top Ad Widget

Collapse

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Checkin' in!

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Checkin' in!

    Hi Everyone!! I haven't posted in a while and thought I would stop by and see how everyone is doing. I was suprised to find messages from people wanting to know how we are doing! Y'all are so nice!! So here's the update you asked for!!

    We are doing GREAT!! January marks one year of our 5 year BK. I will say the first 6 months were the hardest. But once I got into the swing of all the budgeting and learning how to shop it all became so much easier. I lost my job back in April and found it was better to modify our BK then to look for another job. My job was a home based business, so no daycare. When I looked for a new job I was finding that I had to look outside the home and then I would be working just to pay the daycare. So, we modified. Our payment went from $850 to $300 a month. We have 4 kids, ages 12, 9, 4 and 18months. And yes, there is a stack of presents under the tree! Because I have been budgeting for Christmas ALL year!! My eldest is getting his $150 baseball bat and my other son is getting a DSI, amoung lots of other things. We are also traveling for the holidays! We are going to visit Grandma and Grandpa in Minnesota! We are driving and are staying with Grandma and Grandpa.... we couldn't go if we didn't .
    Living CC free is MUCH easier then I thought it would be. We basically live paycheck to paycheck. There is room in the budget for savings and I STICK WITH IT! I pretend I don't have it. I buget x amount of dollars each week for groceries, if I don't spend that much the extra goes into our family 'fun' money. The kids get to a movie about once every other month. We do a lot of renting movies through Red Box, they are current movies and are only $1 for the night!! The kids love it. My 2 older boys also play competitive baseball. My eldest played a week long tournament in Arkansas in July. We couldn't afford to go as a family so we sent him along with a team mate's family. We are making sacrifices, but we are still having fun.
    We would like to go to Disney in 2 years, but I haven't factored it into the budget yet. I'm waiting to see when my 2 oldest boys are getting their braces. They see the orthodontist on Monday, so I should know soon.

    Chapter 13 with a family is very do-able. It's all about how you approach it. Stay positive. If you think this will be the worst thing ever, well then it will be. I think it's the best thing ever. I've learned to budget. I've learned how to shop. I've learned to say NO to my kids. And in the end I think my kids will be better people because if it. I've also learned that my community offers a lot of 'free' activites and my husband and I are having fun with our kids. We go to parks, we hook up the sprinkler outside when it's hot. We are having fun as a family. Love doesn't require money.

    Well, that's it in a nutshell. I'm sorry it was so long. I wish all of you a very happy holiday season!

    MommyMc

    #2
    Great to hear you are doing well. We haven't filed yet (will in Jan.) and I am worried about the orthodontist. We have 15 year old twins who need braces and I don't know how we could make the payment once in BK. Is your trustee adjusting your payment to allow for braces. Thanks for your input.
    Filed Chapter 13 - 3/1/2010 341 Meeting - 3/30/2010 Confirmation Meeting - 4/28/2010
    Confirmed - 5/14/2010 Closed - 8/16/2013
    Discharged - 9/18/2013

    Comment


      #3
      Thank you so much for sharing. We have a 9 & a 5 year old. I'm worried. We file Tuesday, and I worry about the impact on them.

      Did you tell the older children when you filed? My oldest knows what BK is because when he plays monopoly & wins he says, "I bankrupted mom".

      What are your three top tips?

      Thanks for sharing.

      Comment


        #4
        Hi eliminator97! The orthodontisti is a huge expense, so I can understand your concern. Both our boys were already in the 'process' of orthodontic work at the time of filing. They both had the expanders in the roof of their mouths. Between insurance coverage and our out of pocket they were paid for. But we knew the actuall braces were coming. So when we filed we took the boys in to their orthodontist, had them examined and given a timeline as to when (about) the braces would be placed. The orthodontist gave this 'estimate' to us in writing with an expected out of pocket cost. We were told we have a payment plan of $125 for 22 months. We gave this information to the lawyer and the trustee put it into our monthly budget. The trustee had our payment for the orthodontist starting on 4/09, but the boys have not had their braces placed yet... so we have been saving the monthly money in an orthodontics envelope. Once the 22 months are up our payment to the trustee will go up by $125 per month.

        95Kindebt- Hi! We did not tell our children of the BK. We explained it more of a debt consilidation and we were no longer using credits cards. They understand we are on a much tighter budget and they no longer get fast food several times per week! They are healthier because of it!!! They are mostly bummed about not taking family trips each year.
        Anyway.... my top tips are:
        1- Stay positive, stay focused. Accept that you have to make a lifestyle change. Understand that you got yourself into this by living a way you shouldn't have and now you have to pay the penalty of it. (I understand everyone's story is different, but you still got yourself into this. We charged $1600 a month for our house payment for many months when our infant son was sick in the hospital and we had loss of income from taking leave from work.)
        2- LEARN TO SHOP SALES AND COUPONS!! If anything I have learned over the past year is you do not need to pay full price for anything! Whatever you need will be on sale at some point, cut coupons and stock up!!! Purchase generic items when possible. (this doesn't work for some things, I can taste the difference!!)
        3- Find local 'free' things for you and your kids. Some hair places have discounts on certain days of the week. Some fast food places have 2 for 1 nights... our Sonic has 2 for 1 hamburgers on Wednesdays. Parks are free. Your kids are young enough to still enjoy them.
        4- SAVE!!! I use an expandable file folder. Each file is labeled... Christmas & Birthdays, Car repair, Home repair, Boys Sports, Medical, and Vacation are some of the catagories. Each payday I go to the bank and withdrawl an amount I have budgeted in and place the money where it goes in the folder.
        I keep a spread sheet going in a binder, each month catagorized. I know where every cent of my money is going.

        I know it's hard at first. By the end of the first year it will all come naturally to you!!! YOU HAVE TO STICK WITH IT!!!

        I am more than happy to help anyone out with suggestions or ideas for getting through this. I could use the motivation too!! Please feel free to PM about this if you need some support!

        Y'all have a great day!
        Happy Holidays!!

        Comment


          #5
          oHHHH, I like the expandable folder thing! I'll have to do that! Thanks so much for your willingness to share.

          Comment


            #6
            Can you tell me more about the process for your plan payment change. When I filed my husband had just started a new job. Since he didn't work all of the 6 months prior to me filing they used his income from one month of his new job to base his yearly income. He is a mechanic and his pay is based on the jobs he does. We are finding that his monthly amount is about half of what they figured. My lawyer said we can look at changing the plan but I am nervous about the whole process. Our yearly income when I filed was based on 102,000 and last years taxes our yearly income was only 85,000.
            Thanks for you insights!

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by ccfriend View Post
              Can you tell me more about the process for your plan payment change. When I filed my husband had just started a new job. Since he didn't work all of the 6 months prior to me filing they used his income from one month of his new job to base his yearly income. He is a mechanic and his pay is based on the jobs he does. We are finding that his monthly amount is about half of what they figured. My lawyer said we can look at changing the plan but I am nervous about the whole process. Our yearly income when I filed was based on 102,000 and last years taxes our yearly income was only 85,000.
              Thanks for you insights!
              Hi! We were able to modify our plan after we showed proof of loss of income. We had to show 4 months of paystubs... the 3rd month had only $70 of income and the 4th month had 0$ income. It cost us $600 to modify andit was not done overnight. It took about 3 months ontop of the 4 months we waited before modifying. Good luck!!

              Comment

              bottom Ad Widget

              Collapse
              Working...
              X