Question regarding expenses

[Babybear]

When you are required to list your expenses when you file, do you also need to show proof that the bills are due and unpaid for the next month? What I mean is if you have made more than the amount owed on say your mortgage payment and paid a few months in advance,will that be revealed when you list your expenses. Because for a while I have been making the mortgage payments that are due several months from now just to get ahead and feel a bit more secure. Will that need to be revealed? Do they need to know for example that my electric bill is paid for 2 months or should I let all the payments for all my bills be right on the edge of what is due so that it appears that I have not made any payments early and therefore have extra to send for credit cards?

Hope all that made sense

I still feel really worried in this whole process but I am not going to make payments on at least a few cards anymore...like macy's..shit they want a minimum payment of 1000 bux this month. That's insane.

[BKParalegal]

Paying ahead 1 month is ok but more than that and it could be considered an asset as well as preferential treatment of creditors within 90 days of filing. Just pay your bills when they are due, and not in advance.

Good luck

[tcreegan]

Hi Babybear,

When you list your expenses for bills (utilities, mortgage, car payment) put down the amount as it is on your bill.

Paying ahead a couple months is prudent and good financial planning. The worry in a BK is the trustee thinking you are trying to hide money by paying ahead. If this is something you do routinely and you are honest about it I doubt it will be a problem. But if you suddenly put 5K into the mortgage right before filing, that is a problem.

A good local BK attorney can tell you what the local trustees are OK with.

Hang in there, keep putting all the pieces in place!

Tom in Colo

[Babybear]

Have you ever seen that TV show Tom , where this woman intervenes into a couples life who are in debt? Its on msnbc and she goes to their house and shows them how they are living way beyond their means and how they will own like 500,000 in a few years if they keep spending like they are. She than has them make a budget and live off of only cash and cut their expenses by like 80 percent. The expenses that are not fixed. She tells them they either have to sell the house or get another job to pay off the debt. They live out of jars with cash for the week to pay all their bills and have to find a way to get by and they have challenges that teach them how to bugdet and spend money properly. Last episode the couple sat in with a class of 7th graders who were learning to balance a check book. God I wish I was rich and didnt have to deal with all this shit. ok thanks for letting me vent lol. I will never be happy with what I have. I will always want more than I can afford. I will always find a way to dodge the system or so I think. Its my aversion to hard work and my addiction to material luxury that has ruined me. Dr. Tom in Colorado how does one recover? Shall I go to Rehab? lol

[tcreegan]

Dr. Tom in Colorado how does one recover? HA!

My way is to wait until life slaps you so far down you have to crawl under a rock to get out....

Like 90% of everyone here, with 20/20 hindsight I wouldn't have waited till the bitter end to file. Get in, get out, get on with your life!