Wenesday the Day!

[lrprn]

I have not heard of trustees not allowing pet expenses,....

Here's a forum thread from a year ago where some members were not allowed to list their pet expenses openly and had to hide them inside other expense categories - http://www.bkforum.com/showthread.php?t=13989

[Phillymanhere]

What about eating out?
What about coffee?
What about doctor's visits?
What about car repairs? (I own a 1999 toyota camry in great shape and last year, I had $2K of work done. that's nearly $200 a month.)
Non-prescription medicines? (We all buy aspirin or Tylenol, cough medicine, vitamins, ointments, bandaids.)
Prescription medicines? (Most people over 40 typically have several prescription meds ongoing and then there are short-term meds every now and then for various conditions.)
What about travel--even occasionally?
Any hobbies?
Book purchases/magazine purchases? Newspapers?
Are you including shoes under clothing?
What about the cleaners or laundry?
All household items? (I rent and in the past year, I've bought two portable heaters, an air conditioner, a bed and frame, a lamp, replacement light bulbs, a new phone powercord, an iron, headsets for audio. And that's just from quick memory.)
Your list seems awfully thin to me and unrealistically so. But maybe I'm missing something. Remember you can, as I understand it, prorate items like new phones, new computers, etc.

[wayne-o]

eating out needs to be buried under food. I dont believe there is an allowable expense for travel, but I may be wrong. My trustee allowed $50 per month for entertainment. My attorney said mag subscriptions, movies, night at the club all fell into this category.

[HHM]

As has been pointed out, there is some variation on what is allowed from district to district...in any event

You will need to learn to go without some luxuries.

Eating out gets buried in the food budget (keep in mind, this is a good chance for you too ween yourself off of meals out, discipline, discipline, discipline)

You can't over amortize major purchases or purchases you have already made, after all, it sounds like you have made many of those purchases. Especially in a chapter 7, your budget needs to be more of a SNAPSHOT, and not a projection, of your expenses.

Coffee = Food Budget (stop going to starbucks and paying 22.40 per gallon for coffee )

Doctor's visits are fine

Medicines can go under medical (even non-prescription).

Travel: I would not label a category as travel unless it is work related. Otherwise, travel is probably considered a luxury. (you will need to pad the budget elsewhere to accommodate that category)

Subscriptions is probably ok (so long as the amount is not excessive (maybe $10) (if they are work related, I would label them Trade Journals)

Cleaners, laundry, haircuts, soap, etc can all be lumped into Hygiene and Grooming, those expenses are allowed.

You can have a category for Household Upkeep (but you can't really amortize things like New Air Conditioners into that expense). This category would be things like light bulbs, Bug Spray, Minor Repairs, etc.




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