Barely over disposable income

[MakinMeCrazy]

Hi...I did the schedule J and even though out income is BELOW the state median, our Disposable is 223 on schedule J...my question is....I know it has to be only like up to maybe $100.......now beign that we're 223......I guess we will be put into a Ch 13........wil thye take the entire 223 or will they subtract the $100 your allowed to have and take $123?

I realise $100 isn't that much unless you don't have it..we are like $1400 under our state median....one more Question...it said on the means test ...if you are BELOW you need not take the rest of the test....would that mean you would not have to do a schedule J also? I'm just so curious about this. I called a legal clinic ..the man told me that in our state OHIO...that wouldn't matter BUT again that was a legal clinic, we are planning to see the Best lawyer NorthEast Ohio has in middle October. Thanks in ADVANCE

[adviceplease]

Are you sure that you are including all the groceries, gas, utilities, etc? You should go back through the utilities for the last 12 months and average it out because they probably are a lot less now in the summer than winter. Did you put down groceries that are close to the amount allowed by your state? I am going out and buying $300 extra in groceries this month because here the limit for 3 is around $600 and I usually spend only $300-$350 because we are poor and could never buy things like meat and you are darn right I am going to now we have suffered enough.

I am not sure about the means test question.

Hi...I did the schedule J and even though out income is BELOW the state median, our Disposable is 223 on schedule J...my question is....I know it has to be only like up to maybe $100.......now beign that we're 223......I guess we will be put into a Ch 13........wil thye take the entire 223 or will they subtract the $100 your allowed to have and take $123?

I realise $100 isn't that much unless you don't have it..we are like $1400 under our state median....one more Question...it said on the means test ...if you are BELOW you need not take the rest of the test....would that mean you would not have to do a schedule J also? I'm just so curious about this. I called a legal clinic ..the man told me that in our state OHIO...that wouldn't matter BUT again that was a legal clinic, we are planning to see the Best lawyer NorthEast Ohio has in middle October. Thanks in ADVANCE

[Amy26]

Depending on your district, they allow/disallow various things. I have a household of 2 with 1 income and we put down 650 per month for groceries/food and it went by without any question whatsoever... we also had internet/cable on there and my phone bill is like 150 a month... plus transportation... we pay for metro/gas/car/parking/tolls etc... One of the great things about retaining a lawyer for BK, I think, is that they know what your district allows and they can play with your expenses a little. Not like making things up but just helping you find things you may not have thought of or giving you a little more room for things that you lowballed.

I can't remember the exact number, but if youre DMI is over a certain amount then that means you can fund a Chapter 13. So, you want to make sure you have listed as much as humanly possible, your expenses.

If you are under median, then yes you do not need to take the rest of the means test. However, you still need to fill in your "future" expenses. You have to have a going forward budget.

[zpbk13]

I definitely recommend getting yourself a good lawyer who knows your district and what will be allowed. I gave myself my screen name because I had been told that we would be in a 13. One day my attorney emailed me and said that she believed she could squeeze into a 13 and that is what we ended up filing. Our 341 is Monday and I can't wait to put this all behind us.

Among other things, she "suggested" that we upgrade our cable package (we were paying $10 for just the bare bones reception coverage), we obtained life insurance policies (about $150 per month), beefed up our monthly donations to our religious organization and beefed up both our home phone package and our cell phone package. We also purchased a vehicle about six months before our filing. These suggestions may not work for everyone in every district but your attorney will know what will work in your situation. I wish you all the best!

[2manybills]

I definitely recommend getting yourself a good lawyer who knows your district and what will be allowed. I gave myself my screen name because I had been told that we would be in a 13. One day my attorney emailed me and said that she believed she could squeeze into a 13 and that is what we ended up filing. Our 341 is Monday and I can't wait to put this all behind us.

Among other things, she "suggested" that we upgrade our cable package (we were paying $10 for just the bare bones reception coverage), we obtained life insurance policies (about $150 per month), beefed up our monthly donations to our religious organization and beefed up both our home phone package and our cell phone package. We also purchased a vehicle about six months before our filing. These suggestions may not work for everyone in every district but your attorney will know what will work in your situation. I wish you all the best!

Did you mean you were squeezed into a 7?

[LuciluS]

We haven't filed Chapter 7 yet, but gave necessary papers to Paralegal last week. We met with our BK Attorney late last Sept. and had to wait until some income dropped off in Feb. 09.

It has not been easy, but I specifically did not cut any of our phone, cell phone, or satellite (like cable TV) just in case we might have had disposable income. Also took out decreasing life insurance for both hubby and I on our mortgage and a $500,000 accidental death policy as he is an over the road truck driver.

Well since then, we've had major medical bills out the wazoo and will be decreasing some of those 'luxury' items soon. Waiting until his family visits first week in October.

Go through your checkbook for the past 12 months and make sure you have accounted for everything. Also, even though you will be including your Credit Cards in your Bankruptcy, go through those statements looking for expenses.

Check out the links below also.

http://www.usdoj.gov/ust/eo/bapcpa/20061001/bci_data/national_expense_standards.htm

http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=104627,00.html

On the one above, make sure you go to the bottom of the page as there is additional information you will find helpful.

Good Luck!