Scared

[StartingOver08]

Our lawyer has advised us to pay all our bills before right before we file so we have about $100 in our checking account on the day we file. Won't be hard at all!

You probably know this already, but make sure that you have no outstanding checks. In our district, the Trustee could take the funds above the exempted amount, in your case $100 exempted, if the check had not cleared yet. So I was told to make all the payments by money order or cashiers check just before filing so the balance in the account matched the amount exempted on the filing date. YMMV.

[ease]

mamaof2, I was terrified of the calls before we took the plunge. I'd heard horror stories of CA's calling neighbors, hacking facebook pages, all kinds of sh*t. While I am not ashamed of the decision we've made, I believe it is one to be discreet about. Really good folks get ugly over BK. The calls have not been bad at all. Mostly because we've been excellent customers....keepingg balances and always paying on time.
If you are current on your CC payments, they will remain very polite for quite some time. During the time from when we stopped paying on the cards, to when we got all our documentation together and submitted to the lawyer, we just didn't answer the land line.
It's been just the CC companies for the 4-6 weeks. We started answering the phone yesterday and giving them the information.
They have been very polite, professional and the calls have stopped. I've turned my ringer back on. I think it gets unpleasant when you give false #'s or it goes to collections. Nevertheless, once you've hired the lawyer, and tell them your plans, they can't call you.
It's OK. Take care to protect your privacy at work, but don't stress.

[ease]

You probably know this already, but make sure that you have no outstanding checks. In our district, the Trustee could take the funds above the exempted amount, in your case $100 exempted, if the check had not cleared yet. So I was told to make all the payments by money order or cashiers check just before filing so the balance in the account matched the amount exempted on the filing date. YMMV.

Yes. he suggested paying with money orders or cash.

[mamaof2]

The question i have for not having more than around 100.00 in the checking acct is this....we both (husband and i ) havedirect deposit, wont it look kinda weird that one minute we have a 2000.00 paycheck directly deposited, then the same day we withdrawl it to get money orders, or do they usually only look at the balance and not the transactions?

[chad9162]

The question i have for not having more than around 100.00 in the checking acct is this....we both (husband and i ) havedirect deposit, wont it look kinda weird that one minute we have a 2000.00 paycheck directly deposited, then the same day we withdrawl it to get money orders, or do they usually only look at the balance and not the transactions?

Actually I think the $100 things is specific to their state and exemptions..

[mamaluv]

The question i have for not having more than around 100.00 in the checking acct is this....we both (husband and i ) havedirect deposit, wont it look kinda weird that one minute we have a 2000.00 paycheck directly deposited, then the same day we withdrawl it to get money orders, or do they usually only look at the balance and not the transactions?

Make copies of the money orders...that way if they question where the other $1900 went you have proof of what you spent it on.