What type of changes

[NoMore]

Will we need to make? I already coupon and shop for our family of 5 for between 60-100 a week ~ depending on if we need pull ups and other household items. We don't eat out hardly at all. We had a vacation this past year, but that was the first one in 3 years. Will we not be able to save money in a savings account ~ to put towards expenses such as Christmas, vacation, homeowners association dues and car tags? Are we allowed a savings acct. at all?

[liz417]

Hi,

You need to go to the IRS living standards website and checkout your allowable expenses for your area. It is VERY important to have a good attorney handle your bk because you will be in a 3-5 repayment plan and you need someone that knows what is acceptable in your district, Your attorney should be able to write a good plan that allows your monthly expenses and has "little wiggle room" so things won't be so tight. Good Luck!

[rrockinggramma]

Once your plan is figured out and you know your payment, then feel free to budget accordingly. If you can save, save whatever you can. And you can keep it in the bank after you file. (as long as you didn't include them in your bk) then you might want to change banks before filing.

[filingin08]

As mentioned, it is very important to get a good atty. Ours listed things we wouldn't have thought of for a budget... dry cleaning, newspapers, entertainment, clothes, haircuts, house/car repairs, etc. Before filing, we were doing most of those things, but never established a budget for them and I never would have thought the trustee would have allowed $100 for entertainment! Filing forced us to make a budget for each line. We don't always spend what is budgeted for clothes or groceries, so that goes into our "Oh Sh*t" fund (aka savings). We're still tweaking as things come up, but we are in a much, much better place. Good luck.