quick question

[okiemom2008]

If you quit paying your bills because there is really no reason to since you are filing bk, and you still have your paycheck what do you do with your extra money? Lawyer says to buy clothing and food with it but we are so not used to buying things that it feels really weird to us. Just wanting to see what other people do with theirs.

I know that you can put 5k each in an IRA but I am talking about what you are doing with the extra money left over from paycheck? Can you buy like gift cards to help you later on down the road?

[Flamingo]

We stopped our car and credit card payments in February 2006 and filed April 2006. With those extra funds we had repairs done to vehicles and house because we faced five years of the Chapter 13 plan and purchased food and necessities. Some folks utilize it to pay for the attorney/filing fees if they have not yet already done so. Be careful what you purchase and keep receipts. Since you are filing Chapter 7 you will not have to worry about getting through years of a Chapter 13 but will continue to have that cash after discharge. Then you can start to save it. Best of luck to you.

[hopeforus]

This is what I'm wondering too. I'm thinking we will start my son on some extra therapy outside of what school provides because that can be ongoing and something we can hopefully prove and get passed off on our expense sheet when we file. I'm trying to think of it as "ok, if we don't have our mortgage and our credit cards... how will we be living" because if you have money left over you will be forced into a Chapter 13. Right? So I'm going to try to budget out our expenses perfectly including the things my son needs which we hadn't been able to provide for before. But what do you do if you don't have those expenses all the time? I assume you'd just have to do a chapter 13 then right? I mean they aren't going to approve 500.00 worth of clothes every month I'm sure.

[fltoo]

My lawyer nixed the idea of putting money in an IRA unless you have a history of doing it. Check that one out.

[hopeforus]

What's considered a history? 6mos? In our new budget we would be able to give to our church again which is important to us. We hadn't been able to do that much. Will 6mos of following the same budget be good?

[okiemom2008]

My lawyer nixed the idea of putting money in an IRA unless you have a history of doing it. Check that one out.

Really, dang I was counting on that. My husband got paid and the lawyer said not to pay anything but we still had to pay utlilities and such and I thought about going to the dentist to get my teeth cleaned. I have not had them cleaned in 3 or 4 years(I know bad me!) but I don't want it to look like we are just going crazy or something. Neither one of us go to the doc or dentist or anything ever..we just deal with whatever it is but I was really wanting to get my teeth cleaned just because I used to do it every 6 months and I miss it(sad, I know!)

[okiemom2008]

We stopped our car and credit card payments in February 2006 and filed April 2006. With those extra funds we had repairs done to vehicles and house because we faced five years of the Chapter 13 plan and purchased food and necessities. Some folks utilize it to pay for the attorney/filing fees if they have not yet already done so. Be careful what you purchase and keep receipts. Since you are filing Chapter 7 you will not have to worry about getting through years of a Chapter 13 but will continue to have that cash after discharge. Then you can start to save it. Best of luck to you.

Thanks! My vehicle is basically new so I don't really need anything done to it. I live in a rental and my 2homes I own are going to be taken away so I don't want to do repairs. He said to spend it on food and clothing. So if I go to Dillards and have a 1100 purchase of clothing for all of us on one day are they going to say anything? I would just use my debit card or I guess I could go get cash out and spend it that way? I don't know..I just feel weird like I am not supposed to do it but I don't want to just throw it away on stupid things like eating out...or stuff we don't need.

[GreenInkOnPaper]

Really, dang I was counting on that. My husband got paid and the lawyer said not to pay anything but we still had to pay utlilities and such and I thought about going to the dentist to get my teeth cleaned. I have not had them cleaned in 3 or 4 years(I know bad me!) but I don't want it to look like we are just going crazy or something. Neither one of us go to the doc or dentist or anything ever..we just deal with whatever it is but I was really wanting to get my teeth cleaned just because I used to do it every 6 months and I miss it(sad, I know!)

No one, not even the meanest or pickiest trustee is ever going to look at dentist or doctor visits as extravagant. Go get your kid's (if ya got them), hubby's and your teeth cleaned!

[okiemom2008]

No one, not even the meanest or pickiest trustee is ever going to look at dentist or doctor visits as extravagant. Go get your kid's (if ya got them), hubby's and your teeth cleaned!

Really? I feel so much better about it now. I was going to call and get an appointment but I wanted to talk to the lawyer and see if that was going to look like we were just blowing money but now I will be going to the dentist as well as my husband and son! Thanks

[fltoo]

Well being self employed, my "history" would constitute buying an IRA every year which I did not do.

Get the whole family to the dentist! Get your annual medical check ups. Buy extra food. I would not go to the store and buy tons of clothes, but maybe something reasonable and space it out weekly. All valid expenses that won't raise a flag.

And....I would have absolutely no problem in tucking away some cash that would not be missed. Just use some common sense with it.

[anime-chicka]

No one, not even the meanest or pickiest trustee is ever going to look at dentist or doctor visits as extravagant. Go get your kid's (if ya got them), hubby's and your teeth cleaned!

Ditto on this. Please get your teeth looked at/cleaned/etc. I let mine go for over 4 years (no insurance) and I've spent the last 3 years getting work done on it, including one extraction.

[willsurvive]

I would go to dentist, buy extra food, clothing, and any repairs needed on vehicle (oil changes), etc. I would not spend an excessive amount on clothing though. A purchase of $1,100 might raise an eyebrow or two. I would go space it out evenly.

[jessegirl]

Whenever i would go food shopping i would do a debit and take extra money and just keep doing that and putting it in my draw. This way if you need to pay something or do something you have the money to do it with. I would go food shopping 2 times a week and hit the debit foran extra 20-60 dollars depending on how much the food bill was. I didn't want it to look suspicious.