lawn person to save money) baby supplies cleaning supplies ect i also need to get a pool gate installed.

I fully intend to make the payments as much as i can if not pay them off but life happens and I may not be able to pay them off in full when our child is born and decide to go bk to protect our selves of 2 forecloses that will happen next year.

At minimum i will make the payments for 6 months and not use the cards anymore before that.

5 questions

1) does using your credit cards at walmart, costco ect.. look better than going to specialty stores as the charges are more generic in nature and the abuse presumption would not arise. It would be hard to explain to the trustee that you bought a baby crib at Best Buy

2) Does the trustee ask for receipts from these stores as the credit card statement just shows WALMART charge or just ask you about the charges? I always lose my receipts.

3) If i am making the minimum payments on them for 6 months after usage then if we need to file BK we would be safe?

4) what about total charges under 1000? A lawnmower and other stuff can easily cost more that 1000, but my credit card limit is 4800, so i guess i want to know if i spent 1000 on a card that has a credit limit of 4800 and make the monthly payments would that look ok?

5) Currently i owe 20k in credit card debt ove the period of a year (60% was gambling debt early during the year) buy have never been late and made some big payments it just kept going back and forth use big pay big use big pay big then i finally lost. But i have been making the payments and never been late.

Our total BK7 would be 500k in real-estate debt and 20k in credit card debt. Does a ratio like this look ok. My combined income is 120k but my expenses total 10000 so i am do qualify for ch 7. So it is not like I make 6 bucks an hour working at burger king and have 100k in credit card debt, the story is we made good income bought investment properties a few years ago. At that time we had extra income then the real estate market went down, our mortgages adjusted and our first miracle son was born (IVF) and we are expecting our second child (NO IVF ) Since then i have made charges on master and visa card mostly gambling have paid them and never been late then bet wrong and lost it, still paying them but now am barely making it. So if we cannot swing it then time for BK. I have had a consultation with a lawyer but did not retain them as i was just finding out info, then last week (after the consult) i decided to give it one last try and advanced 4400 to place a bet and lost that one, so now i have a recent charge of 4400. I will pay on this one as well for 6 months.

I am no longer betting as it has really impacted me and i am tired. But wanted to know am i SOL or would i be safe in a CH 7 6-8 months from now.

thanks all

[mmenz22779]

anyone?

[kimba251]

Personally I'd be very careful. YOu are *planning* on making purchases you have no intention of fully paying off. It's called fraud and can get you into big trouble.

If you can't afford it I wouldn't get it. A trustee might look at a lawnmower bought after the season is over and on the eve of your bankruptcy as a presumption of abuse.

For your new baby (congrats) a crib is a needed but I woudn't go overboard with the new babies "needs".

It's kind of bad karma I think but good luck with whatever you decide to do.

[magyar123]

Wait until June - 8 more months - to file, and buy those things at Walmart or Target now. Most lawyers, and posters here will advise you to stop using credit cards that you plan to file on 90 days - 3 months before filing. So 8, possibly even 7 months shouldn't raise any flags.

[Flamingo]

As Kimba251 states, you are purchasing items without the intent to pay the creditor(s) back for the purchases. That is fraud and could become an issue if the trustee suspects fraud while going through your paperwork. You state in your posting you "may not have no disposable income anymore" due to a new child on the way. Your income situation will be reviewed along with bank and other statements and they can go back more than six months if anything is suspected as to your situation. Trustees are far from stupid and know all the tricks.

You are playing guessing games right now and you could be playing with fire in the long run. Best of luck to you and to your growing family!