Hello All Quick Question

[MixerDriver08]

Hello All I have been watching the forum for a while and the wife and I have finally come to accept that Bankruptcy is our only alternative at this point. After reading alot of the posts here we have gotten the courage to admit that we are on a sinking ship and if we don't do something now it will only get worse. So a big thank you to all of you that post here, it helps to know that we are not the only ones.
Now for the $4200 question We are planning to file in Jan 2009 spoke with an attorney last week and it went well. The only glitch we had was that in early July we were faced with a $4000 oil contract for the year or purchase and install Pellet stove for $4200 we didn't have cash on hand so one way or the other it was going on the card. We hadn't considered bankruptcy at that point we knew it would hurt alittle financially but it was a 5.9% deal so we jumped on it. Unfortunatly I started losing overtime at work and the rest is history. Lawyer said it shouldn't be a big deal but my favorite pastime is worrying. What do you guys think about the 4200 dollar charge ?we plan on trying to keep the accounts current through Sept but after that probably not. It will be roughly 5 and half months after the fact, do you think they will still beat me up about it? We are below the means test for a family of 5 and it will be a no asset case I'm sure. I figure if worse comes to worse we'll have to work something out with them.
Well any input would be great for my sanity and very much appreciated thanks again for reading the post and sorry it is so long

[MomIcantFindmy]

I seriously doubt the trustee will say anything. I would make a few payments on it before filing. Oil is necessary for heat. You had no other reasonable choice. I really do not think it will be a problem. I would start thinking now though about heat during winter 09-10. Welcome to the forum and glad you found us!!

[jessegirl]

Hi and welcome. personally do not think that you will have a problem either.

[AngelinaCatHub]

I think I understand an oil contract??? I don’t understand a pellet stove???? But welcome anyway.

Here is a question, where do you live? North (cold) South (chili). Has the deed been done? Does it work alright? Are you planning on keeping the house? Are you going for a C7 or C13? I’m sorry for all these questions, but I may not know everything and I sure don’t, but others here more qualified can and will give you opinions and situations that they have been through. ‘Hub

[MixerDriver08]

Yes we are keeping the house
Well with the pellet stove we were looking at the long term savings over oil over the next few years. It will pay for itself this year and cost roughly 600 -800 dollars over the coming years where as oil isn't going to go down. I had to make a choice in july between the oil contract or the pellet stove I went with the stove as I said above because of long term savings. Bankruptcy wasn't on our mind at the time. I don't consider it a luxury but I thought they might and who knows the cc Company may object if they do I guess I'll cross that bridge when I get there. Thanks for the input

[AngelinaCatHub]

Thank you for your quick explanation. What is a pellet stove? Anyway, your families health comes first. As far as ANYONE knows, you are not planning ANYTHING, right? Right. So get your stove and house in order. If and when you can overcome, you will, if not, bk. But PLEASE tell me what a pellet stove is? ‘Hub

[MixerDriver08]

Pellet Stove is like a wood burning stove but it uses little compressed wood pellets more efficient than cord wood (logs) And we did an intial consultation with an attorney last week he wants us to wait till Jan to file so about a month passed between the purchase and our first consultation with attorney

[justplaintired]

Wise choice mixerdriver. If we didn't live in a small midwest town and were out in the country we would do the same thing. I have heard those pellet stoves are awesome and that don't take stoking often. Are you going to heat your water that way also? We talked to a couple who used it for heating water and the house and they love it.

I would say keep up the house payments, and quit the cc. We quit cc back in Jan and paid the attorney in full in Feb and will be filing soon.

The stove may or may not be a problem but it sounds like your attorney is putting time between that purchase and filing.

Good luck! And I do envy you on the pellet stove!!

[MixerDriver08]

I hope it does work out like I said we figured that over the next 2 years we can save close to $3000 by using the pellet stove as a primary heat source Right now we should only use one tank full of oil (hot water and back up heat) we used to use 5-7 tank fulls depending how bad the winter was. Like I said before if they do object then they do I can't control it I know in my heart we weren't trying to defraud anyone or slip anything under the radar. Our actual intention was to buy and then pay off the balance with our tax refund next year but I'm pretty sure the trustee will most likely get that know if we file in Jan '09. It was going to be a good one too oh well.

[TEW]

Wise choice mixerdriver. If we didn't live in a small midwest town and were out in the country we would do the same thing. I have heard those pellet stoves are awesome and that don't take stoking often. Are you going to heat your water that way also? We talked to a couple who used it for heating water and the house and they love it.

I would say keep up the house payments, and quit the cc. We quit cc back in Jan and paid the attorney in full in Feb and will be filing soon.

The stove may or may not be a problem but it sounds like your attorney is putting time between that purchase and filing.

Good luck! And I do envy you on the pellet stove!!

Yes those stoves are nice a friend of mine has one and it puts out some heat
Yeah make some payments on the stove stop the CCs save some money to pay the attorney. if you do pay on those CCs you only thowing good money away. good luck and keep us posted

[justplaintired]

File your taxes before filing BK, if you are waiting until Jan anyway, file early and spend it wisely. We did alot of waiting on this and waiting on that, that's why we are just getting ready to file. Also maybe you can exempt your refund? Look into it. Nothing is wrong with trying to plan your BK alot of us have. We haven't hidden anything, we just are below the median and I didn't and couldn't afford to lose our tax refund (paid the attorney) and the stimulus, used it kept all our receipts. We made a stupid purchase in Jan and we needed some time before we filed.

[Tabbygirl]

I'll just say those pellet stovesare awesome and I bet it will last you all for years. We have a Vermont Castings gas stove (no central heat--very old house) and it heats almost the entire house. We bought it on mega-clearance for about $1250 (it's red--guess no one wanted that color) and it's probably the best money we have ever spent. It's also pretty to look at when the fire is going.

I can't believe $4200 for heating oil...that's unreal. I think I would have bought the stove as well since I believe the pellets are pretty inexpensive in comparison.

So far as the $4200 charge--just pay for as long as you can, I guess; about the worst that could happen is that creditor w/ the stove might object but that might be a chance you'd take, but obviously you had no idea you wouldn't be able to pay for it, either...which means you didn't set out to defraud anyone (and a heating stove in the NE isn't a luxury IMO).

This is just my logic, for what it's worth.

[liz417]

You'll be fine, just make sure you have some payments on the stove before you file.

I'm sorry, but was the stove purchased on a major cc or on a 'store credit card'? If it was purchased on a store credit card and they object to the Bk, I'm sure you can make a deal with them for a fraction of the cost. Who wants a used stove anyway?

Good Luck!