Possible Objection, do I have to be present?

[accentone]

Okay ... we went to go see our lawyer today for the final review. He is concerned because our income is high, showing in at around $6400 per month. They come to this figure by taking the year to date income and dividing it by eight months. The problem is, husband works on commission. Since the beginning of the year, he has lost two major accounts. Everyone seems to be tightening their belts. Bottom line, paychecks of January for us are not what they are today.

At any rate, our monthly expenses came out to more than our income. Lawyer says the expenses look reasonable, but that he would be "surprised" if we didn't get an objection. Says he will probably have to "hash it out" with a US Bankruptcy Trustee.

If this is the case, will we have to be present during an Objection? Or does this occur between my lawyer and the trustee?

I'm starting to get a little nervous over all of this. I know it seems like we make a lot of doe. And I guess, compared to some we do. But honestly, I couldn't keep up with the credit card bills and the doctor bills anymore (they total, in all, around $57,000).

Below is my expense sheet. If anyone has any thoughts, I would like to hear them.

Thank you, in advance.


First mortgage $1765.75 (incl. tax & insurance).
Second mortgage $343.97
Phone and internet bill $62.00
Cell phone $69.00
Cable $44.00
Water $40.00
Trash $15.00
Electricity and heating fuel $300.00
Home maintenance (repairs and upkeep) $150.00
HOA Dues $20.00
Food:
Groceries $900.00
School lunches $160.00
Work lunches $60.00
Clothing $250.00
Laundry and dry cleaning $50.00
Medical and dental $75.00
Transportation:
Gas $350.00
Car payment 1 $522.78
Car payment 2 $289.00
Repairs, maintenance (amortized) $100.00
Vehicle Licenses (amortized) $47.00
Recreation, subscriptions, newspapers $150.00
Family Gym 59.00
Charitable contributions $40.00
Life insurance $60.00
Auto insurance $297.00
Haircut and Personal Care $90.00
College tuition and books $80.00
Public school and sports expenses $50.00
Pet care $60.00
Tobacco $120.00
Holiday/Birthday Expenses $90.00

Total $6709.50

[StaciMM]

How many are in your family? $900/mo on groceries seems a little high, especially considering that work & school lunches are accounted for separately. Your mortgage payments are high-1/3 of the income the attorney is basing off of-but some areas are more expensive than others. (I thought my rent might be considered high at $1200 a month, but the IRS guideline for my county/state is $1669-including utilities-and I'm under that by $100+.)

Everything else seems fairly reasonable.

[accentone]

StaciMM... there are five of us, including two teenage boys. My lawyer said this helps, whatever that means. They are eating machines, that's for sure. We also have 2 dogs and 6 cats.

I am in the Denver area. Housing is expensive here, just the way it is.

[StaciMM]

That makes sense (2 teenagers=more groceries). My kids are little-they eat less. It also explains why you pay more in school lunches than I do. (My kids are in elementary school, $1.60/meal each but middle school & high school are more per meal.) If we want to play the remember when game, I remember when an extra milk was $.10-its $.50 now. (And I'm only 30!)

StaciMM... there are five of us, including two teenage boys. My lawyer said this helps, whatever that means. They are eating machines, that's for sure. We also have 2 dogs and 6 cats.

I am in the Denver area. Housing is expensive here, just the way it is.

[edwards2]

You do have some high expenses however, I have a teenage son(youngest) too so I completely understand about the grocery bill. What about the tobacco expense? DId your lawyer think you would have a problem with that? Not judging...just wondering. So why does your lawyer think an objection from the BK trustee is imminent?...We net almost the same amount and we had a few monthly expenses we had to justify. Doesnt mean the BK trustee wont accept your attorney's explanation...just may require more documentation. I dont know whether you would be required to be there or not. If it was the U.S. Trustee - yes you would have to but the BK trustee may be another story. Let us know how it is going..

[Lightning]

I'm surprised you can feed and provide medical care for 8 animals for $60 a month.

[accentone]

StaciMM--I'm in my mid forties, and I remember giving the "milk lady" 4 cents a day for a carton of milk. 4 cents! Boy, do I feel old. High school lunches are around 3 dollars. I've tried making their lunches, but they're boys. They have no time to stop at the fridge on the way out the door to pick up their brown bags. I was making lunches and finding them in the fridge day after day, so I gave it up.

edwards2--our lawyer did quibble a bit on the tobacco. Actually, I think he may have taken it out. He didn't say too much about it, just thought it wasn't really necessary. So your income is high as well? Are you (or did you) file a chapter 7? If you already did file, did all go well with it? Our lawyer basically said that the threshold income for a family of five is around $4400, and that us going in with $2000 over that amount was going to raise some eyebrows. However, he did say that the "threshold" is not written in stone, but will be when the new laws come into effect. Please let me know. I'm curious.

Lightning--actually, it's probably more than $60 for the animals, but I didn't want it to sound unreasonable.

[StaciMM]

Regarding school lunches-I know they're fairly well rounded and our school offers a variety of choices.

Back to topic-median income for Colorado is not $4400/mo-I could only find info for a family of 4 though:

http://www.census.gov/hhes/income/4person.html