I made the first step - and some ?'s

[marcie26]

I called an attorney - they are going to call me back. I am freaking out, I don't know why, I have been looking into this for months now. I think once I make it to the apt and talk to the attorney I will feel sooo much better.

Anyway, since I last posted I found out we are pregnant with baby #3- so 3 babies under the age of 3!! We have decided it makes no sense financially for me to work because it would all go to daycare. (eventually, I am going to make money doing photography, but I am in the practicing stage right now)

While I am waiting for the apt with the lawyer I am trying to decide if I should quit my job before the bankrupcty or after or if it makes no difference? I was told that everything is based on your last 6 months of employment (income) so I don't know if not having the income will help our case or not?

My other thoughts are ways to cut costs - I already called and cancelled our cable - that is almost $50 saved. I also have on my list to call the insurance company and try to get a bunch of vehicles that we don't drive off the policy and just have insurance on two vehicles - one for my DH and one for me. I just recently got life insurance and DH just changed his - well, somehow it all got messed up and it seems we now have four different policies - I called them to try to straigten all that out - hoping we can just get one bill. In regards to that - if you don't mind me asking, do you all have life insurance? If so, how much? I am thinking to save money we should go with a cheaper policy - having SOME life insurance is better than none, right?

Other ideas as far as clothing and groceries? (garage sales for clothes? consignment shops are kinda pricey if you ask me!)
Thanks for listening!

[JRScott]

Well the first step is the most important.

What state do you live in? How much is your combined income in the last 6 months? Then I can answer which is better...which might also mean how long to wait.

As for Life Insurance I do not have any. Keep in mind I'm single, have no children etc. so life insurance is not as important for me. I've read recommendations that adequate life insurance should be 10 times the annual income of the individual (or perceived in case of a stay at home parent). Ideally if something happened you'd put this into mutual funds and then have a steady income. So if 40000 you'd want a 400000 dollar policy. Assuming the mutual fund pays out a 10% each year you'd have 40000 income for the foreseeable future. (Note that the avg mutual fund has paid at more than that on a yearly basis in the last 20 years.)

[JRScott]

Yard sales can be a good place for clothes. I have friends that get their's at Goodwill.

[Cali]

You can clip coupons, walk as much as possible while saving on gas, shop at Goodwill/Thrift Stores/Yard Sales/Consignment shops, shop at Farmer Markets(if you have any near you), change your landline service, change your cell service, buy things at dollar stores, etc.

[momof5]

First of all Congratulations on Baby #3!!
I had 3 under the age of 3 at one time as well. They were all in diapers at the same time and I remember that was expensive for a couple of months till #1 finally decided she would use the potty. Then of course #4 came along and #3 was a stubborn mule when it came to using the potty so back to 3 in diapers...
I was lucky enough to not have to work after I had #1...but after spending 4 years in the house changing diapers and coloring. I was really needing something else. Well to my surprise as I had no clue what daycare cost it was something along the range of $350 a week. There went that idea. I would have worked to pay daycare...thats not what I had in mind. Instead my husband worked nights at the time so I worked 4 hours a week...at a daycare center! I know that sounds looney but it was nice because I was able to take my 2 year old at the time and he got interaction with others his own age and I made a whole whopping $20 a week of my very own money. It only lasted about 8 months.
Looking back now I am so glad for these years home. My baby(he's 5) goes to full day 1st grade next year and I am going to be lost.

But anyways I am rambling on and on... I just wanted to say congrats. and may you have a happy,healthy pregnancy!

[justplaintired]

First of all Congrats on the new baby!!

We had only 2 in diapers at one time so I know how expensive it can be. Daycare is ridiculous so unless your making a ton on the hour it's basically not worth trying to work. You know once you are threw this BK you might think about starting an Ebay acct and selling off your kids clothes to make extra money. I did that. But don't do it until after the BK you don't want that counted in your income.

I bought my boys clothes at yard sales and Goodwills, I always have. I shopped yard sales all summer for school clothes and my boys dressed better then kids who parents shopped in stores. Today I bought my 13 year old 4 pairs of Aeropostal (spelling error I know) khaki shorts, a Led Zepplin Tshirt, (yes he is a hippie child) all for the whopping amount of $2.50, last weekend I got him a pair of Etnie shoes for a $1.00, brand new! No wonder I love yard sales!

I was able to work part time decorating and it worked out great for us. I am paid well on the hour, it's just not steady work. I set a goal to make atleast $500 a month to cover our first mortgage and have been able to meet that goal almost every month for the last 9 yrs. If our economy hadn't taken a dive and DH employer hadn't cut hours we could have survived just fine. It would be nice now that my boys are older to work more, unfortunately my training in this small town is limited to decorating and not many people can afford to hire us anymore.

Your income will be over a 6 month period, so if you're not in a huge hurry, wait to file til it reflects your loss of income. Let's face it, you will be living on your DH income, might as well get used to that now, so waiting to quit probably won't really save you anyway and might actually throw you above the median income and filing C7 might be harder.


