Why didn't I know this??

I thought a 13 was fairly straightforward, in that all of your disposable income goes to the plan. I had gotten this amount down to $1000 so figured that would be the plan payment.
Imagine my surprise when I was told it would be $1500!
The "program" worked out my amount to pay creditors would be $981; added to that is car payment (a cram down), Trustee fee, and attny's fees. It has to do with income (mine is 28k above median) as well as outside payments....house, car. So for my situation the $981 is a given, no wiggle room..it's what the BK computer software generates. The interesting thing is that the $1500 figure was actually the amount of our net before I added a little more for gas, groceries, etc.
Have I missed something along the way? I admit I haven't read every single thing on this forum but thought I had a pretty good grasp of things.
Sigh...
the good thing is that the 1st payment is due on the 25th of the month following the filing, so we'll file in April instead of March....gives us a little more time to get organized and budget for the payment.

The Ch 13 payment is a complex calculation that involves a cross-comparison between your gross income, expenses, exemptions, and what assets arrears you will pay vs your trustee will pay with the variable trustee admin fee and lawyer payment thrown in on top for good measure.

Before Oct 2005 the Ch 13 payment calculation used to be more straightforward and more tailored to the individual filer's circumstances. Thanks to the creditors who financed and wrote the new bankruptcy law and the 2005 Congress that passed it, we're stuck with the goofy Means Test and Schedules which are based on IRS and Census Bureau averages rather real expenses. It's a mess.

That's why when members ask what their Ch 13 payment will be, we say, "Ask your lawyer." There's no way to tell before completing the Means Test and Schedules completely.

And when members ask other members here what their payment is, we explain that there's no direct relationship between what filers make, their level of debt, and their payment. It's all bk form smoke and mirrors designed to push as many of us as possible into Ch 13 to repay those creditors who wrote the law and financed its push through Congress. Our 2005 representatives sold us out for campaign contributions...but that's how our government currently works. Vote to change it in 2008.

In CA our current senators voted against the bill
Is anything else being proposed or are we stuck with this for a while?

see another lawyer for a second opinion!! make sure the numbers are right!