Questions

[SecondChanceGal]

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[Ryersonhead]

First off your credit report will change within the next few month or so, when all your creditors and such catch up with their paper work. Your credit report you will have to build backup yourself after the BK bomb explodes and the dust settles. All in good time.....
A charge off is when a creditor writes off your balance as "bad debt" but it is dischargeable in bankruptcy.

Some things will not show up on the credit report, others will show up on different credit reports ie.... Experian, equifax etc.....sometimes different reports have a few different figures.....not a big concern.

The court doesn't have instant access to your accounts. However, depending on your district and/or trustee they may want to see a bank statement or two, or more.....
again districts and trustees vary on this.
Most trustees aren't really concerned about minimal spending on food and such, especially if they are in increments less than 500 bucks a pop.

Check with your attorney for your means testing, expenses etc....
Doesn't sound like your buying filet mignon dinners at the Waldorf Astoria, so don't worry too much about that sort of thing.
As long as your honest, and not blatantly spending beyond what you need you will be fine.
The best thing to hope for is that you end up with a trustee who is relatively easy-going
(as a trustee can be) I'm sure you will.

[Lindsay]

Secondchance,
I'm driving myself crazy thinking about small things too. The collection calls are driving me crazy at the house. My husband used to work for my father years ago and he's gotten about 30 calls there! I was hoping that no one would find out at my dad's business, but the cat is definitely out of the bag now! I was hoping to avoid bk because I thought it would be embarrassing, but now I think I'll skip the negotiations and just file. It's safe to say every single family member and neighbor knows now anyway.

I was just reading one of those bankruptcy books and I'm getting so paranoid! We've been stupid with money (not being mindful of expenses and grocery bills, ect), buying a truck that we couldn't afford, ect. But we haven't ever taken a cash advance, didn't make any insider payments, didn't transfer any property ever, ect, so hopefully things will go smoothly.

I had a very evil collector call me today on a card that is 2 weeks late, trying to get me to agree to pay via check by phone. He was screaming, "You have to pay this so just agree to let me take it out of your checking account!" I didn't back down, but I was friendly. Is it a bad idea to be rude or hang up on a collector? Will that make them sue you faster or challenge the bankruptcy, I wonder?

We made charges on 2 of our cards in the last 3 months, gas, utilities, insurance, living expenses, no luxuries though, but a pretty good sized amount (about $3500 in the past 90 days). We have to wait to file until after 90 days have passed, I think. I don't know how I'm going to deal with the collectors until then. If they are this agressive and nasty after only 2 weeks, imagine how bad they will be in another month or so. Discover called about 12 times today but I didn't answer the phone for them because I hear their collectors are really bad. It's my daughter's 16th birthday today so I didn't want to get more upset. I burst into tears about 20 times a day thinking about this terrible situation.

(((((Hugs to You))))) I think its just a very scary time and our imaginations are working at full capacity. I keep thinking that I'll probably get the greediest, most evil trustee like in those movies where they say, "Oh, no! You got the hanging judge!"

[SinkingFast]

Lindsay,............

Quit answering the phone. Just don't talk to the Creditors. You can't believe how much info you give them and you don't realize it. If you don't have Caller ID, get an answering machine and screen your calls.

Not answering the phone won't make them move any faster. Creditors have a process. 2-3 months, or so, of calls from regular Customer Servicing hoping you'll bring your acct current. Then they turn your acct over to internal collections. Another 2-3 months there before you're even looking at a call from an outside Collections firm.

SCG,........... For your bills when you're getting close to filing,....... Don't risk writing checks and waiting for them to clear. The balance you have in the bank the day you file is the $$$ amount you have to protect with an Exemption. If checks haven't cleared, those funds are fair game, unless you can cover them with an Exemption.

Buy Money Orders to pay your bills. Save the receipt from the MO purchase and attach the stubs to your bill statements. Poof! Money instantly gone. If your rent/mortgage payment is too large for a Money Order, get a Cashier's Check from your bank to pay that. Same thing. Money instantly gone.

The cash reimbursements,......... Do you fill out some sort of Expense Reimbursement Form?? If you do, start saving copies of those statements. It's just a CYA to document your explanation for the monies going out of your acct.

If you have a laundromat that will do the laundry for you, charging so much per pound,........ Maybe pay them for a bit to do the laundry for you. That way you get receipts for your laundry.

As far as the video rentals,........ Most Courts allow something for Entertainment. Video rentals would probably qualify in that category. So don't worry about it.

[sickandtired8]

Got a lot, so please bear with me.

In looking at my credit report, what does it mean when it says :

Status: Account charged off. $XXXX written off. $XXX past due as of Sep 2006. Status Details: This account is scheduled to continue on record until Mar 2013. Creditor's statement: Account closed at credit grantor's request. Account History:
Charge Off as of Sep 2006

This is written on 3 of the 6 cards I have...??

Then another says - "Status Details: As of Feb 2014, this account is scheduled to go to a positive status."

What is that?

And - no $400 PayDay Loan shows up on it either.

Now - I have a signature loan for my car where I bank at the credit union. I owe $700 on it and have had the loan for almost 2 years. It's not even showing up on the credit report..?? Wonder why?

On to more questions -

The day you file they say to have a low bank account. Does the court have access to check your account THAT very day? If you have checks that haven't cleared, how does that work? I pretty much live paycheck to paycheck, but all checks don't clear right away.

I work in home health and habilitations. I spend about $60 in fast food due to my clients wanting to go to restaurants. I get reimbursed up to $4 per meal. It's in cash and I use that money for the laundromat. I change it up into quarters and I use it for the month. Other than maybe getting my daughter something at McDonald's or Dairy Queen on occasion, that's it. I have always put it on my debit card to I track how much I spend a month in lunches at work. Will I have to explain in detail the 7 or 8 charges you see monthly for this fast food - or how picky are they on what you spend? I'm so paranoid lately I don't want them to think I'm a spend freak. I've also rented movies for my mother - and have used my debit card in the past. She pays me back later. I guess I'm asking are they seeing these little charges and thinking I've got all this extra money if I can do this stuff?

And - are there charts on what you are allowed that I can look at for Ohio? Entertainment, food, clothing, medical...?? I'm going to make Excel charts to show my attorney all that I've spent in the last 6 months to give him right along with my statements - with child support in a 2 member family I make about $17,000 a year. So far this year with work and child support I've made about $11,000.

I think I've made myself so paranoid that I'm feeling if a trustee sees I can spend $3 on a rental video that I have more money than I'm claiming to spend on paying my debts. I've gotten myself feeling I have to account for every last penny and if they feel I've spent it frivilously, they'll deny me.

Actually, I'm curious myself to sit down and go over the last 6 months to see just where I've maybe overspent. Other than work, I really don't eat out much. And like I said - other than the occasional movie rental, that's as much entertainment as I get.

I'm reading this and realizing how odd I must look...lol...but I just want to know. I'm anxious to start my Excel charts. I've never truly tracked my spending to the penny but I'm curious now. I think in ways this teaches us all how to spend better and our budgets to be stricter. I know it sure has me. It's one of the most humble experiences I've ever been thru.

Thanks everyone! I sure do appreciate all the great help. It really helps me move along on this. I'm sure I might have more questions, so I'll check back in later!

We eat out alot! And nothing at all was said about it. S&T

[SecondChanceGal]

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[mattson06]

Secondchancegal

hi i know things are going crazy, hang in there. when you get your papers filed.Bankruptcy is very powerful protection against all those things that your going through.This is going to work out.just take a day at a time.Keep that head Be Strong