Expenses too little?

[NotRichYet]

Hi all, I haven't filed yet but I really want to soon. My question/problem is in filling out schedule J -expenses it seems to leave me with a little more disposible income than I should have. My income has gone down over the last 6 months or so therefore I have been living more frugally so my expenses are a fair amount less than IRS allowed expenses. Can I use the IRS expenses or closer to it? And if I did, if they go over my most recent bank statements it will be obvious that I have not actually paid that much. Will that cause a big problem?
I should also say that I know a lawyer would be the way to go but I can in no way afford one. I have to do it on my own. Any insight/advice would be greatly appreciated.

[AngelinaCat]

Remember to include all expenses that you may have forgotten:

Dentist
Haircuts
Charitable giving
Eye exams and glasses
Entertainment such as renting movies, etc.
Pets? What about their expenses?
Clothing
Socks and shoes
Underwear
Shampoo, toothpaste, dental floss
Car insurance
House insurance
Oil changes and routine maintenance for said car
Household insurance an maintenance not including the mortgage
Property taxes

This list can go on and on. But this will give you an idea.

Welcome to the forum, BTW!

[NotRichYet]

Thanks AngelinaCat. My confusion is do I include all of these things even though I'm not actually buying them? I'm living very small at the moment and so I haven't been getting my hair cut, going to dentist, etc. Are you supposed to put what you should spend and would spend if you could on Scedule J?

[AngelinaCat]

Include your normal expenses--even if you have a friend cut your hair. To keep yourself neat, that needs to be done at least three times a year, so take the average price of a haircut for yourself and multiply that by three.

DO go to your dentist, doctor, etc. You are expected to take care of your health and the normal preventive measures.

[keepmine]

Absolutely live a normal lifestyle.
How much disposale income are you showing?

[NotRichYet]

Thanks for your replies! I appreciate it. So if I list things that I only do once or twice a year ( such as dentist, vet checkup,etc) would the trustee question the expense if he didn't see an actual payment for it on my bank statement? According to the Oregon Bankruptcy Court website the trustee only wants my bank statements showing the balance on the date of filing. So of course that wouldn't show payments for anything I don't do every month. Am I supposed to add up everything for a year and divide by 12? I guess that would make sense. I just don't want to make a mistake and mess it all up.

[Pjmax]

I've seen it suggested to go by 6 months, but I used 12 months and divided by 12 because I had some large (to me) expenses that only came up once or twice a year. I was in kind of the same situation, low income and not spending on much of anything. The trustee would only ask you to back something up, or explain, if were unusually high. One of our members had very high heating bills for a very old house, I think it took some work to get that accepted.

[rainypass]

Honesty is the policy, fill out the forms truthfully and do no overlook expenses that you pay occasionally like the dentist or car repairs. The best way not to mess it up is to take your time. For some bills I just figured out the yearly average, do what makes sense and what you can verify. Things like food and transportation put down what you would reasonably spend if you could.

If you can not afford a lawyer the are pro bono services available to those in need. I was able to get help through a non-profit law group in my area (Washington State). It looks like there is help available in your state, I can not post a link because I am still new on this forum but do a google search for "Oregon legal aid offices".

If you have not read the Nolo Book "how to file Ch 7 bankruptcy" I recommend getting it, I was able to check it out from the library.

I just filed a few days ago and I was told by the clerk that the trustee may want more information than what was listed on the website, it is up to the trustee to decide what documentation they want to see.

[NotRichYet]

Thanks for your replies. It looks like this might take awhile!

[Jongo]

Most jurisdictions allow the IRS expenses without a lot of discussion, unless you are close to the line between a Ch 7 and a Ch 13. A lot of folks have been moved to a Ch 13 when they tried to eke out the last few dollars to qualify for a Ch 7. Expenses will always be scrutinized - the closer you are to a Ch 13, the closer they will get looked at.

That said, as stated above, don't overlook the reasonable expenses that you ARE allowed to have. And, if still short (or too close for comfort) then there are plenty of ways to legally increase your expenses...such as a small lien on a vehicle (a properly seasoned one) or term life insurance. Changes in medical insurance are a big deal right now - A lot of folks are discovering their medical coverage to be substantially more expensive than it was last year. SO get into the details and see where you are.