just had consultation

[bigjoey38]

Just had my consultation. Retainer fee is $835.00...I will probably file in July.
My only concern is able to save money to visit parents in new york. There at that age and in the past I have tried to visit them at least every other year. I am concern that I will not be able to put away money to see them up to five years..

Any thoughts.

[lrprn]

You haven't shared a lot of information, bigjoey. Since you're on the Ch 13 side, can we assume you are filing Ch 13? How much money do you need each time to visit your parents? If you are filing Ch 13, is there a reason you need to file so quickly (house in foreclosure, etc)?

If there's no immediate reason to file asap, you could stop paying your non-secured creditors (credit cards, etc) right now and hold off filing Ch 13 for a few months. Take the money you would have paid them and use it to pay your lawyer then stash the rest away somewhere so you can use it for visiting your parents while you are in Ch 13. Your ability to amass a lot of cash while you are in Ch 13 is usually quite limited.

[anonymuse]

Are you concerned about charging more on your credit cards? If that's the case, spending too much or taking cash advanced on them before filing is an issue.

[bigjoey38]

Just to give you an idea.

I have 141,004.49 dollars in secured debt =house/2 cars/other things. All of secured debt have been paid on time.

I have 34,987.92 dollars in unsecured debt- This is credit cards - at least 6 months late.