New Schedule J..please look and give opinions

[OhioFiler]

I've never felt a lot of positiveness here...directed at me personally...I could just be imagining it...but I get a lot of negative responses and such.....and to have to defend every dime I spend...it makes me want to step out in front of a bus. I'm sorry but most of these posts have not been kind or understanding! I feel like I've been beat up!

Perception is often contrary to reality. You are imagining.

No one expects you to defend your spending. Spend to your heart's content. Posters were offering advice after you posted a query regarding your Schedule J.

Most of these posts weren't intended to be kind or understanding...they were intended to HELP YOU!

Please don't take this stuff so personal and please don't post suicide fantasies.

[LuciluS]

Berrymom:

I'm going to try ONE more time to get thru to you or as my mamma used to put it 'Luci, you are being hard-headed' LOL and I'm not trying to be mean to you, I'm trying to make you smile. Maybe we have beaten you done..Lord knows I didn't intend to.

I'm not questioning your Utitlity bills. If you will do as I've said in my posts, a Spreadsheet for this past year with the last month being whatever last month's income coincides with, I don't think the TT can change that. But the Burden of Proof is on YOU! not the TT or your Attorney. If you are not familiar with spreadsheets, I'll be glad to help you or I'm sure DSIG would be also. Go read her posts on the General Bankruptcy Talk. You can PM me or DSIG if you want further assistance.

Now, read this sentence very carefully please! IF you are paying self-employment taxes (which you stated you are) then You Own A Business! Plain and simple. Doesn't matter you are a Contract Writer..that's your business. Now if you didn't complete a Schedule C on your Tax Return then you are SOL on those expenses, BUT you ought to be able to claim your self-employment taxes taken right from last years tax return. Do like I said for your real estate, personal property tax and get your last year's tax return to go by for SE taxes. I think I know why you really haven't touched on this. #1 you are trying to do the 'Right Thing' in saying I don't own a Business. YOU DO if you filed self employment taxes on Schedule SE of your 2008 Federal Tax Return. I'm sure the only copy you have is at the Attorney's office. Can you lay your hands on a fax machine? If so, call the Attorney's office & ask them to fax you those 2 schedules (C & SE) & the 1st two pages of your Federal tax return. Whatever is listed on Schedule C are your business expenses. Can't get it any better than that - Plain & Simple - Documentation is your tax return. If you can't get to a fax, call Attorney's office ahead of time & tell them you will be by to pick up those 4 pages of your Tax Return. Hmm, better yet, get 2007 too. So that would be 8 pages. Average the 2 years. Again, if you need help in doing this PM me.

Personally, I think you are a Wonderful Mother and I don't blame you for allowing & promoting your kids to play sports & other extra cirricular activity. I did the same thing when my Son was little. Everyone said oh his going to be spoiled rotten. My comment was No, He maybe excessively Loved, but not spoiled. He turned out to be an Excellent Father of 3 children, A Business Owner & does Ministry Work. It just , Sweetie, don't put those expenses on your Schedule J. Only trying to help you.

Now, onto the groceries. I'm sure you probably shop at Wal-Mart Super Center and buy Everything there. If you want the TT to Not delve into this issue, please use the IRS Standards for these items. You've already stated your totals (which I didn't take the time to add em up) equals what the IRS guideline total for your family. So just use their totals. That way it's not all lumped into FOOD.

I'm sorry if I've 'beaten you down'. As most people on this forum can attest to, I try to make my posts positive, yet get the right words out so the OP will understand. Take a day or two off from this forum and look at your completed paperwork. Then, come back and re-read the posts on all 3 of your threads. Maybe, just maybe, it will click in your mind what some of us are trying to tell you.

I'm still sticking to my guns on the Utilities. If you have 12 months worth of the actual bills, then TT may question it & you have the burden of proof & that would be the simple spreadsheet.

The more paperwork you bury this TT with, the Better! That statement was made by a Moderator on this forum, but it's been so long ago, I cannot recall which one. They are only human, too & I've read where they get frustrated when you pile up paperwork & documentation as they don't make much money off of a Chapter 7. Frustrations leads to thinking 'I don't have time to go thru ALL of this paperwork, so I will pick out one expense & check it out'. You just don't know what the TT is going to do as I'm sure every case is different.

May you have a Wonderful Weekend! and will keep You and Your Family in my prayers.

Blessings and ((((BIG HUGS))))

Luci

[jribe]

if all you wanted to hear was "looks great" then i'll say it.

Everyone here was trying to give you constructive criticism so that you don't get the book thrown at your by the trustee. If you don't want actual advice- then i DO suggest not posting. It's literally a waste of everyone's time if you don't even care enough to listen.

No one is trying to attack you or be mean. Everyone here is just trying to give you the 3rd party perspective of the trustee.

What may seem fair to you may seem outrageous to the trustee- as others have pointed out.

And no, do not contact your trustee about your lawyer. Not their job. Contact the local State Bar Assoc with concerns/complaints.

[HakunaMatata]

Berrymom-

I haven't previously contributed to this thread as this is all new to me and I don't foster the knowledge to be of assistance.

