Hi all,
Background info: My husband and I have been struggling to get by for the past 4 years. We built a house, had a baby the week after we moved in and were just SO unprepared for the costs...young and naive I guess. Hubby left his job to stay home with the baby and I went back to work since I made more money.
After 1 year at home with the baby (he worked p/t at night), hubby decides to make a career change and go back to tech school...graduated last year and has yet to find a decent paying job (he's been working but not making much at all)...so we were already struggling and then came all of the loans (some were private loans, not "student loans" so we couldn't defer them). We were robbing Peter to pay Paul for the past 12 months. We signed up with CCCS in March but we missed one CCCS payment and the collectors were back on us again...
As the icing on the cake, hubby started a new job in July, then in August he got hurt (before insurance kicked in) and has been unable to work since. Worker's comp is paying for his medical bills and therapy, etc. but now we find out he may need surgery. Worker's comp only pays 70% of his already low income. We were sinking further in the hole by the minute!
So we decided to get info on BK. We filed on 9/26/05. The payment plan worked out by the lawyer was $450 a month for 8 months, and $610 a month for another 50 months (2 vehicles included in the bankruptcy). When we originally talked, she said it would likely be a 4 year plan. Anyway, the DAY after we filed I got an email from my boss...6% raise. Normally I'd be happy about that but now it's kind of sad that my first raise in 2 years will be "taken".
Will they rework the payment plan at our 341 meeting on Oct. 25th? The raise is effective Oct 1. so my mid-month check will have that raise on it (on the pay stub we take to the 341). DH is still on worker's comp.
I typically get a large bonus for Christmas and we always used it to travel to see family for the holidays and then the rest for bills. For example, two years ago I got a $12K bonus, so we used $1K for our trip and the rest for bills. Will they take ALL of my bonus? We never take vacations but our family is 1,500 miles away and we only get to see them with that bonus check.
To thicken the plot even more...before we filed, we explained to the lawyer that we were planning to relocate out of state next year. She said it's typically not a problem to sell your house and buy another of about the same amount so long as your payments are on time (mortgate and trustee payments). She eased my mind THEN but no that the BK ball is rolling I'm really second-guessing that advice. We have a VA mortgate right now...and I found out after we filed that we can't get another VA mortgate in BK. So I have no idea no how we could save a down payment in BK! We just cannot stay here much longer. The weather is awful and being away from family now that we have a child is just killing us. Can you sell your home (VERY low equity) and get another mortgage while still in BK?
Anyway, sorry for the LONG post. I got a little carried away, this being my first post here....
Thanks!
Background info: My husband and I have been struggling to get by for the past 4 years. We built a house, had a baby the week after we moved in and were just SO unprepared for the costs...young and naive I guess. Hubby left his job to stay home with the baby and I went back to work since I made more money.
After 1 year at home with the baby (he worked p/t at night), hubby decides to make a career change and go back to tech school...graduated last year and has yet to find a decent paying job (he's been working but not making much at all)...so we were already struggling and then came all of the loans (some were private loans, not "student loans" so we couldn't defer them). We were robbing Peter to pay Paul for the past 12 months. We signed up with CCCS in March but we missed one CCCS payment and the collectors were back on us again...
As the icing on the cake, hubby started a new job in July, then in August he got hurt (before insurance kicked in) and has been unable to work since. Worker's comp is paying for his medical bills and therapy, etc. but now we find out he may need surgery. Worker's comp only pays 70% of his already low income. We were sinking further in the hole by the minute!
So we decided to get info on BK. We filed on 9/26/05. The payment plan worked out by the lawyer was $450 a month for 8 months, and $610 a month for another 50 months (2 vehicles included in the bankruptcy). When we originally talked, she said it would likely be a 4 year plan. Anyway, the DAY after we filed I got an email from my boss...6% raise. Normally I'd be happy about that but now it's kind of sad that my first raise in 2 years will be "taken".
Will they rework the payment plan at our 341 meeting on Oct. 25th? The raise is effective Oct 1. so my mid-month check will have that raise on it (on the pay stub we take to the 341). DH is still on worker's comp.
I typically get a large bonus for Christmas and we always used it to travel to see family for the holidays and then the rest for bills. For example, two years ago I got a $12K bonus, so we used $1K for our trip and the rest for bills. Will they take ALL of my bonus? We never take vacations but our family is 1,500 miles away and we only get to see them with that bonus check.
To thicken the plot even more...before we filed, we explained to the lawyer that we were planning to relocate out of state next year. She said it's typically not a problem to sell your house and buy another of about the same amount so long as your payments are on time (mortgate and trustee payments). She eased my mind THEN but no that the BK ball is rolling I'm really second-guessing that advice. We have a VA mortgate right now...and I found out after we filed that we can't get another VA mortgate in BK. So I have no idea no how we could save a down payment in BK! We just cannot stay here much longer. The weather is awful and being away from family now that we have a child is just killing us. Can you sell your home (VERY low equity) and get another mortgage while still in BK?
Anyway, sorry for the LONG post. I got a little carried away, this being my first post here....
Thanks!
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