Please critique my preliminary Schedule J

[IamOld]

karm, I'm 100% with you on the above. My problem is that my "folks" will NOT eat anything that they know comes from ALDI. Period. Now I don't remember how much their cereal is, but Wegman's brand is $2.50. Often I have a cooupon for Kellogs, it doubles, and then I pay like $1.50 for kellogs at Wegmans.

The salad dressings (to me) are good, and I think they're 1.19...wegman's salad dressings are usualy about 1.69...

[karm43]

I do not buy their meat but cereal, cans, salad dressing, are good lol

[IamOld]

THANKS!!!!! I never thought of that - will do!! Fortunately nothing's due until next summer!

[Pandora]

LOL - so I'm not crazy re wegmans!!!

RE SPCA - here you have to be dirt poor to get that help...as in BK isn't enough :-)

BUT I am going to start shopping around, because I'm done with that place. Luckily, nothing soon needed.

Nope, not crazy . Try calling your local animal control office / pound and ask about their free spay / neuter / vaccination clinics; usually all counties (outside of the SPCA) offer free clinics to their citizens regardless of income.

[IamOld]

We do karm43, and I did go once...I spent $100 for "groceries" - I'd have to try them again though...however, their fruit/meat - I wouldn't buy - I did try their hamburger patties, and they were awful - mostly oil and water. Their bread, etc is ok, but the thing is, their prices aren't really that different from Wegman's STORE brand stuff...but I do need to try them again.

[karm43]

Do you have a ALDI market? Dirt cheap if there is 1 in your area you would save a ton!!! Even would be worth driving a hour, if you were going to get big grocery order.

[IamOld]

Keep in mind, IamOld, you are also feeding twice as many people as the OP.

That is true...I guess my point was sometimes there are huge variations in cost of food. Ironically, were we still in NYC - believe it or not - a lot of food we could get cheaper...

[momofthree]

Hello! Well, I hate our wet because a) they butchered dog's feet once, and b) they nickle and dime you...whole other story entirely. For annual shots (and whatever else they think of, it's like $100+)

I will tell you, $800 is hard, but I'm trying...coupons, sales, and go to the cheapest supermarket, which, believe it or not, is Wegmans for NORMAL groceries.

The cost of living here is INSANE. INSANE.

Keep in mind, IamOld, you are also feeding twice as many people as the OP.

[IamOld]

LOL - so I'm not crazy re wegmans!!!

RE SPCA - here you have to be dirt poor to get that help...as in BK isn't enough :-)

BUT I am going to start shopping around, because I'm done with that place. Luckily, nothing soon needed.

Wegmans = love I love that store - they're awesome and the selection is unrivaled. I have to drive 1.5 hrs to get to the closest one to me *frowns*.

For vaccinations - try calling your local SPCA and ask about their clinics; many offer free vaccinations up to twice a year.

[Pandora]

Wegmans = love I love that store - they're awesome and the selection is unrivaled. I have to drive 1.5 hrs to get to the closest one to me *frowns*.

For vaccinations - try calling your local SPCA and ask about their clinics; many offer free vaccinations up to twice a year.

[IamOld]

Hello! Well, I hate our wet because a) they butchered dog's feet once, and b) they nickle and dime you...whole other story entirely. For annual shots (and whatever else they think of, it's like $100+)

I will tell you, $800 is hard, but I'm trying...coupons, sales, and go to the cheapest supermarket, which, believe it or not, is Wegmans for NORMAL groceries.

The cost of living here is INSANE. INSANE.

Here in VA its broken down by areas, yes - for you N. VA runs from DC / Alexandria all the way to Stafford / Fredericksburg and yes, that area is higher than the Western District where we are. You can get in the door for $50 with a vet?! LOL Man...wish we could - ours is over that amount by about $25 just for an office visit, nothing more.

I think $800 for a family of 4 is doable for food, you just have to watch the sales papers and spend wisely.

[Pandora]

Pandora - does the locality/reality make any difference? Where I am costs are SIGNIFICANTLY higher than the rest of the state...a vet won't even let you in the door if you don't drop fifty bucks. I'm still finding it IMPOSSIBLE to get away with less than $800/mo for four people...

