Filed chapter 7, have my 341 this week...

[jojo]

From when I filed, attorney said not to use checking/savings accounts and on payday, withdraw my $$ and pay with cash.
Have been doing that, how much longer do I need to continue? It is sooo difficult to have to make house payment and so forth with money orders.
When can I start reusing my accounts?

[spidge]

So you are saying one should remove direct deposit from payroll and just cash the checks and pay bills with money orders. What a pain in the but. Something to look foreword to I guess.

[jojo]

So you are saying one should remove direct deposit from payroll and just cash the checks and pay bills with money orders. What a pain in the but. Something to look foreword to I guess.

No, he told me I didn't need to stop payroll deduction, just withdraw the money on payday and pay everything with cash. Was told it would look bad to have $1000 in the account for 10 days (for example) before the mortgage company or utility companies withdrew it.
When can I go back to normal???? Somebody tell me please.

[Doghouse]

My lawyer told me otherwise. I filed on 4/24 and she said there's no problem with depositing my paycheck and spending money in a normal capacity to pay bills, food, auto etc. It's what you had in your account as of filing date that's important. No need to withdraw the money and start paying cash.

[Iamtoobroke]

My attorney's advice was the same as Doghouse's. You are expected to pay your bills and normal living expenses with your paycheck. You have to live! As Doghouse said amount in your account as of filing date is the important thing.

[jb1231]

Do they continue to look at your account after the filing date?

[Iamtoobroke]

I'm not sure--it may vary from district to district. I had to bring the statement showing my balance the day I filed. That was the most current statement I had at the time of my 341.

[OregonMom]

I agree with doghouse, you have to continue to live and they know that. I only had to show bank statements up until the dau I filed.

[roozterdvx]

we filed on a Wed. so the payroll statements we filed with covered the week prior.
The TT asked for an additional week of payroll reports to cover up to our filing date

[Floridagail]

Right before the 341 meeting I had to provide bank statement showing file date balance.
to my attorney for trustee. I kept very little money in my bank accounts up to file date. after 2 weeks I felt okay to use them again. ( My Cu had pulled my debit card when I stopped paying credit line. but didnot close checking or savings.)
I had opened new account with Sun bank 4mos before filing as precaution. Glad I did.
As Cu tried to trick me into paying my CL to be able to use my Debit card. I will close them after discharge if they are still open.
Glad it was not Wells Fargo. I paid my bills as usual with money orders. Listed my cash on hand at bankruptcy filing. I just did not any freeze on my accounts.

[WillinVT]

I think the reason some people (myself included) stop having there paycheck direct deposit into there account is because there account is with a bank you have a credit card / loan with that is also a creditor or people are worried that one of your creditors will try to take money from your account without authorization.

The reason I stopped having my paychecks deposited into my account is because the checking account I currently have is the one I used to pay my creditors each month. So far, no one has tried to take money out. Who knows what lies in the future, but for now, I have been cashing all of my checks and paying either by money order (yes they are a pain) or with cash.

I have the bare minimum in my account to avoid fee's.

I want to get into the habit of paying for most things with cash or money orders anyway. The place I rent from likes to wait between 15 and 25 days to cash our rent check and that worries me.

Hopefully by October, the wife, the kids and I will be out of our apartment and moving into a new place

[LuciluS]

From when I filed, attorney said not to use checking/savings accounts and on payday, withdraw my $$ and pay with cash.
Have been doing that, how much longer do I need to continue? It is sooo difficult to have to make house payment and so forth with money orders.
When can I start reusing my accounts?

You are in the 'Automatic Stay' period as your Bankruptcy has been filed. You can start using your checking account at any time. It's the 'Day' you filed that is important as to how many $ were in the account. Hoping it was under $160 on that day.

Luci