?.... Can you include utilites in with the food, clothing etc...

[nebraskamom]

that you can use before filing for bankrupsy?

My husband told me that he was told we can spend our money on food, clothing, hygiene items, and house payments. But that utilites are not considered something we "need" to live. So they cant include them in the money we have to spend before filing.

Anyone have any advise?

[spearmint]

Sometimes I wonder what planet those who made these laws lived on!

[jennordhavn]

Utilities such as heat, water, etc. are definitely necessities. You should have no problem if you pay these types of things before you file.

[nebraskamom]

Utilities such as heat, water, etc. are definitely necessities. You should have no problem if you pay these types of things before you file.

So does mean we have to include reciepts or proof like we do with the food and clothing, for the utilities, when we start to file for bankrupsy?

It just didnt sound right when my husband came home saying we couldnt include our utilites, such as our heat, water or electric, but we can put down up to 2 house payments, food, clothing.

[justbroke]

Definitely make sure your utility payments are up to date and current!!!

[nebraskamom]

Definitely make sure your utility payments are up to date and current!!!

Yes everything is all up to date and current.

We recieved our taxes on Feb 20th and our lawyer said we could keep any reciepts for the things we could buy for after that date.
I guess I will just print out a copy of the checks I wrote to the companies, for our water, heat and electric.

[jennordhavn]

If your expenses are reasonable and fit within the IRS guidelines, you will probably not be asked for receipts. However, it can't hurt to have them available just in case. Good luck.

[nebraskamom]

Thanks for all the advise! Im going to have to give our lawyer a call today and ask myself if what my husband said is true. He came home saying we couldnt' include utilites. That doesnt make sense to me, since its something we need to live.

[wonkettegirl]

There must be some kind of miscommunication. Perhaps your attorney meant utilities like two phone lines, or cable TV, or internet access? Because heat, electric, gas and water are definitely necessities!

[OhioFiler]

You can pay your cable bill, cell phone and ISP. Without the ISP you'd not be able to read all this wisdom here!

[nebraskamom]

What we have in bills are the following:

water Bill
waste bill
electric Bill
Phone-internet-tv (all in one)
Cell Phone (we got one due to having Time warner, they have been having alot of issues with their services... our phone, internet and tv would go out and they dont have 24 hour service, so who knows how long it will be off... so incase of an emergency, we got a cell phone for a back up)
Gas Bill
Car Insurance

I think thats all...

[EricaCallaha]

You can use it for all of those things. The trustee just might take issue if you subscribe to every channel that the cable provider offers. But phone, gas, electric, water, sewage and trash are necessities. No matter what....

Good luck.

[nebraskamom]

Thanks for the info! I will have to get in touch with our lawyer and talk to him myself.

[willbfree]

Good question indeed. I hope we can pay utilities ahead because I have paid every utility we use for two months service this month in prep for filing. Trying to survive during the period between filing and the 341 meeting.