Dont Be A Hero On Your Budget - You Wont Get An Award! - You Will Get Screwed
remember these things about a budget:
- remember that when budgeting for the court do not try to be a hero and prove you can live cheap. let the attorney change the numbers to fit what the court would allow. but if he does so then make sure he didnt list it as a mitake when you assumed he did it to make it look better.
- remember that there are certain categories that raise red flags. entertainment is one of these. most courts get pissy about it when its obove $100 a month. your attorney will know. but i cant tell you how many court trials ive read where the ut trustee complains about that category.
- remember that you DO NOT want to make a perfect little budget such that you come up within -$50 or +$50 within your income. what happens if your trustee or US trustee goes to reject some of your expenses? yes it does happen and you do not want to be in a position to go from -$50 and have your entertainment or cell phone or cable bill or food bill or laundry bill or all of them hacked and wacked down such that you will end up with +$115 for the month. this can and does happen. dont take the chance.
- how to avoid this? make sure you list every single thing. make sure you can come up with a -$ negative income. mine was negative in the hundred. and it was several hundred as a matter of fact.
- this is the way for them to force you into a chapter 13.
- ok so you think you can come up with more expenses latter on to show the court you cant afford it. adding expenses after the fact to help your side take all of your credibility away. the judges speak to this day in and day out in cases. as soon as you make changes to you case - which you will have to do if this happens to you or you will be forced into a chapter 13 - you will have lost your standing with the court and they are less likley to side with you. from then on their viewpoint is that you are changing things to cover your ass. and they are right even if you did leave something out it makes you look very bad.
- make sure you can prove every expense to the court. if you cant prove that the amount listed is correct then you are going to loose credibility with the court and might be dismissd or forced into a chapter 13.
- also know that a lot of times they muck and whine about the expenses when they see 'issues' with the credit card balances. cash advances, gambling, charges too soon from the date of filing, etc. they hold this over your head and complain about the expenses at the same time. its like a carrot in which they hope you will just convert instead of trying to fight a two or three pronged approach.
lessons learned: dont be caught lying on your application and make sure you list everysingle thing. check your account statements, look through receipts, search online for expenses otehr have used, look at checkbook, walk around the house and ask yourself if each and every item you and looking at is paid for with money listed someplace on the form.
are batteries for the remote controls listed?
is catnip, flea medicine and litter liner bags listed? annual vet appts listed?
paper and ink for the printer listed?
oil and filters, fuel injection clearner, estimated repair costs, tires, windshield wipers and AAA for the car listed?
newspaper listed?
cleaning supplies and home depot items for repair listed?
walk around at look at each and every single item and ask yourself - where did i list that on my form. on your own form list every single thing. on the actual forms list things in clumped togetheer categories. you dont want to have to show what you are trying to claim as an expense. its easier to deny.
also remember that the reason people fail their chapter 13 plans is becuse they cant come up with the money for these everyday things since they forgot to list them all in their budget. it only takes $50 a month more then you have to screw you for 3 to 5 years.
remember these things about a budget:
- remember that when budgeting for the court do not try to be a hero and prove you can live cheap. let the attorney change the numbers to fit what the court would allow. but if he does so then make sure he didnt list it as a mitake when you assumed he did it to make it look better.
- remember that there are certain categories that raise red flags. entertainment is one of these. most courts get pissy about it when its obove $100 a month. your attorney will know. but i cant tell you how many court trials ive read where the ut trustee complains about that category.
- remember that you DO NOT want to make a perfect little budget such that you come up within -$50 or +$50 within your income. what happens if your trustee or US trustee goes to reject some of your expenses? yes it does happen and you do not want to be in a position to go from -$50 and have your entertainment or cell phone or cable bill or food bill or laundry bill or all of them hacked and wacked down such that you will end up with +$115 for the month. this can and does happen. dont take the chance.
- how to avoid this? make sure you list every single thing. make sure you can come up with a -$ negative income. mine was negative in the hundred. and it was several hundred as a matter of fact.
- this is the way for them to force you into a chapter 13.
- ok so you think you can come up with more expenses latter on to show the court you cant afford it. adding expenses after the fact to help your side take all of your credibility away. the judges speak to this day in and day out in cases. as soon as you make changes to you case - which you will have to do if this happens to you or you will be forced into a chapter 13 - you will have lost your standing with the court and they are less likley to side with you. from then on their viewpoint is that you are changing things to cover your ass. and they are right even if you did leave something out it makes you look very bad.
- make sure you can prove every expense to the court. if you cant prove that the amount listed is correct then you are going to loose credibility with the court and might be dismissd or forced into a chapter 13.
- also know that a lot of times they muck and whine about the expenses when they see 'issues' with the credit card balances. cash advances, gambling, charges too soon from the date of filing, etc. they hold this over your head and complain about the expenses at the same time. its like a carrot in which they hope you will just convert instead of trying to fight a two or three pronged approach.
lessons learned: dont be caught lying on your application and make sure you list everysingle thing. check your account statements, look through receipts, search online for expenses otehr have used, look at checkbook, walk around the house and ask yourself if each and every item you and looking at is paid for with money listed someplace on the form.
are batteries for the remote controls listed?
is catnip, flea medicine and litter liner bags listed? annual vet appts listed?
paper and ink for the printer listed?
oil and filters, fuel injection clearner, estimated repair costs, tires, windshield wipers and AAA for the car listed?
newspaper listed?
cleaning supplies and home depot items for repair listed?
walk around at look at each and every single item and ask yourself - where did i list that on my form. on your own form list every single thing. on the actual forms list things in clumped togetheer categories. you dont want to have to show what you are trying to claim as an expense. its easier to deny.
also remember that the reason people fail their chapter 13 plans is becuse they cant come up with the money for these everyday things since they forgot to list them all in their budget. it only takes $50 a month more then you have to screw you for 3 to 5 years.
) You figure the chapter 13 trustee gets his cut and most lawyers will charge at least $3000 for a chapter 13 most of which will be paid out of the plan. Unsecured creditors will probably get about $100 over the 5 year plan.
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