Keeping cash @ home, deposit enough to pay bills...

[jnfrross]

Hi,

I keep cash at home "under my mattress" because I'm really afraid that one of my creditors will seize my account. One of my cc that I owe is at the same financial institution. I deposit enough to pay a one bill at a time. I have recently opened an account at a credit union. Surprisingly, I didn't have a problem. I didn't think I could open an account anywhere. I just use cash for everyday spending such as food, school supplies, clothes, etc. I have about $2k at the moment but by the time I file I will have a lot less. My question is will my actions raise some questions with the trustee when he looks at the statements?

Thanks,
Jennifer R

[tcreegan]

Hi jennifer,

We did the same thing before our BK, and I have seen numerous posts of folks here that have done this. Its not illegal or fraudulant and as long as you are honest about it if asked it will not be a problem.

In CA, if you are using System 1 you should spend all the $$ on legit expenses. If you are using System 2 there is a wildcard that could exempt it.

Hang in there, your bank accts are soon to be free of creditors...

Tom in Colo

[backtoschool]

As long as you declare the cash as an asset and exempt it there is no problem. Understand though, that if you have the type of trustee that looks closely at your bank statements, he might ask some questions as to the cash deposits and try to figure out if you are hiding any money. If you are honest as to why you have the money in cash and why you are depositing it that way that will be enough explanation. A lot of people have bank levies and judgments going into bk and pay bills this way until they are under the protection of the automatic stay.

[tobee43]

Hi,

I keep cash at home "under my mattress" because I'm really afraid that one of my creditors will seize my account. One of my cc that I owe is at the same financial institution. I deposit enough to pay a one bill at a time. I have recently opened an account at a credit union. Surprisingly, I didn't have a problem. I didn't think I could open an account anywhere. I just use cash for everyday spending such as food, school supplies, clothes, etc. I have about $2k at the moment but by the time I file I will have a lot less. My question is will my actions raise some questions with the trustee when he looks at the statements?

Thanks,
Jennifer R

during our bk "processing" period...we just did an in and out basis for our money...we did, as you did open up an account with a credit union and also a small community bank. we paid all our "normal" bills via the checking accounts because i wanted it to appear as normal and consistent as possible.we would cash our checks and just deposit exactly what we needed to pay and then hold the rest...which wasn't much...just as you are doing.

[AngelinaCatHub]

Your practice of cash is excellent and good practice for your "new start". Except that we are out of the woods, we would do that today. We have a 45 year old account with my CU and that is to collect direct deposits. We use no checks at all and purchase money orders only. I dislike checks as it puts the "gambling" spirit into kiting and you just can't kite checks today as years ago. There is almost no 'float' with electronic clearing. We use a debit card to purchase and if there is no money, the card fails to work.

We both carry a $100 dollar bill folded tightly in our wallets for emergency only. Once on your feet an attempt at a 1K emergency account is good practice for those things that WILL pop up from time to time such as a transmission job or a blown hot water heater, etc. A REAL good practice after you are set free, is to accumulate six months of funds for that very common "lost job syndrome" we seem to be seeing a lot of lately. 'Hub

[jnfrross]

Thanks, I feel better. My fear was having my checking account frozen. The money that I have in my possession is from 401k withdrawal & paycheck. I set aside some whenever I could for emergency because we didn't know when we'd have to move out of the house. But more recently we've using it for daily necessities & bills. When I opened my new account, I declined the overdraft. Now that I have a new account at credit union that is not linked to any of my debts, should I still continue as I've been doing by depositing amount I need to pay a particular bill? Can creditor still freeze my new account? I should be filing soon but I don't want to take that chance. A creditor could have something in the works.

[Wantmypeace]

Hub...you MUST be a Dave Ramsey fan. What you described is exactly what he says to do (minus the BK, of course! LOL!)