Still worrying...

[brendamc67]

After sitting down and figuring out everything that my husband and I spend each month, at the end of our monthly expenses, I figured we're going to have about $500 unaccounted for.
We are $4,000 below the median income for our state (washington) and when i looked at the form, it would seem that we don't have to take the means test because of that.
My question is: how likely is it that the trustee will look at that "net" on our monthly expenses and say ... these people need to be in a Chapter 13 rather than Chapter 7?
Right now we are living in a fifth wheel that we bought about two years ago used. Its current value is $14,000 (i placed it on the low end because our one tipout is all messed up (the floor is ripped away from the side) and we had to rip out the carpet after our dogs got done with it....). We have it on my mom's property and pay her rent to stay here. My husband said we should up the rent amount, but I don't want to cause her any tax distress if they dig too deep. Right now what we pay her pays her property tax (at least in large part, not altogether).
Here are our bills:
Car insurance: $83
Life insurance: $80
Rent to my mother: $150
Utilities to my mother: $100
Phone (cell, no landline because we would have to have a ditch dug to have a landline): $100 average
Cable with internet: $110
Storage for all our furniture: $400
Gasoline monthly: $300
Propane for heat and cooking: $250
Average monthly cost of our medications: $500
Misc. medical supplies (alcohol pads, glucose tabs): $20
Groceries: $500
401k loan payment: $140
Laundry: $125
Veterinary for our cats (8) and dogs (3): $100
Entertainment: $100
Clothing: $100
Charitable contributions: $20
Home maintenance and repairs: $75


I am wondering if we would be allowed to include a dental expense. Neither I or my husband have been to the dentist in several years, and I have one broken tooth and a couple that are cracked and paining me. I know that my husband has one broken tooth. I didn't know if I could get an estimate for repairs and average that out over a year???


Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[SeattleBK]

I filed in Western Washington State

I'm not sure.

My expenses totaled were negative -$300, but from reading some of the comments on the BKForum, I made a mistake and included my student loan of $300 something on my schedule J, but the trustee never said anything about it.


I was looking for something to increase, but your expenses look about the same as mine, except I had $35 for dental expenses.

Back when I was going through BK, I also down loaded and saved some example cases from pacer that were completed by local attorneys and one of them has a $150 recreation expense, and this was a single person on Social Security so you might have some leave way there.

They also so have expenses for, hair cut and nails on line 17. Nails might be a bit much though