Monthly Expenses

[cc78464]

I am ready to file and my lawyer asked me to fill out a monthly expenses list. How much do people typically put down or suggest for a family of six (four kids 5,9,12,14). We tend to piece meal everything by buying here and there at several stores and I don't want to put down a number that blows the trustee away as being ridiculous.

Food
Clothing
Home Repair
Laundry
Medical/Dental
Charitable
Transportation

[chloe0724]

Have you looked at the expenses allowable for your state?

When I was making my budget, I looked at my spending over the last few months and used that as a 12 month average. Also, don't forget things that come up periodicly, like home repairs and maintanice

[laurannm]

Have you looked at the expenses allowable for your state?

When I was making my budget, I looked at my spending over the last few months and used that as a 12 month average. Also, don't forget things that come up periodicly, like home repairs and maintanice

I agree, we also went through our bank statement over the past year and averaged out each and every expense.

[Phillymanhere]

Check out the national irs guidelines and prorate your spending. For example, I pay $330 a year for contacts but have usually paid it at once. Well, that's about $30 a monthly in regular expenses. Do the same with dental, meds, clothes, food, etc.

Good luck.

[liz417]

Hi there,
I agree with the other posters, take the time to fill out your expense log correctly. It is very important because this will determine if you are successful in a ch 13 (sorry, are you filing ch 13?). Also, make sure to add in Copays, subscriptions, glasses/eyewear and any annual fees if your kids are into sports/lesson, etc.

Good Luck!

P.S. Go to the IRS living standards page and it will give you what your state allows (some catagories I spend more, but I've saved my receipts to prove it) and start from there.