If you haven't stopped paying and using cc, it's best to get to an attorney and figure all this out. Once you quit paying cards, you will get a feel for what life will be like. It might be tight, but it's very rewarding to pay cash and walk out of a store and know what you just bought is yours and you won't be getting a cc statement down the road for it.

Good luck and after we left the attorney's office once we made this decision, I felt like a load had been lifted.
We stopped paying cards back in Jan, also stopped paying. We will not file until probably June or July. So far so good, collection calls from time to time, but I just answer them tell them the truth and they leave us alone for awhile.

[marcie26]

Thanks for the replies!

JRScott: I live in Illinois - WITH me working together we gross at the low end 3600 to the high end of 4600 (spouse's income is variable depending on how much overtime he gets if any- it is usually at the lower end - mine stays the same - 1616 gross per month) I am going to have to pull out his checkstubs for the last 6 months and do the math. I did some research on food stamps, wic, and other state assistance and we are almost better off for me to not work and my husband to take a lesser paying job without health insurance (that is a whole other issue - his insurance doesn't cover my kids' immunizations and lots of other bizarre things) I don't think we would be able to afford that much life insurance - as it is now I have a $200,000 policy and I think my husband's is less - I am thinking we should switch that around.

Cali: Thanks for the ideas - unfortunately, the nearest Walmart, Dr's office, etc is 35 minutes away so walking is not an option. I won't be working though so I will be saving a little on not driving to work. We don't have a landline phone and if we change our cell phone plan we have to pay money to do that I think - def worth checking into though - I personally don't like talking on the phone and only use it when I need to call home to ask a question or to have someone pick me up when the car is dead or whatever. Oh, and ya gotta love the dollar store! (although sometimes stuff costs more than somewhere else so you have to watch it)

Momof5: Thank you! It is so good to hear stories from other moms in this situation! Some days I am freaked out about having 3 in diapers so it is nice to get some reassurance! I thought of working at the daycare and bringing my kids, but I think my son would not let me do my job if you know what i mean

I have sold lots of stuff on ebay, but not sure if I will still be able to? Not sure if I can still have a paypal account after a bankruptcy?

[Cali]

Marcie,

I wish you luck with the new baby. My 2 children are teenagers now(time goes fast) they are 1 year and 14 days apart(same month).

[marcie26]

justplaintired - you posted while I was posting! Thanks for the congrats and the encouragement - I really need that right now - I feel so alone! (which I suppose is normal even though I am NOT) As I mentioned, I have sold on ebay before - I would love to again after the BK, but not sure how that works with my paypal account? I know that my paypal buyer credit will be delinquent, but can I still use my checking acct through paypal? I would love to make $500 per month because my student loan is $488.91 per month and that is what is going to kill us! I am going to start charging for photography soon, but in the beginning just barely over my costs. Then I have to worry about registering a name and getting a tax id, etc etc. I don't look forward to that part. Can I even have a biz after filing bk?
I am not in a hurry to file, but I cannot stand the phone calls - Capitol one called me every hour on the hour for a week until I paid them - now Chase is calling my MIL - how embarassing - another one had called my work and I told them that I work with crisis victims so they stopped calling me there - I guess if I quit I don't have to worry about it, huh? We stopped paying on most cards, but not all. I think that is a good idea to get used to how it will be now.

[justplaintired]

justplaintired - you posted while I was posting! Thanks for the congrats and the encouragement - I really need that right now - I feel so alone! (which I suppose is normal even though I am NOT) As I mentioned, I have sold on ebay before - I would love to again after the BK, but not sure how that works with my paypal account? I know that my paypal buyer credit will be delinquent, but can I still use my checking acct through paypal? I would love to make $500 per month because my student loan is $488.91 per month and that is what is going to kill us! I am going to start charging for photography soon, but in the beginning just barely over my costs. Then I have to worry about registering a name and getting a tax id, etc etc. I don't look forward to that part. Can I even have a biz after filing bk?
I am not in a hurry to file, but I cannot stand the phone calls - Capitol one called me every hour on the hour for a week until I paid them - now Chase is calling my MIL - how embarassing - another one had called my work and I told them that I work with crisis victims so they stopped calling me there - I guess if I quit I don't have to worry about it, huh? We stopped paying on most cards, but not all. I think that is a good idea to get used to how it will be now.

I have a paypal acct connected to my checking acct. I won't have a cc anymore obviously, which is fine. I haven't been selling anything for awhile, but I do plan on starting again once this is behind us. I never made a ton of money doing ebay, but every little bit helps. I sell clothes, trinkets...., it was kind of a hobby my DH and I got into just for a little extra cash and it was fun for awhile. I would mention the paypal acct to your attorney even if you haven't used it for awhile.

You know once we got an attorney we told creditors our intentions. We told them we were filing and gave each of them our attorney's name and number. I know you don't have one yet, but make sure you find out how the one you hire handles this, ours was more then willing to handle our calls which has been a huge blessing, I couldn't handle the calls, it about drove me nuts. But I have found that answering the calls and telling them the truth has made it much better.

