exspenses-I'm a mess

[smith2b555]

family of 3-me, daughter and son

What is a reasonably expense for clothing?

My daughter (14) would love to spend $300 but right now we spend very little (about $15 at goodwill on $1.23 Fridays once a month and not every month)

Also trying to figure home maintanance expense since I have not in the past, except the occasional furnace filter and soft water salt-or does that fall under household expenses? I don't know how to plan for what needs maintanance-first time single in 16 years-never had to deal with it. sad, huh? does anyone have examples what they included in home maintanance?

Is $200 too much for household goods like cleaning supplies, soaps, razors, hair stuff, makeup, batteries,etc

$750 for food

So far I have:
Income-$3440 before deductions, plus $600 rental income= $4040
-$672 taxes
-103 health insurance premiums

I don't know if I can deduct $108 for 401 loan repayment or $210 for contributions so I'm leaving them out of it for now-but they do come out of my check.

=$3265 bring home

primary home mortgage= $1080
rental home mortgage= $592 (taxes and insurance included in both)
groceries $750
Gas & Elec $270 (took bills for last 12 months and this is average0
garbage, sewer and water $50
phone (cell only) $75
Cable & internet $120
gas $150
netflix $30 (can I keep that)
car insurance $40
household goods ?
clothing ?
home maint. ?
car maint. ?


I'm a smoker too.....where does that fit in? If I include the deductions for my 401 I'm out of money anyways........I feel like this is hopeless......

Was this easy for everyone else? I feel weird it's hard for me.

[ccsjoe]

Take a breather smith. Clothes you can reasonably put 75 to 100. Home maintenance claim 50, reasonable number. I'd increase food a bit, we're family of 3, child is 4, and we claimed 900. You can claim netflix on J, but, trustee might raise an eyebrow since you caim cable already. Car maintenance, think annual maintenance, divide by 12 (how many times/year oil changes, filters, etc?)

[smith2b555]

I probably should cancel the netflix. It's definatally a luxury. Is $30 for car maint. about right? Do they allow you to put money towards a "just in case" the car breaks? My car is 10 years old but it only has 80,000 miles.

Your probably right about the food. My two are 14 and 9. My boy eats like a bird. 5x his weight and all day, LOL.

If I am negative in the expenses, how will they view that? I know it shows I need to file but will they think I'm unable to budget post-filing?

Do I need to stop my 401K contributions? If I do quit completely my companies policy is that you cannot quit and start again later. I could reduce it. I only contribute so much because they match. I definately have to do the loan payments.

Thanks for all your help.

[free2breathe]

When it comes to your car, consider annual registration fees, tires, oil changes, basic upkeep, etc. It adds up pretty quickly if you think it through. We were careful to try to figure conservatively while still allowing enough to be realistic. I think sometimes people really shortchange themselves on the expenses, when the reality is they all add up.

[debee]

Your lawyer ought to know what will fly past your trustee and what it not ok in your area. One of the lawyers I spoke to told me if we got the past the means test don't worry about the rest because we could always make that work.

There's a user on this forum named LALADY. She was able to include her 401k loan repayments in her chapter 7 as an expense because her employer did not allow for any other options. Either she repaid or was fired. No hardship withdrawals allowed. (If you want to read her posts, just search her name in "advanced search")

As for smoking, I read that someone here budgeted an amount for "smoking cessation products" and that went through just fine. He/she wasn't really quitting as I understood it, they were just worried the tobacco might not fly.

[smith2b555]

Your lawyer ought to know what will fly past your trustee and what it not ok in your area. One of the lawyers I spoke to told me if we got the past the means test don't worry about the rest because we could always make that work.

I am going to see my lawyer again tomorrow. I am 30K under median and pass the means test without deducting 401K deductions and still come out negative DMI.