seriously?!

[munchkn813]

We have the worst luck...seriously... I have been very nervous, but kind of excited about filing for bk and just getting all of this behind us and starting over, esp. for our two little girls. Right at Thanksgiving we needed new tires for our newer van so the inlaws gave us money for the 2 we needed as part of our Xmas present. At the same time our pos car (91 Plymouth Acclaim) neded catalyctic converter (something like that - whatever that is - cost $200 - my mom paid it) then the day before Christmas Eve the dang thing died at the dry cleaner when hubby stopped to pick up our converter. Seriously - just dead to the world. So Xmas Eve we had to have it towed and get a new starter and that cost like $330. We had just stopped paying credit cards around the 12th, so we paid for that. The darn thing is worth like -$100! Is loosing all it's paint and it's just bad, but we have to have 2 cars and have no money for a new car, so we had no choice but to put that money into it. Now 2 days ago hubby tells me the brakes are grinding on it. We are finished with it...we HAVE to get a new car! How does this work in bk? We obviously won't have the money for one until we get our tax return, and we are still debating on filing before or after the return. Can we take like 1-2K of our aprox. 3-4K tax return to put towards new car? Right now it looks like after as things don't seem to go well enough to get the money to do it before. I met with one lawyer last month, but am meeting with 3 more this week, but am stressing out about this.
The other thing..we finally get something good, but at the worst timing! It looks like DH may have won a 46" LCD TV from work a few days ago! No clue when we will actually be receiving it, but are they going to take it from us? We have always wanted a LCD TV...grrr... So...any hints about how this will work out?

[StartingOver08]

Check your state's vehicle exemptions and get a car with your tax refund that fits within the exemption. www.legalconsumer.com

Don't know about the gift. But if you don't actually have it before you file, its not yours, right? If you do have it before you file, it is not worth a retail value at all - it is only worth a garage sale value, no matter how new it is....