Paralegal said NO Christmas Shopping

[MelodyAM75]

I know that I could get by with less. I already use coupons often and shop on Ebay for clothes often. I don't plan to get my kids laptops and Ipods...they are 8 and 2 and just want a few Zhu Zhu pets, a Fisher Price dollhouse for my daughter, Tae Kwon Do assessories for my son and skates for both of them. I don't think those items are too extravagant. If I can't get them, my parents or in-laws will, but I don't want to have to ask them do that. I will go without things before I have my kids wake up to find that Santa Claus forgot to stop by our house (yes, they both still believe in Santa Claus). I am sure that I can't be the only mother who wants a nice Christmas for her kids each year. I do freelance writing as a part-time job (I am a teacher, too) and this time of year I stay up late nights and work all weekend on articles so that I make money for the holidays. Is it wrong of me to bust my butt working overtime to spend the money on my kids? I have a week off at Thanksgiving and 2 weeks off at Christmas and that gives me a lot of time to work on freelance stuff. If worse comes to worse though I will just tell my parents what the kids want and they'll get it. They already buy 80-90% of the kids clothes because they want to and they may have to start paying for my 3-year-old's dance class and my 9-year-olds Tae Kwon Do class if those become an issue. I feel those activities are very important because I come from a family of obese people and my kids need to be active. Also, my son suffers from low self-esteem as a result of dealing with severe dyslexia and taking Tae Kwon Do has made a major difference in how he feels about himself. I would never take those things away from them. I didn't get to be activites until I was a teenager and I dealt with low self-esteen and I don't want that to happen to them.

What scares me in your posting above is the phrase "I will need to...." You don't NEED to spend anything when you are broke and have to (or need to) file bankruptcy. We all found out the kids will not hate us if we can't afford to get them the expensive stuff they want and our family won't hate us if we cannot afford to go out to eat with them, go on vacations, etc. It will all come back in time but right now you have to get your financial house in order and worrying about having money to spend for gifts is not a priority. We saved for Xmas gifts, shower presents, etc. by saving all our change in a big jar every day and it adds up quickly.

Since you are posting this under the chapter 13 forum I am assuming you are investigating filing Chapter 13. Keep in mind that the cause of the majority of Chapter 13 failures are the debtors unable to change their lifestyle and learn to budget, do without, go discount, etc., etc. You will get back to the better times but you have to get out of the hole now to get there. You don't "need" to spend hundreds of dollars on Xmas presents, no one will expect them and your kids unless they are under six already know you have financial problems so it is a good opportunity for them to learn by what you do also. Better times will come but it's all up to you. Best of luck to you.

[Flamingo]

I called another lawyer and they said that they tell clients not to spend money excessively between the time of filing and 341. I don't plan to go crazy at Christmas, but I do usually spend $200 on each of my two children. My son's birthday is Dec. 1 and I will need to spend $100 for that and my daughter's birthday is Janaury 11 so that will be at least another $100 (luckily I bought some clearance things over the summer for part of her gifts). The thought that someone is going to scrutinize every penny that I spend makes me nervous.

What scares me in your posting above is the phrase "I will need to...." You don't NEED to spend anything when you are broke and have to (or need to) file bankruptcy. We all found out the kids will not hate us if we can't afford to get them the expensive stuff they want and our family won't hate us if we cannot afford to go out to eat with them, go on vacations, etc. It will all come back in time but right now you have to get your financial house in order and worrying about having money to spend for gifts is not a priority. We saved for Xmas gifts, shower presents, etc. by saving all our change in a big jar every day and it adds up quickly.

Since you are posting this under the chapter 13 forum I am assuming you are investigating filing Chapter 13. Keep in mind that the cause of the majority of Chapter 13 failures are the debtors unable to change their lifestyle and learn to budget, do without, go discount, etc., etc. You will get back to the better times but you have to get out of the hole now to get there. You don't "need" to spend hundreds of dollars on Xmas presents, no one will expect them and your kids unless they are under six already know you have financial problems so it is a good opportunity for them to learn by what you do also. Better times will come but it's all up to you. Best of luck to you.

[MelodyAM75]

I called another lawyer and they said that they tell clients not to spend money excessively between the time of filing and 341. I don't plan to go crazy at Christmas, but I do usually spend $200 on each of my two children. My son's birthday is Dec. 1 and I will need to spend $100 for that and my daughter's birthday is Janaury 11 so that will be at least another $100 (luckily I bought some clearance things over the summer for part of her gifts). The thought that someone is going to scrutinize every penny that I spend makes me nervous.

[Pandora]

well - technically even once you file you cant " do what you want " unfortunately. All of your disposable income is supposed to be paid into your CH. 13 plan - you can try and put in "Birthday / Christmas" in your schedules as expenses; some trustee's allow it..other's dont. Ours allowed $50 a month for such areas, however if your trustee doesnt - then you need to pad your budget somewhere else, and take it out that way.

As far as purchasing gifts now - I guess maybe the paralegal is concerned about the trustee taking the items, as well as you spending money that technically, should go to creditors. You should ask the paralegal what she meant, just to be safe, however I'm sure its the reason I listed.

[MelodyAM75]

I met with the paralegal today and she said not spend money on anything like Chrismtas presents. Does she mean just until I file and then I can do what I want after that? We are planning to pay for the filing on November 19.