Only passed means test by $150.00

[falken]

I just got off the phone with somebody tonight who filed a Chapter 13 and they said they are ever so sorry they did so. They told me it is haunting them big time and that they are being turned down for car loans and credit cards because they are stuck paying back a portion of their debts.

I think I found the problem. They are trying to apply for credit cards and car loans while in a 13.
Even if you just filed a 7, should your goal be to run up debt agian? If you couldn't afford to pay any of your debt back then how are you going to pay back the new debt?

[debtmonster]

I think I found the problem. They are trying to apply for credit cards and car loans while in a 13.
Even if you just filed a 7, should your goal be to run up debt agian? If you couldn't afford to pay any of your debt back then how are you going to pay back the new debt?

Yeah, I think that's what he tried to do. The conversation was cut short because the phone was handed to him during dinner while I was up visiting a family member who put the phone in my face asking me to ask him about the BK and they were all warning me not to do it. The gist of the conversation was that Ch. 13 was the worst thing he ever did. But the guy owned a nice Mercedes Benz and stuff that was paid off and he wanted to keep it.

But what about when you need a new car after they just took 1 or more cars in a Ch 7 you just filed? So you're not supposed to be able to drive back and forth to work anymore just because you went bankrupt? You need a reliable car. So now the banks are going to F you on getting financed? What are you supposed to do, sit him for 6 months after your discharge to add time to pass before you can qualify to buy a reliable car to get to work and not be forced to buy a $500 dollar beater car or some garbage like that?

I was telling people here to save up and pay cash and then I got the backlash saying that people can't afford to do that.

[hereforinfo]

But what about when you need a new car after they just took 1 or more cars in a Ch 7 you just filed? So you're not supposed to be able to drive back and forth to work anymore just because you went bankrupt? You need a reliable car. So now the banks are going to F you on getting financed? What are you supposed to do, sit him for 6 months after your discharge to add time to pass before you can qualify to buy a reliable car to get to work and not be forced to buy a $500 dollar beater car or some garbage like that?

Why would you need a car to get to work? I though you said you work at home and will never get another "job" again? You can take the bus or ride your bike if you need to go somewhere.

Why shouldn't the bank gouge you on interest, when you've proven time after time to be a huge credit risk, defaulting on all your loans in the past and several repos? Even if you can't file bankruptcy again for several years, that doesn't mean you won't default again. It's going to take someone with your financial past a LONG time to prove that you can be responsible with money. And since you said you haven't been paying any bills since January, it's not the bank's fault you haven't been able to save a dime for a car.

[debtmonster]

Why would you need a car to get to work? I though you said you work at home and will never get another "job" again? You can take the bus or ride your bike if you need to go somewhere.

I meant for everyone in general, not just me. Taking a bus 2 hours to work is not realistic. Especially for those who have kids. C'mon. Get real. Not everyone is some 18 to 22 year old kid.

[falken]

Why would you need a car to get to work? I though you said you work at home and will never get another "job" again? You can take the bus or ride your bike if you need to go somewhere.

I would have to disgree with that, depends on where you live. Here, for example, I would have to walk 2 miles to get to a bus stop that only stops there acouple of times a day and then potentially walk several more miles when I get off the bus depending on where I am going. Including in the dead of winter, heat of summer, etc.

Not every area has a good mass transit system.

[123ABC]

I have to agree with this as well. Where I live there is NO mass transit system. The closest transit system is in the next county! With out a car there are no options. I can not live with out a vehicle. Also I understand how people are saying just buy some old junker car or a kia but that does not work for everybody. I need to keep my Explorer because I NEED an SUV. With 2 big hairy dogs and needing to be able to haul things for the house a car does NOT work for me. Luckily I renegotiated my car loan and dropped the payment so I will be keeping it.

Everybodies situations are different and not everybody is here because they are irresponsible. I had a 750 credit score and money in the bank before I lost my job.

[hereforinfo]

I agree with you both. I'm playing devil's advocate and I was referring specifically to Debtmonster's situation. I'm not sure if you are familiar with his posts on this forum, but you may want to read a few and get an idea.

DM, according to your advice, one could just pick up and move somewhere with better mass transit! Isn't that what you advise people who live in states with income taxes or high cost of living, to simply move?

[justbroke]

I meant for everyone in general, not just me. Taking a bus 2 hours to work is not realistic. Especially for those who have kids. C'mon. Get real. Not everyone is some 18 to 22 year old kid.

Back 14 years ago, I was taking the bus and the subway daily. The bus ride was 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours each way, daily. The subway was 30 minutes each way, daily. I then walked 4-6 blocks to my office (and home). It was worth it, as I made 100% more than working locally.

