Hi All,
I'm so glad I found this board, its truly been a wealth of knowledge.
This is my first time posting. I've retained a lawyer and am now filling out the massive amounts of paperwork to file BK. Basically, here's the rundown - I'm married but filing on my own since 90% of the debts are in my name only. From a quick glance, we make over the California state median by maybe $9k. I fell into the trap of borrowing from Peter to pay Paul while my husband was either unemployed or underemployed (only worked part time) over the past 10 years. Its about $42k in unsecured loans and credit cards. We rent and we don't own anything except for two cars free and clear that are around $4k and $7k by KBB standards.
So here it goes - when I run our numbers on wages from the past 6 months (Jan-June) it looks like we have a larger monthly income than we actually do. Its killing me. See, my husband was on unemployment from October-Feb. Mid-Feb he got a job for $12/hr that had massive amounts of over time (6 days a week, 10 hour days) until late May-early June. Now they've stopped most of the OT so basically his income is pretty much halved. This is how its going to be for the forseeable future as the higher ups say they want to cut the OT and move to two teams instead.
I know the logical thing to do would be to wait until December to file, but there is a chance that he may get a much better job in the next three months at around $20/hr with a good friend of his who he previously worked with, so I need to file NOW. Again tho - its a chance, not a sure thing.
Oh yeah, and the job he has now is long term temp, which means he goes through a mandatory lay-off in January.
So yeah, on paper when I run the numbers it looks like he makes over $2100 net a month (6 months of income totalled and then divided by 6). But in the real world where there is mainly just a 4 week month with regards to paychecks, he brings in $1700 net a month. This is a massive difference in our world.
The same with me - while my income is steady, its doing the math using the "add up 6 months and divide by six" that's killing me. It shows that I bring home a few hundred more a month than I actually do.
I mean, I know I ultimately bring home that much throughout the year, but when you are living paycheck to paycheck and do your personal monthly budget, you factor in what you are actually going to bring home.
Sorry, I sound like a whiney baby when I should be grateful I have a good job. This is all just really getting to me. Honestly, I never thought I'd be in this position and assumed I would turn it around like I always managed to do, but when I tried to work with a reputable Debt Management company they said that they couldnt help me unless we brought home another $700 a month and suggested BK.
Anyone else in similar circumstances? Did you get kicked into CH13 with a massive monthly payment? When I'm filling out our Budget sheet for the lawyer it shows that we should have loads of disposable income but Im not seeing it in the real world. UGH!
I'm so glad I found this board, its truly been a wealth of knowledge.
This is my first time posting. I've retained a lawyer and am now filling out the massive amounts of paperwork to file BK. Basically, here's the rundown - I'm married but filing on my own since 90% of the debts are in my name only. From a quick glance, we make over the California state median by maybe $9k. I fell into the trap of borrowing from Peter to pay Paul while my husband was either unemployed or underemployed (only worked part time) over the past 10 years. Its about $42k in unsecured loans and credit cards. We rent and we don't own anything except for two cars free and clear that are around $4k and $7k by KBB standards.
So here it goes - when I run our numbers on wages from the past 6 months (Jan-June) it looks like we have a larger monthly income than we actually do. Its killing me. See, my husband was on unemployment from October-Feb. Mid-Feb he got a job for $12/hr that had massive amounts of over time (6 days a week, 10 hour days) until late May-early June. Now they've stopped most of the OT so basically his income is pretty much halved. This is how its going to be for the forseeable future as the higher ups say they want to cut the OT and move to two teams instead.
I know the logical thing to do would be to wait until December to file, but there is a chance that he may get a much better job in the next three months at around $20/hr with a good friend of his who he previously worked with, so I need to file NOW. Again tho - its a chance, not a sure thing.
Oh yeah, and the job he has now is long term temp, which means he goes through a mandatory lay-off in January.
So yeah, on paper when I run the numbers it looks like he makes over $2100 net a month (6 months of income totalled and then divided by 6). But in the real world where there is mainly just a 4 week month with regards to paychecks, he brings in $1700 net a month. This is a massive difference in our world.
The same with me - while my income is steady, its doing the math using the "add up 6 months and divide by six" that's killing me. It shows that I bring home a few hundred more a month than I actually do.
I mean, I know I ultimately bring home that much throughout the year, but when you are living paycheck to paycheck and do your personal monthly budget, you factor in what you are actually going to bring home.
Sorry, I sound like a whiney baby when I should be grateful I have a good job. This is all just really getting to me. Honestly, I never thought I'd be in this position and assumed I would turn it around like I always managed to do, but when I tried to work with a reputable Debt Management company they said that they couldnt help me unless we brought home another $700 a month and suggested BK.
Anyone else in similar circumstances? Did you get kicked into CH13 with a massive monthly payment? When I'm filling out our Budget sheet for the lawyer it shows that we should have loads of disposable income but Im not seeing it in the real world. UGH!
Does this mean I need to wait until August?
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