Filing in anticipation of a major event.

[wellnowwhat]

And now I'm sort of freaked out. I had thought there were certain allowances for things like rent, car payments, etc. When I took the legalconsumer means test it looked like I had negative DMI...

[keepsmiling]

That does change things somewhat. BK may not be the best solution for you right now. That's a pretty low number to file on. What's your interest rate like?
Have you explored other options? Can you pick up a second job and snowball that debt down? you are fortunate to have such low rent- will you be able to stay there indefinitely? What about deferring the loans?
Just brainstorming here. You are now going to hear a few different opinions.
BK is a cannon. Sometimes a pistol will do the job.

[keepsmiling]

No freaking out!!!! BK may very well be what you need. Or maybe not. You are kind of one of those borderline cases. Explore all your options. You are fortunate to be in position to have a few
Do you have any savings?

[wellnowwhat]

There are a couple of issues:
1. My wife's grandmother is planning to sell the house where we live, so we will be moving to an apartment or other rental where rent will almost certainly be higher.
2. My wife will not be working once the baby comes, so we lose about $1200 a month in income.
3. We will have medical debt on which we will need to make payments.

My interest rates are all high - close to 30% across the board. We've used up our deferments, and my federal loans aren't even back in repayment yet.

The most upsetting thing is that I just stopped paying my cards and sent an attorney $400 as a retainer as he seemed to think it would be an easy case...

[keepsmiling]

It's the weekend and traffic on the board is a little slow. Hopefully some others will be along to voice their opinions.
If you are going to have to pay child care, that's going to eat up any extra dmi. That will def change the pic a lot. Kinda missed that, my bad. What's that going for in your neighborhood? Might need to stop paying the cc's now to build up a little cushion for that.

[keepsmiling]

I see that you did stop paying. Again, that child care changes the picture a LOT.
You'll be fine.

[keepsmiling]

Trust your attorney. Sorry if I made you nervous, it wasn't my intention.
It is difficult to advise without knowing the whole picture

[wellnowwhat]

I'm not even sure what child care costs around here, but I do know that diapers, healthcare, and other costs are expensive for a newborn baby. This is sort of why I started this topic. If my wife and I weren't having a baby, we could probably pay back our debts in a fairly reasonable manner, but given the loss of income and increase in expenses due to having the baby, that's where the issue arises and why I'm considering filing...

[wellnowwhat]

I'm also curious how the allowances work versus actual expenses, but that may be a better question for my attorney.

[keepsmiling]

I suspect that varies by district or even by tt. Theoretically they should be actual expenses, but if they are reasonable, they usually aren't an issue. No one will expect you to pay under 500 a month rent forever. Could even be your atty will suggest you pay more and have it returned to you at a later date. That does get mentioned occasionally.

Probably time to start investigating childcare. Prepare to be stunned. Ask everyone you know, something will turn up but it could take some legwork.

What does your wife do? Sometimes it doesn't pay to go back to work, especially if you aren't on a career track.

[wellnowwhat]

What does your wife do? Sometimes it doesn't pay to go back to work, especially if you aren't on a career track.

She currently works at a market as a server/cashier/sandwich maker. Definitely not a "career-track" job. We are considering the possibility of having her stay home for awhile with the baby rather than paying for child care, but the loss of her income will be a substantial hit, even without the added child care costs.

[keepsmiling]

Have you investigated Income Based Repayment for those student loans?
Don't be surprised if the child care comes in at well over half her salary. Here in the Northeast it would eat almost all of it or even more. Prepare yourself now because there are often waiting lists. Educate yourself as much as possible.

[keepsmiling]

Perhaps she could consider doing childcare herself in your home. Might be a good solution.

[wellnowwhat]

Prepare yourself now because there are often waiting lists. Educate yourself as much as possible.

I am certainly trying my best to prepare myself for all of the expenses involved with having a child. It's just tough to sort out before hand what all will need to happen, so it's a bit of a waiting game.

[wellnowwhat]

I must admit that I am incredibly stressed out, now. Where I thought we were a shoe-in case for Chapter 7 it's looking like that's not going to be the case. I'm especially worried due to the fact that I just paid all of the money we would have paid for debts to our attorney this month.

I feel like such an idiot.