Clarification of what I can do with my tax refund

[woohoogirl]

I will be getting my refund in a week. It will be here the day after I get paid. So in my account there will be more money than I can exemption using Tennessee's $4000 wildcard exemption (I have to include my personal property and equity of my car in that wildcard as well). If I pay my car payment early and my home equity loan early (like 2 weeks early) with some of that tax refund, will that fly? That would free up more of the next payday to pay for RXs. I would go ahead and order my RXs but I can't do so until later next month, and I really don't want to wait until the end of next month to file for personal reasons.

Hope I am making some sense....

[FreshLikeADaisy]

Woohoogirl, yes, you could do that, but if prescriptions are an ongoing issue might I suggest buying a gift card (or three) at the drugstore where you normally get your scrips filled? You can certainly pay some of your debts early, especially if you plan to reaffirm them, but if you were to take out the cash and buy some gift cards with the cash at the stores where they will do the most good, it might work better for you, depending on your circumstances. Also, you can buy Visa gift cards at Walmart and other places, if that interests you (wider range of merchants who will accept it as payment).

I suggest it because if you pay some payments early, and free up future income as planned, but then have a delay in your filing for whatever reason it might defeat your purpose of not having too much $$$ in your accts at the time you file. Anyway, just a thought. Good luck!!!!

[FreshLikeADaisy]

Woohoogirl, my apologies, but I take this back.

The reason being that technically speaking, gift cards have to be listed on your filing as well as bank accounts, so I was not helping you out any by suggesting gift cards. My thoughts were more "how can she get her prescriptions taken care of w/o cash in the bank?" so that your current payment schedule would remain unchanged, and I said it without realizing that in reality, I was trading one reportable asset for another.

That said, if you are on daily medications that have to be refilled, your pharmacy can generally fill 3 months at a time IF they're not covered by insurance. If insurance is involved it gets a little more complex -- some will cover 90 day refills and some won't. I do three months at a time on a particular med that I take and have found it very helpful, so I thought I'd mention it.

My apologies again for the confusion.

[BKcrazy]

I don't know is this helps either, but maybe try to get 90 day supplies of your medication through mail order? Some you can get at certain Kmarts in the store too. It may cost more, but will help spend that return on things that are not fun.

[woohoogirl]

Thanks for your help. I do the mail order RXs. I was spending about $350 for one month supply of daily meds using retail, I switched to mail order now it's like $700 for 90 days. Saving me approximately $1400 a year going the mail order way. I highly recommend mail order to anybody that can do that!!

[mesa777]

I also need some advice in regards to what I can and CANNOT do with my tax refund.. I want to use some of the $$ for dental work, want to pay my attorney the fee's to file... how much can I set aside for legal fees?? What is reasonable incase of any credit card challenges, ect?? Need to purchase a cheap home computer.. HELP!!!!

[One Half Full]

I thought in the "tactical guide to bankruptcy" in the stickies That it said that if you get your tax refund and have not yet filed, as long as you don't transfer it into a reportable asset, then you can spend it. Reportable assets were things like retirement funds where you were allowed to cash out when you wanted. (Or as she said, gift cards). Dental work, or a cheap home computer -- well? I was thinking of using it for some much needed surgery on my leg. The only problem is that the insurance company takes Months and months to bill. On the other hand if I could afford laser surgery on my eyes, they would want payment immediately. Hmm. Maybe I should get a giant tattoo!!! They couldn't take that away from me!

[butterflywings]

I thought in the "tactical guide to bankruptcy" in the stickies That it said that if you get your tax refund and have not yet filed, as long as you don't transfer it into a reportable asset, then you can spend it. Reportable assets were things like retirement funds where you were allowed to cash out when you wanted. (Or as she said, gift cards). Dental work, or a cheap home computer -- well? I was thinking of using it for some much needed surgery on my leg. The only problem is that the insurance company takes Months and months to bill. On the other hand if I could afford laser surgery on my eyes, they would want payment immediately. Hmm. Maybe I should get a giant tattoo!!! They couldn't take that away from me!

No, but they can make you pay it back. Pre BK planning is essential but you have to be prudent at the same time. Lasik and/or tatooing are not a "necessity" so I doubt any of that would fly with the trustee.

[nazstar]

Similar situation..I have a lot of needed things I am going to stock up on with my refund and bonus. Dental work, prepay car insurance for 6 months, pampers, formula, and a medical bill that will be coming in June (when I deliver). I know these are okay. But there were some things that we wanted to get that I am afraid won't fly. I am looking at a $25,000 bonus AFTER taxes. So, here are the potential purchases I am worried about:
-$5000 for a Microsoft certification course for my husband. He's in IT and it's for job advancement.
-$6500 to my corporate AMEX to clear it (I've been floating personal expenses on it and need to pay it off if I want to keep bridges good at my job when I quit).
- $1000 for a patio set. We use this as our sole dining set and we've been without one for months. For the last 2 years, we've had no dining room table or chairs and eat off the ottoman.... Barbaric...I know...but hubby's exwife came in to take it in the divorce settlement and we never replaced it.
-$1000 for a new vacumn cleaner and some home improvements. We moved to a townhome and need to buy some things to "set up".
-$2000 to clear an overdraft in our checking account - long story - bounced a check, etc.
-$2500 for lawyer.

We won't be filing until 6 months AFTER these things are paid/purchased and we won't be using credit cards - just cash/debit cards.

[BKcrazy]

I said this in another thread, as my attorney said, don't spend it on anything "fun".

[mesa777]

I dont know if that $1000 vacuum cleaner is going to fly either... My question is this... why cant a person build up a "legal defense fund" in case the credit card companies try to dispute my bankruptcy??? Dont know if there is anything wrong with me getting dental work, $1500.00, a new home computer $750-900.00, 6 months car insurance, $3000-4000.00 attorney fees... how do I know if I wont need more than the $2K that my attorney has quoted me???? Was advised that sometimes can be higher due to my sort of a case, gambling related charges, ect...