I filed Chapter 13 back in October 2024 (I have a home I don’t want to lose, so I chose it over chapter 7) and am roughly halfway through a 3-year plan. I have finally hit a milestone of holding over $1,000 in savings and no new debts. Initially, my plan was to put $200 in savings back each month.
Ever since I filed, there has always been something going on that has really challenged my ability to save. I have 2 older vehicles (1999 and 2009), and while I do most of the work myself, parts aren’t free. Groceries and food costs seemed to really rise as well. On top of it all, being a homeowner and just having other life events has really knocked me down financially time and time again. This month, though, I finally hit a savings milestone that has been my goal for a while.
The biggest challenge has been not altering my income too greatly. I have always picked up part time jobs and gigs when I needed, and when my vehicles started to fail I really needed extra income. My attorney advised me that getting extra income can throw off the payment agreement. However, he also told me to only pursue opportunities that would truly benefit my situation. There were a lot of feelings of helplessness not being able to freely work more just to get ahead a bit. Ultimately I felt that the increase in income would match the increase in expenses, so it would be a wash. I did get a small temporary gig just so I could my vehicles on the road, and my attorney nor trustee have said anything about it.
I’m roughly halfway through, and this milestone has me a lot more optimistic than when I started. I’ll begin rebuilding credit once I’m finished completely with payments. In the meantime, learning to save and live without a financial lifeline has been my focus. It’s definitely rough, but not impossible.
Fellow peeps going through the same thing, hang in there!
submitted by /u/alcurtis727
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