Here in VA its broken down by areas, yes - for you N. VA runs from DC / Alexandria all the way to Stafford / Fredericksburg and yes, that area is higher than the Western District where we are, but just barely. C'ville / Richmond areas are expensive as well.

You can get in the door for $50 with a vet?! LOL Man...wish we could - ours is over that amount by about $25 just for an office visit, nothing more. ETA: Trust me, I know all about vet expenses - we had to drop over $2K earlier this year to save our cat.... luckily our vet took payments. We had to pull from other areas to pay it off.

I think $800 for a family of 4 is doable for food, you just have to watch the sales papers and spend wisely.

[IamOld]

Pandora - does the locality/reality make any difference? Where I am costs are SIGNIFICANTLY higher than the rest of the state...a vet won't even let you in the door if you don't drop fifty bucks. I'm still finding it IMPOSSIBLE to get away with less than $800/mo for four people...

[Pandora]

First - what is your gross and what does Schedule I come out to?

I agree with everyone else - your expenses are very high for a family of 2. Right now you're showing (based on your numbers) expenses of $5476 with a net income of $5426; making it -50 DMI... HOWEVER...

Realistically speaking, depending on the Trustee and how he/she works things you could have a ton of DMI to go into a Ch. 13. You stated your lawyer came up with a possible +DMI of anywhere between $500 - $1000 a month and I can see it going a bit higher depending on certain things. You're already over median, and any trustee worth their weight is going to see padded areas in your expenses way above the standards.

Here are issues that I see which can cause a high DMI, basing all of your numbers off of what we were allowed (we are a family of 3):

HELOC: Will you be continuing to pay on your HELOC every month? Are you behind currently? +500 possible increase depending on what you're doing / planning to do

Home Maintenance: Very high - you'll be more apt to be approved for $75-$100 +193

Food: Way high; we are a family of 3 and get $600 a month. +200

Clothing: Again, high for 2 people. Family of 3 we get $75 + 80

Medical / Dental: Unless you have ongoing health conditions / illnesses / diseases that you can prove, average is $120 for a 2 person household. + 155

Auto Repair: extremely high - we get $50 a month between 3 vehicles - so if you're lucky you may get $100. +393

Recreation: again, we're allowed $60 and that includes soccer for our son. +65

Business Expenses: what are these exactly? Gas? Travel time? You have to be able to show proof of expenses via your tax returns since generally those are usually claimed there. If you can't prove it - add +120

Furnace: This is under household maintenance +16

Pet Care: Think you'll get about $50 for this, and that includes food and vet visits. +57

Adding it all up you could be looking at a + DMI of anywhere from $1159 (Heloc & business expenses allowed) to $1779 if they're not allowed - based on the red numbers above (excess). Of course, you could be allowed higher amounts, but the car repair amount alone that you're claiming can set you into a Ch. 13.

[momofthree]

Honestly, anything over IRS standards will probably ping the trustee's radar. You can view the standards here: http://www.justice.gov/ust/eo/bapcpa...anstesting.htm

As you can see, for a household of 2, they allow $985/mo for all food, household supplies, clothing & services, personal care products and services, and misc expenses, so you'll probably be okay with what you listed. It might make sense to break it down into the IRS categories though because that $800/mo food does stand out like a sore thumb. If it was broken down into household supplies, personal care items, and food separately it might look better to the tt.

IRS standard non-mortgage housing expense (for things like utilities, home maintenance, etc) averages about $500/mo for your area. You have $876 listed. This could be a problem.

You'll have to show proof of medical/dental expenses since they are nearly triple the IRS standard.

Pet care & recreation could go either way depending on your trustee. Both seem high.

As long as the car repair is $293, you're only slightly over the IRS operating expenses for 2 vehicles, so it should be fine, BUT when that is adjusted down from the $493 you posted, you end up with a DMI of $150.00 which puts you in ch.13 territory. And if the tt wants to object to even 1 of your other expenses, the chances of being a 13 are very real.

Honestly, I'd suggest buying at least 1 new car if you want to avoid a ch.13. You're spending a lot of money on repairs, so you probably need one anyway.