Filed 02/12/09 and Very nervous

[mindy0795]

My dh and I filed Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in PA on 02/12/09. We had no other choice. I worked for a mortgage company for 3 years and lost my salary 2 years ago and went to commission only. I was officially laid off November 2008 and have yet to find employment. We have about 40,000 in CC debt and another 5,000 in hospital bills and we are a no asset case. We are about 15,000 under the median income but the attorney feels our "food" expense is high and will be questioned. Basically we spend about $740 a month for food/personal hygiene products and paper products and that is for a family of 4. Our attorney would not break it down said we had to list the cleaning supplies/paper products/personal hygiene in the food expense. I also explained to him this does include school lunches for 2 children. The only thing I can figure out is that he must not have children or his wife does all the grocery shopping and he doesn't have a clue to what things cost.
Our attorney stated it does not go by the IRS limits of what we can list but what we actually spend. I do have receipts for the last 3 months showing our "food" bill is around $740.00 a month. He said even though we can prove what we spend the trustee could still not allow it. Right now our disposable income is +40.00 a month.

We are so nervous about all of this and our meeting with the trustee isn't until March 26.
Does anyone else think our "food" expense is outrageous for a family of 4?

[BKParalegal]

Your attorney is an idiot and as long as you answer the trustee with simple answers and don't babble, you should be clean.

I easily put in $850 to a $1,000 for a family of four, and with kids in school, you can add a seperate entry of Children's Education Expense. Your attorney is an idiot.


PS Your attorney is an idiot.

Good Luck

[mindy0795]

We figured he was after all the errors but we already paid him and can't come up with another $1500 to pay someone else. He stated that the trustee goes by other filers expenses listed on the schedule J and even though we are below the irs limits it doesn't matter. I will make sure we tell the trustee exactly what is figured into the "food" expense.

Thanks BK Paralegal!

[GWBcasualty]

Am I missing something?

We are about 15,000 under the median income but the attorney feels our "food" expense is high and will be questioned.

If you are filing for Ch 7 and you are $15K under the median income... does it really matter where you spend your money?? Is not like you are $15K ABOVE the median and you are trying to inflate your expenses to pass the means test!

Can they push in a Ch 13 a filer with documented income below the median??

[jennordhavn]

I guess maybe it depends on where you live, but that doesn't sound high to me. I listed $840 for a family of four, plus I put a separate category under "other" for "Childcare, school fees/supplies, diapers, toiletries, haircuts, gifts" which was $407 (about $300 was childcare).

The trustee didn't question any of my expenses.

[okiebk09]

We are fam of 4 and ours says $750 a month. IMO food has gone up in the last 6 months and i don't know about up there but down here school lunches are at least $40 a month for one kid and that is not eating breakfast at school either. So I think it is fine. I would not worry.

[blankslate]

Your attorney is an idiot and as long as you answer the trustee with simple answers and don't babble, you should be clean.

I easily put in $850 to a $1,000 for a family of four, and with kids in school, you can add a seperate entry of Children's Education Expense. Your attorney is an idiot.


PS Your attorney is an idiot.

Good Luck

LMAO!!! There was another thread somewhere... I think in General Talk about the IRS averages for food expenses and I'm pretty sure you are way under that for a family of four and also being thrifty.

Just show your reciepts and tell your attorney the best advertising is word of mouth and you will be telling ALL of your friends about your experience with him.

[IBroke]

So $6.25/person/day is considered much?
I don't know what this attorney is doing when he's not in the office but I know for sure he's not grocery-shopping..

[B65]

your way under

for a family of four way under..... I would leave it as it is and you have the reciepts... to be honest ours was a lot higher for a family of 5... the irs standards are much higher than that for a family of four......

[Tbornetun]

As BKParalegal said, Your attorney is an idiot! lol, I completly agree. Has this attorney done much bankruptcy before? Sounds like he doesn't know what he is doing.