FOr a person with children... I wouldn't wish this on them. I left my house at 5:30am daily (rain, sleet, snow, and chilling temps) to catch a 6:00am bus that got me into work, if I'm lucky, before 9am. Coming home, I'd leae at 5:30pm and literally run to the subway station and then to the bus. if I didn't get out of the office by 5:30pm, I would miss the 6pm bus, and need to wait for the 8pm bus to go home. The only thing nice about the 8pm bus, was that it only took 1 hour 30 minutes because there was no rush hour traffic, LOL. In the end, if I did make the 6pm bus, I'd be lucky to walk into the house at 8:30pm. Only to eat, sleep, get back up at 4:30am and start all over. You don't want to know what I was like getting home at 10:00pm after taking the 8pm bus home.

Anyhow, that was 15 hours a day spent away from home. With 6 hours of it commuting.

I don't think I can do that anymore, although I literally have traded the bus for planes, trains, and automobiles now. I spend about 20 hours a week commuting to my job (mostly airplane and in different States). That still beats 30 hours a week I was doing 14 years ago.

[debtmonster]

I agree with you both. I'm playing devil's advocate and I was referring specifically to Debtmonster's situation. I'm not sure if you are familiar with his posts on this forum, but you may want to read a few and get an idea.

DM, according to your advice, one could just pick up and move somewhere with better mass transit! Isn't that what you advise people who live in states with income taxes or high cost of living, to simply move?

Once again, you're putting words in my mouth. I am highly against mass transit. That is totally inconvenient to use those.

The problem is, once you plop down after a move, you can't always pick and choose where the job will be.

My aunt, for example, crashed her car. She was maybe 12 to 15 miles away from her job. When she checked the bus schedule, it was a 2 hour trip on multiple buses to get there. What about the rain and the heat? Who wants to sit outside waiting for a bus when it's pouring down rain here all the time or when it's 96-100 degrees outside? Or if you're up north, who wants to stand around in 0 to 10 degree weather?

YOU NEED A CAR in the United States. This is not Europe.

Just like the poster above said, to get to a bus is far. Even with us living in the city, you have to walk 6 to 8 blocks to get to a bus stop. Let's suppose you had to get to work and that morning it was pouring down rain for a few hours? You would be totally screwed.

SUV's did not always exist and people carried their dogs. You can get mini-vans cheap!

I like to stick with easy, 4-cylinder cars that I know I can work on. When you get a front-wheel drive 6-cylinder, many of them are the biggest pain in the a$$ to maintain. Stuff like Kia Rio's, Honda Civic's, Toyota Corolla's, Saturn Ion's, Chevy Cavalier's, Hyundai Elantra's, Mazda Protege's, Hyundai Sonata's... all of those are easy to change out the spark plugs, change the air filters and other stuff. They don't have the spark plugs buried behind the engine under the firewall.

The thing you you want to look for is a car with a TIMING CHAIN! Those things last a long time if you use the good synthetics. It's ZERO FUN changing timing belts, and more than often very expensive.

That's the good thing about the newer Saturn's and Chevy Cavalier's. Any of those cars that have the Ecotec engine. They are good running engines and easy to maintain. That's where GM finally did something right. They have good, reliable drivetrains for an American car.

I love the torque of the 6-cylinder, but I don't like it when it hits me in the wallet. That's what I won't miss about the BMW once they take it.

[debtmonster]

Back 14 years ago, I was taking the bus and the subway daily. The bus ride was 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours each way, daily. The subway was 30 minutes each way, daily. I then walked 4-6 blocks to my office (and home). It was worth it, as I made 100% more than working locally.

FOr a person with children... I wouldn't wish this on them. I left my house at 5:30am daily (rain, sleet, snow, and chilling temps) to catch a 6:00am bus that got me into work, if I'm lucky, before 9am. Coming home, I'd leae at 5:30pm and literally run to the subway station and then to the bus. if I didn't get out of the office by 5:30pm, I would miss the 6pm bus, and need to wait for the 8pm bus to go home. The only thing nice about the 8pm bus, was that it only took 1 hour 30 minutes because there was no rush hour traffic, LOL. In the end, if I did make the 6pm bus, I'd be lucky to walk into the house at 8:30pm. Only to eat, sleep, get back up at 4:30am and start all over. You don't want to know what I was like getting home at 10:00pm after taking the 8pm bus home.

Anyhow, that was 15 hours a day spent away from home. With 6 hours of it commuting.

I don't think I can do that anymore, although I literally have traded the bus for planes, trains, and automobiles now. I spend about 20 hours a week commuting to my job (mostly airplane and in different States). That still beats 30 hours a week I was doing 14 years ago.

You just proved my point. Thanks. hereforinfo, stop being a devil's advocate. Think of the the glass being half full, not half empty. Stop doubting my posts and be positive for once.

Thanks.

