reciepts for spending cash

[anafan]

Hi....I have a problem.

I am just now going for consultations with attorneys. I have 3 appointments next week....attorney shopping!

Anyway in getting my paperwork together, researching and getting everything I will need together. ..I've read that you have to show 6 months of bank statements and receipts?

I have those for the last 4 months. Basically, bills, bills, bills. But in July 2011 thru August 2011 I have no receipts. During that time I withdrew $450, $500 and $350I spaced out over that time. I was deep in denial. My bills including the credit cards I was paying was $500 a month over my regular salary. We get commission checks monthly at work, based on department performance. But those months the department performance tanked and there were no bonuses. So I used that money to tide me over. And I bought things for my apartment. I hadn't bought a thing for myself in so many years because I was so busy enabling my deadbeat husband at the time. I admit I went on a bit of a spending spree as well.

Also bought a box spring and mattress set and replaced a broken living room recliner. I don't have a truck and couldn't move them myself, so I paid a friend of a friend $100 to deliver each of them to my apartment. I didn't even think I would need to show receipts for them. I bought the chair from an estate sale.

So in essence I have no proof of what I bought with this money. Im not hiding a stash of cash....I wish! I also bought thermal curtains and stuff at Walmart to redecorate my humble abode. The landlord fixes nothing here. My carpet is over 20 years old and so threadbare in spots that I am embarrassed to bring anyone into my apartment. I also bought 2 large area rugs to cover the carpeting up.

I didn't read this board enough I guess to find out I should have kept these receipts. I have been more concerned about keeping my car.

So I guess my question is...how concerned should I be about this? I am trying to time my BK filing so that the issue of equity in my car (2k - $700 depending on which website the trustee believes).

My priority is keeping the car, reaffirming the note on it. But I don't want to get to my 341 hearing and have the trustee ask me about receipts I don't have.....

I admit I have made alot of mistakes. Going thru a divorce after 17 years of marriage. The roller coaster of reconciling...then him walking out again. My emotions were all jacked up and I did some emotional spending I guess. I got some help, a good counselor helped me see I was beating a dead horse. I had abandonment issues from my past due to childhood neglect and abuse. Its been a rocky road for me and I have made some stupid decisions. It all spiraled out of control and now I've accepted that the past is over and I need this fresh start.

Im afraid of this whole procedure. How to proof I spent money I probably shouldn't have. Would the trustee say....that extra $2000.00 you had in August 2011, you should have paid down some of this $22,000 debt??? (Which was accumulated over a 17 year marriage?)

Btw....the husband walked away from the debt. He never wanted any of the bills in his name. He got off scott free. He never had to pay a penny of it. He has no education....which I didn't know until 2007. I was afraid they were going to make me pay something to him. I was so sick of the emotional trauma that I let him walk away from the responsibility. I wouldn't have gotten a nickel in alimony anyway. I'm his second ex.

I have fought so hard to get my life back on track. I never meant to be in this boat. I admit to financial mistakes. But not fraud and i'm not hiding a pile of cash or I'd move out of this rat hole apartment!

[keepsmiling]

Relax, deep breath... there ya go.

Good for you for having the courage to move forward, make changes, and get a true fresh start! This should only be a very minor bump in your journey, and maybe not even that.

Most people here have reported that they did NOT need to show their receipts. You are not talking about vast piles of money and by the time you get around to filing it may be well in the past. Why don't you first see what the atty's you consult with have to say about local trustee procedure? Perhaps there is no need for either the receipts or the rush. Worst case, perhaps you could ask at the store for a copy of a receipt for the mattress and chair? They may be in the files.

So much depends on your income, too. If you are under the median you can probably put this right out of your mind now.

And, buying a bed is not exactly a luxury. You really should NOT have anything to worry about here at all.

Let us know how your consults go next week. Wishing you the best of luck and hopefully you will feel much relief after your meetings.

[anafan]

I bought the mattress and box spring from a furniture store's going out if business sale. They wrote out a paper receipt on one of those old fashioned pads with carbon paper books. It was cash and carry. But it was such a good deal. I had the receipt but in all the other crap going on with the ex and also my job wasn't stable then...I simply had bigger fish to fry than keeping track of that little piece if paper. It isn't like you are going to return a mattress set after you take it home. I honestly didn't think to keep track if it. I was so happy to have a mattress he hadn't bonked his mistress in.....yeah he brought his mistress to our apartment while I was at work.

I had to do a cleansing!

