looking for expenses

[floridian]

All your unsecured debt is discharged. You can't pick and choose.

where is my lawyer when i need him!..well, if i go foward with the bk, the personal loan will be just one more down the tube....

[lrprn]

i guess that if i want it as an exense, i need to call citibank and see if i can catch up, as im 3 months late.... or should i wait for them to deal with me?

If the Citi "loan" is not secured, then you're going to have an impossible time justifying keeping it as an expense when you file bk.

[DebtStinks]

Are you on a fixed income? Can you reduce your income for a few months to get your 6 month average down?

You might list out all your current expenses in a post... might help to see where you might be missing something. Also what county are you in and what is your current 6 month average monthly income. I'd like to run your numbers on the means test to see how it looks. Also how many in your household? Can you find a dependent real quick? =)

[floridian]

heres a brief rundown, the median annual income for my area is about 40k bucks...
disability retirement....2445 monthly gross and SS is 1584
expenses.....
590....mortgage including taxes and insurance
500...car
85...car ins
200..electric
85...water
35...telephone
60...dish tv
109..cell phone
60...internet
150...lawn and home maintainance
500...food (i dont cook)
25...clothing
25...laundry
50...med, dentist
300... gasoline
50...entertainment
life ins...20
health ins...450
assist elderly mom (no reciepts)...200
280...federal tax witholding

lawyer just told me that my trips for skin surgery every 3 months to asheville nc are deductable...200 for gas and motel..
thats pretty much all i have..

[catleg]

That looks pretty solid, 3764 out of about 4k accounted for. I imagine some of those could be "too high" but others could be "too low".
I would increase clothing, home maint, med/dental, entertainment (1.50/day?) -- double all of them
where is pet care?

[floridian]

which ones are too high? i have emailed my lawyer several high low questions, to no avail.. i guess he doesnt want to put his stamp of approval on anything...
i spend at least 150 per month on pet supplies, will that fly? ive got 10 cats, although i hate to admit it...
i dont have receipts for most of my expenses....
will a health club dues 40 per month fly in florida?

im worried about getting called on the 200 that i help my mom out with...

[catleg]

i thought cellphone, gasoline, and food might be targeted for attention, but i don't think that means you should reduce, just pad somewhere else or divide into smaller categories.
definitely add the pet care
i would add newspaper as a separate category from entertainment
if you travel for medical treatment i would document all the associated expenses and the frequency of your trips and normalize to get a monthly amount
if you provide support for your mother at the nursing home document that too
health club dues should be fine
whenever you can break an item down into smaller detail do it
i would add atm fees 10/month .. seriously
i would break food down into subcategories
breakfast $5/day: mcdonalds value meal plus senior coffee
lunch $8/day: fast food sandwich chips and drink
dinner $10/day: early bird dinner (you might even push this up another $2 "with tip")
that's 23/day times 30 days = 690/month
drive them crazy with detail!!

[floridian]

am i going to have to produce receipts for these things?

the lawyer said that if i get a 13, im looking at 300 per month for 3 years... if i have more expenses and still get a 13, does that mean i would have to pay less than 300?

[LuciluS]

You show your meds/dentist at $50 a month and you state you go every 3 months to have skin surgery and you spend $200 for gas and motel. Does your health insurance pay for your skin surgery or do you have to pay a portion of it? If so, surely it's not in the $50 a month is it? I don't know what kind of skin surgery you have, but surely you have extra expenses in Bandages, gauzes etc.


I'm disabled and have Medicare along with a supplemental health/prescription policy. I just had skin cancer surgery March 16th and it cost me $250 just for Co-Pay. I see a Pain Management Doctor each month and that is $35 a month. My prescriptions are $125 a month.

I know the last page of the forms we received from our Attorney, he asks if there is any additional information we feel he needs to know about. I intend to explain I'm 100% disabled and my husband had 5 bypass surgery & pacemaker & has dietary needs.

I noticed you receive Disability retirement. Are you sure that $50 a month is correct for ALL your prescriptions, doctors/surgeons/dentists/radiologists, x-rays, bloodwork, etc.

Seems to me you are paying cash for a lot of things and don't have receipts to document it. However, when it comes to medical, you should receive an EOB (form from your insurance company) that shows what you owe. Do you have your utility bills, cellphone bills.

By the time we file, I will have 9 months worth of receipts for Everything! Could have had 12 months IF our Attorney had told us this during our Free Consultation, but that's water under the Bridge. However, if questioned by Trustee, I will be honest and tell him why we don't have 12 months worth of receipts.

You have car at $500. Does that include maintenance on the car like oil changes? Your cell phone bill is higher than what our two cellphones are, but then your telephone bill is Sooo low. Guess you use your cellphone to make long distance calls where we pay extra on our landline for Unlimited Long Distance.

Will you have another skin surgery before you file so you can keep receipts? Same thing with helping your mother - Receipts?? I don't know when you are filing, but maybe, there is time to keep all of your receipts for a month or two, hopefully longer.

Just trying to help.

Luci

[floridian]

i was afraid to use the help i give my mom as a deduction, as she is in a govt assisted apt.... they audit her often and if they find out, they will up her rent...
the reason the cell phone is so high, is that i have two... one i let mom use...

[relief13035]

We claimed $220 per month as expenses caring my my mother-in-law. She lives in a house we bought for her. It's in a gated retirement community about 5 minutes from our home. She loves it because she feels like she still has her independance, but we are close. She pays rent in the exact amount of the mortgage. BUT we pay the HOA and her water bill each month, because she can't afford it. These expenses were never questioned in our BK case.

[LuciluS]

i was afraid to use the help i give my mom as a deduction, as she is in a govt assisted apt.... they audit her often and if they find out, they will up her rent...
the reason the cell phone is so high, is that i have two... one i let mom use...

Just sent you a PM since this post is going on 4 pages long LOL!

Luci

[whipster1]

Here in TX the SS is not considered at all, you put it on the income side then put a deduction for the full amount on the expense side of the budget. Not sure if FL is the same but ask your atty.

heres a brief rundown, the median annual income for my area is about 40k bucks...
disability retirement....2445 monthly gross and SS is 1584
expenses.....
590....mortgage including taxes and insurance
500...car
85...car ins
200..electric
85...water
35...telephone
60...dish tv
109..cell phone
60...internet
150...lawn and home maintainance
500...food (i dont cook)
25...clothing
25...laundry
50...med, dentist
300... gasoline
50...entertainment
life ins...20
health ins...450
assist elderly mom (no reciepts)...200
280...federal tax witholding

lawyer just told me that my trips for skin surgery every 3 months to asheville nc are deductable...200 for gas and motel..
thats pretty much all i have..