[OhioFiler]

Justbroke, you're making Ch. 7 appear to be more difficult than it really is. Maybe you make like $150,000/yr. and have a hard time qualifying, but about 90% of the country has $40,000/yr. or less income earners.

Chapter 7 is the easiest thing to do for the majority of the people. Your posts are doing nothing but scaring people. Bankruptcy is really not all that big of a deal the way you're making it. If it was, I'd be shaking in my boots and losing sleep over it.

Maybe if you're a doctor, lawyer or some other rich person who managed to buy all kinds of fancy toys and stuff and want to keep them, then Chapter 13 is good for you. But for the majority of our poor folks who don't have boats, ATV's, motorcycles, 2nd homes to use as rental properties, all kinds of expensive jewelry and everything else that a person gets into debt for, I dont have any of that stuff to worry about wanting to refinance anything. THEY CAN COME TAKE IT ALL! I want a CLEAN SLATE and want NO DEBT.

The richer you are, the harder bankruptcy is going to be for you. For us folks who make under $50,000 per year as a household income, they aren't to going say a word to us. We'll go to our 341, they'll ask us a few questions and that will be that. End of story. Then in 60 days it's over.

Many of those "rich" people are W-2 earners.

It doesn't appear your MLM ventures are all that profitable.

[debtmonster]

Many of those "rich" people are W-2 earners.

It doesn't appear your MLM ventures are all that profitable.

I never said I was rich. Not everyone in MLM is rich. You only have the potential to be. I know a lot of people working W-2 who are lucky to make $8 to $12/hr. I'd rather stick with my MLM making over $50k/yr. from home.

The idea is... "work once" and "get paid many".

I wish I could do that with a W-2 check. It just sucks that once you leave whatever company you work at, they won't pay you residiuals. They should. That would be neat. Sort of like how movie stars can make money when repeats keep playing.

Whatever you helped contribute at your company, whenever they use it long after you're going, they should just keep mailing you checks. Instead, when you quit, so do the paychecks. I don't like that. But in most cases, it's not you quitting... it's you getting laid off or fired which is the buzz kill.

[lovebirds]

I have to agree with this as well. Where I live there is NO mass transit system. The closest transit system is in the next county! With out a car there are no options. I can not live with out a vehicle. Also I understand how people are saying just buy some old junker car or a kia but that does not work for everybody. I need to keep my Explorer because I NEED an SUV. With 2 big hairy dogs and needing to be able to haul things for the house a car does NOT work for me. Luckily I renegotiated my car loan and dropped the payment so I will be keeping it.

Everybodies situations are different and not everybody is here because they are irresponsible. I had a 750 credit score and money in the bank before I lost my job.

Newer Kias are actually just as good as equivalent Nissan. And way better than any similarly priced American car.

I transport my french mastiff in my Nissan sentra BTW. Not sure if there are many dogs bigger than this.

I'll admit I hate SUV's. There should be a rule that you can't complain about gas prices if you own one. I hate that people want to get them to protect themselves from other SUV-owners. And I hate that the ruined my husband's life by hitting him at 40 mph at a redlight.

[debtmonster]

Newer Kias are actually just as good as equivalent Nissan. And way better than any similarly priced American car.

I transport my french mastiff in my Nissan sentra BTW. Not sure if there are many dogs bigger than this.

I'll admit I hate SUV's. There should be a rule that you can't complain about gas prices if you own one. I hate that people want to get them to protect themselves from other SUV-owners. And I hate that the ruined my husband's life by hitting him at 40 mph at a redlight.

How new does the Kia have to be?

They are reliable mechanically as far as getting you from A to B. It's what they look like after a few years.

The Nissan would be a better deal. You can get used Sentra's all day for cheap now. The ones after 2006 look really nice since they changed the body style.

Our family has 2 St. Bernards. The male is 190 lbs. If we had to, it would be no big deal putting that dog in the back seat of a Sentra, just as it would an SUV or mini-van. It's just nicer to have the SUV, but like what was said, "It's a want, not a need."

I just have to worry if my cars get taken within 6 weeks of me filing. If they do, I won't be able to finance a new car. Some of the car dealers I talked to said that the cars I have in my possession need to be discharged before I can finance a new one. If they took the cars a few weeks before discharge, I would be without a car for a long time. The Winn Dixie is a good hike away.

I'll have to talk my wife into use getting a scooter. That way I won't have to pay car payments or insurance. Just gas and tires.

[pookieny]

I think I found the problem. They are trying to apply for credit cards and car loans while in a 13.
Even if you just filed a 7, should your goal be to run up debt agian? If you couldn't afford to pay any of your debt back then how are you going to pay back the new debt?

My co-worker friend filed chapt 13 and she had to state that she would not accrue any new debt during it. I think I even read that in Bankruptcy for Dummies that you cannot get new credit or loans while in a chapt 13.

Am I wrong?