The chair I bought at an estate sale. I never had a receipt for it. I also bought a set of end tables and some other household goods. I spent about $300 on those items.

I know you're right. Its all emotional and scary right now. Im worrying about the car equity thing. 2 attorneys have told me over the phone that they have vast experience with cars and equity on a 2006 Malibu, especially since I owe $2900 on it, wont be an issue. The one attorney I am thinking of hiring said....we have our own appraisers. I have never had a client pay equity on a 6 year old Malibu....especially when there's still a car note.

I feel reassured when I am talking on the phone with them and then I hang up and go thru my "what if this happens?"

Which is part of my issues of abandonment after finding out I was married to a fraud for 17 years.

Thanks for your words of encouragement. I do appreciate it and I will update after I've been to an attorney or 2 or 3!

[nohoneymoney]

Sorry to hear about your situation. I agree with keepsmiling, BK is a small issue compared to what you have lived through. Clearing your debt and getting a fresh start seems like the right thing to do. Interviewing multiple attorneys is also a good action to take. Pick the one you feel most comfortable with. Stay away from the BK mills.

As for receipts for cash purchases, write down what you spent, with whom, for what and when you did it. Make sure that your dates line up with the withdrawal dates in the bank account. Your attorney will know how best to proceed. Reading this forum there seems to be a significant variation on how trustees behave so only a local experienced attorney will know what is best for your area.

The other thing you can do is continue to read the posts on this forum.

Last item, relax. I have not spoken to anyone that has regretted declaring BK.

Best of luck.

[anafan]

I didn't know being under the median was a factor. I'm under by 11K. I live in the Northern District of Ohio.

[keepsmiling]

Usually they don't waste too much time with under median filers, unless there is some kind of huge red flag. You don't seem to have one of those. It just isn't worth the tt's time. He/she only gets $60/case unless there appear to be real assets to go after. He does NOT want your mattress.

Go make yourself a nice cup of tea, put your feet up, and keep reading here. You'll feel much better soon, with a bright new future ahead.
Good luck and --- Keep Smiling

[anafan]

i'm not as concerned with the mattress just that i don't have receipts for the cash I took out of my account in August 2011. I took $450; then 2 weeks later $500. Then in September $500. I was on a stay at home vacation and decided to redo my apartment. I bought stuff at yard sales, second hand shops and I got the mattress from a going out of business sale. Everything was as is. I didn't think to save reciepts. I did discover in going thru my bank registers that i totally forgot that i put the last withdrawal into my household account. So i can document that. It went to the bills. My expenses with credit cards is more than my income. Thus the robbing Peter to pay Paul routine.....

My other concern is my car. Its a 2006 Malibu that I still owe $2900.00 on. I want to reafirm the debt. Kelly BB is $10,000.00! Edward's dealer retail is $7896.00; private sale is $6689.00 and trade in is $5511.00. Its in fair condition. Has some stuff wrong with it, but I can't afford to fix it with all this debt. I'd have to put it on the old charge card......and around and around we go!

I live in Ohio. I can exempt $3450.00 plus I can use the wild card of $1100.00. As soon as I find out which value for my car the trustee is going to use, I can figure out if they are going to make me pay for the equity or just forget about it.

If they make me pay for the equity, does that put me in a Chapter 13?

Also I have put the car payment into my expenses, but I only have to pay until September 2012. So do I have to prorate the car payment and operating expense to 9 months?

As long as all of my expenses are legit, I will be okay as I am -$215.00 right now.

Jeeez, I can think of a thousand things I'd rather be doing on a nice fall Saturday than this!! I just want to write down all my issues and questions before I go on my attorney shopping trip.

I suppose I will get these answers at the attorney office. But my head has been spinning with this for a week. I didnt know equity came into play when you reafirm the car note.

Thanks for the encouragement, I'm sure you've been here and done this. If anything I've learned some pretty big life's lessons! I can't tell you all the stuff I've been through.

[StrawberrySu]

Hi there anafan, I am a former Buckeye just recently moved to North Carolina. About your car values .. I worried about that too. I heard my district (I am filing here in NC) that the trustee used NADA retail value . gulp ... it was $13,000. Our attorney said to take it to Carmax, and get a quote. They quoted $6000, and that was fine the attorney said. Wow, what a difference. It just depends on your area. Not sure where in the northern district you fall, but I am sure Toledo or Cleveland would have a Carmax. If the attorney uses an appraiser, are you going to have to pay for that? I know it's free at Carmax. Good luck!