Making small purchases during a Chapter 13 plan

[mclawdawg]

Hi all, I'll keep this question really brief,

I have some very minor things to touch up around the house. Paint, mold repair, etc. The equipment I need is about roughly, $150.00 for everything. I noticed an application called Klarna that will create a "Ghost Card" & divides the $150 by 4 easy payments of $37.50. I wanted to proceed to do this since it makes it easier to manage the Chapter 13 budget... but I'm unsure if this is a red flag that would signal on my credit report for my Chapter 13 trustee. Has anyone ever done anything like this while under a Chapter 13 plan?

Thanks you for taking the time to read this.

[shipo]

I'm not sure quite what you're asking, is it about the ghost card, or making purchases in general?

Regardless, the Trustee could care less about a $150 purchase. During my Chapter 13 I made numerous purchases of at least $1,000 and one was nearly $10,000. The thing is, Chapter 13s do have this kind of flexibility; once the plan is approved, you do your level best to skimp and save wherever possible so as to be able to build a "rainy day fund" for use on things like home maintenance.

[justbroke]

Definitely build that rainy day fund. If you own your home, your plan should have had an allowance for maintenance on the home. I think I added a budget of $250/month for general maintenance (indoor/outdoor painting, landscaping, and repairs). I actually exceeded that amount nearly every single time some major came up.

[flashoflight]

My home maintenance budget item has $350 per month. Once I defaulted on all of the credit cards prior to the BK filing, I redeployed some of the minimum payment funds to deferred maintenance and started fixing up the house. Both before and after the BK, I spent thousands on the house. $150 is pocket lint even on a tight chapter 13 budget. Home ownership ain't cheap.

The trustee isn't monitoring your day-to-day spending once confirmed. He just wants that plan payment every month on-time and your yearly tax return by April 15th.

I also built a rainy day fund, which was only made possible by making the listed expenses on the schedules match actuals (home maintenance, pets, etc.). My numbers were very high so the trustee made me prove all contested expenses.

[dieselman]

I've used Klarna, Afterpay and Quadpay many times during my 13. Never asked for permission from my attorney or the trustee. I made my payments on time, saved up money to pay off my 13 early. I lived my life.

[mclawdawg]

Thanks all for that great information! I hope everyone enjoys their day. Yes, I did finally get my planned approved. I'm starting to see how powerful a Chapter 13 is. My payment is very affordable, we just had to agree that they take my bonus for the next 3 years which is fine to get the ball rolling. Shout out to everyone on this community!

[Carmella]

I have used Afterpay as well as some other online payments...buy this and pay in 4 installments.