From an outsider's perspective, I see you've received plenty of advice. While words and themes may differ, the majority is intended to benefit you. I understand you had a challenging 341, you're frustrated with your attorney, and you're experiencing intense stress. These factors may be skewing your perception. As it see it, others have attempted to assume a trustee stance in an effort to convey to you the potential errors in your schedule word choices and numbers. Many have offered resolutions to potential trustee issues. The shared goal has been to provide constructive criticism and assistance in an effort to make your situation as painless and red-flag-free as possible.

Take a step back, breathe, and pretend you're me. I am in the beginning stages of exploring bk and I lack understanding of 341 meetings and schedules (presently in my world, bankruptcy fosters a preschool format...incorporating numbers and the alphabet...maintaining a focus on 3-4-1, and I-J ). I intend to include the advice offered to you in my bk knowledge database. I hope you give yourself a chance to do this as well.

[LSUTiger32]

Let me go on record and apologize for trying to help. I am so sorry if I am part of the reason that you think you are getting beat up. I meant nothing more than trying to help get you through this. We can all relate, so I don't think any of us are trying to make you feel bad about anything. We all just want to help you see this through. Believe me, this forum is a blessing.

[ForumReader]

Nope. Typically this will only happen if the expenses are discretionary or fall outside of the IRS guidelines.

Do a board search on "required trustee questions" to see the required questions the trustee usually asks.

Thanks I did a google search from the IE browser and found the information for the ten required questions Trustees will ask and they would be recorded.

I apologize if this is a little off from the original thread, but regarding the trustee trying to find a way to convert from CH 7 to CH 13 if he or she finds extra disposal income from the petitioner at the 341 meeting and if the total unsecured debt is let's say $80K, that $80K has to be repaid in full? Someone mentioned earlier about a 10% of the total unsecured debt, is that the max a trustee is allowed to use to fund a CH 13? Thanks.

[backtoschool]

Berrymom35, I am sorry I ever tried to help.... Abusing me in pm is not a proper response in my opinion. I added you to my ignore list. I suggest you do the same with me.

[mom2three09]

this PM was sent to me by berrymom35. I just logged in to it.

Leave me alone


"How dare you make assumptions on why my 341 was continued....you were not there and have no right to even comment on it. You have consistently tried to tell me my bills are wrong..that is where my problem lies with you. Then you claimed that my expenses were over the allowable number and you were wrong...I pointed that out and you said I "misquoted" you. Go back and read it. From what I understand your filing over the median? You know then that you will be automatically be referred to the UST? no matter what? We were continued because she wanted to see more paper work and wanted our scheduels straightened out. Thats what she said...you however will be continued so the UST can get involved because of your income. Maybe your just nervous about your own case/meeting so your trying to make others more nervous about their own? I don't think your experience with bk warrents your all of your posts. When you get back from your meeting and you know a little more about what happens then you can speak more about it. I've been going through this for a year and half now."


Berrymom35, I am sorry I ever tried to help.... Abusing me on this board is not a proper response in my opinion. I added you to my ignore list. I suggest you do the same with me.

Some people just can't be helped

I think we should all just focus on those posts that really want our opinions, rather than those who ask for our opinion but don't like it once they get it

[OhioFiler]

this PM was sent to me by berrymom35. I just logged in to it.

Reposting a private message in the forum is against the forum rules. You should delete your post

[backtoschool]

Reposting a private message in the forum is against the forum rules. You should delete your post

done. thanks.

[OhioFiler]

done. thanks.

No problem. I got a similar pm. The urge to re-post it here is strong!


P.S. Do you think I act my age?

[whipster1]

This OP has had a 'tude since day one, when she was griping about people NOT responding...now that she got responses she ain't so happy. Another Debtmonster wannabe IMO. On the iggy list.

[backtoschool]

No problem. I got a similar pm. The urge to re-post it here is strong!


P.S. Do you think I act my age?

I think your posts are always very helpful! Thanks again for the heads up on posting the pm.

[mamaluv]

I think the OP's attitude stinks. Your own thread title says 'give opinions' and then you get pissy because everyone else's opinions don't jive with yours. As stated above, I think we should all just focus on helping those who appreciate it-obviously the answers in this thread were far from appreciated.

[Annie4]

Oh dear, noticed 2 questions I hadn't thought about before....

1. Our food allowance here is 1,200 a month too, for 6 of us. We NEVER and I mean NEVER can actually buy that much, but that's what I put on the expenses because it said to go by those guidelines, so I did. Why did it say to go by those guidelines if we weren't supposed to fill that in on the Expenses Schedule? Ekkkk! That and rent is a big reason why we're like -1,250 each month, because we never pay 600. rent on time and we never ever buy 1,200 worth of food a month. I didn't lie, I put that on there, that rent is always late and we usually don't get to buy that much food.

2. If our cell phone place got added, by mistake to our Matrix, (I was meaning to just add the typed list of the utility places to make my paperwork look neater), but it's not included in our Creditors list, are the plan fees still be wiped out or they can come after me for that?