Not sure on the tax id and other stuff for a business. Why couldn't you just do this as a independent contractor type business til you get going good. I mean keep track of your expenses, mileage, film.... and then claim your earnings minus your expenses? I do independent contractor work as a decorator and don't have a tax id number. I claim all my earnings on my taxes and pay all my self employment taxes. Keep track of everything. Seems like for awhile if you're operating out of your home you could get by this way.

Keep in touch!!

[marcie26]

I have a paypal acct connected to my checking acct. I won't have a cc anymore obviously, which is fine. I haven't been selling anything for awhile, but I do plan on starting again once this is behind us. I never made a ton of money doing ebay, but every little bit helps. I sell clothes, trinkets...., it was kind of a hobby my DH and I got into just for a little extra cash and it was fun for awhile. I would mention the paypal acct to your attorney even if you haven't used it for awhile.

You know once we got an attorney we told creditors our intentions. We told them we were filing and gave each of them our attorney's name and number. I know you don't have one yet, but make sure you find out how the one you hire handles this, ours was more then willing to handle our calls which has been a huge blessing, I couldn't handle the calls, it about drove me nuts. But I have found that answering the calls and telling them the truth has made it much better.

Not sure on the tax id and other stuff for a business. Why couldn't you just do this as a independent contractor type business til you get going good. I mean keep track of your expenses, mileage, film.... and then claim your earnings minus your expenses? I do independent contractor work as a decorator and don't have a tax id number. I claim all my earnings on my taxes and pay all my self employment taxes. Keep track of everything. Seems like for awhile if you're operating out of your home you could get by this way.

Keep in touch!!

Oh, thanks so much! I didn't know I could do the "business" that way. I really don't want to do an "official" business for quite some time anyway, but I DO want to be able to charge some for all the time I put into it. I can count things like photoshop, internet(?)have to have that for the clients to view the pics and for me to get constructive criticism, learn more about photography, etc. I would love to do it this way for the time being and set a goal far out for the other way. I hope if we hire this attorney she will take the calls - that would make things a lot easier! Of course, if they call our cell phones we just don't have to answer - it is when they call other people that bugs me!

[justplaintired]

Oh, thanks so much! I didn't know I could do the "business" that way. I really don't want to do an "official" business for quite some time anyway, but I DO want to be able to charge some for all the time I put into it. I can count things like photoshop, internet(?)have to have that for the clients to view the pics and for me to get constructive criticism, learn more about photography, etc. I would love to do it this way for the time being and set a goal far out for the other way. I hope if we hire this attorney she will take the calls - that would make things a lot easier! Of course, if they call our cell phones we just don't have to answer - it is when they call other people that bugs me!

I am not an expert, just a independent contractor in a totally different field. But, I would think you could be an independent contractor in photography. You would need to keep records, how much you are paid, all your expenses for printing any expenses you incur. Mileage to and from shots, you could claim office expenses if you use your computer, any business cards you have, everything you use for your business, even your cell phone or home phone if you take business calls on them, but only a percentage there. It might be wise to do some research into things you can claim as a photographer. Keep all receipts, everything, that way when tax time comes, you can have everything you need. I think this would work for you. Might not be a bad idea to talk to a tax expert, someone who can help you with this. As long as you keep everything you should be good.

Be sure to ask the attorney about handling your collection calls. I did. I had been told that this was a possibility and sure enough ours handled our calls. I have read on here where some won't. I wanted that. So far that has been a huge relief. I don't get them often now and when we do I send them right to our attorney, who has been awesome in informing them we are paid in full and will be filing C7.

Things will work out, with ebay and your photography business you should be able to contribute to your family and still be home. Just don't add to much to your income until after BK, wouldn't want you to have too much for C7.

[justplaintired]

Marcie,

I wish you luck with the new baby. My 2 children are teenagers now(time goes fast) they are 1 year and 14 days apart(same month).

Wow Cali, you sure had and still probably have your hands full. Mine are 20 months apart. I got pregnant with 2nd son the month before my oldest boy turned 1, that was quite a shock. It worked out well though, they were into the same toys at the same time. Now their 11 and 13 and kind of starting to drift apart. Our oldest has different interest now, doesn't really like toys, our youngest still kind of like toys. Actually it's sad how fast they grow up. I miss my little boys, but am finding having boys getting older is fun in a different way.

[marcie26]

Wow Cali, you sure had and still probably have your hands full. Mine are 20 months apart. I got pregnant with 2nd son the month before my oldest boy turned 1, that was quite a shock. It worked out well though, they were into the same toys at the same time. Now their 11 and 13 and kind of starting to drift apart. Our oldest has different interest now, doesn't really like toys, our youngest still kind of like toys. Actually it's sad how fast they grow up. I miss my little boys, but am finding having boys getting older is fun in a different way.

Mine are 16 months apart now and so the second and third will be I think 15 months apart. I am hoping they are close like I was with my brother. (14 months apart)

[ameliabedilia]

We lived in Illinois last year. When my husband was let go and went on unemployment I applied for the medicaid/healthy kids program thinking just the kids would be covered, but they covered us all and paid almost 100% for everything. You should check out doing that and you would probably get the kids and maybe both of you covered.