by Hope
Sorry, I was MIA last week. I woke up last Wednesday just simply overwhelmed at the amount of work I/we still had to get done and facing working both jobs plus approximately 3 hours in the car with kid chauffeuring duties. I made an executive decision and called in to my part time job and then got all the kids up super early and got down to business. That day turned the corner for me in terms of this move and now I’m in a much better place mentally! There is definitely something to be said for “mental health” days, that’s for sure.
So moving past that I wanted to tell about a recent financial win. As I have mentioned I barter for almost all of my kids activities. But one thing I’ve never been able to to barter for was our homeschool co op tuition, and this year with four kids going it was over $2000. Ugh! This is the first year that I’ve had all four homeschooling year round so the first time for this large of a bill. Not to mention the older two are taking more advanced, thus more expensive courses.
Typically my little one’s dad comes up with at least 1/2 of theirs, but this year he is in a transition phase and is short on money. He did help but nearly so much as he normally does. (Note: We do not have a formal financial arrangement of any kind. I tell him when the kids need things and if he can, and most of the time he can, he helps out. I have no complaints at all about his contribution and while it is not viewed as the traditional child support arrangement it works for us and takes the financial stress out of an already stressful relationship.)
So I was facing a really large bill at an already stressful time. (This tuition is lumped into the monthly line item of my budget of Kid’s Activities in case you were wondering.) Ok, so what to do. Well, as you know, we are minimizing like no body’s business over here. Our garage sale was an overwhelming success and I have been advertising on Facebook and Craigslist, etc. So my win…
One of the teachers who teaches three of my children year long just so happened to need a couple of pieces of furniture that I had…and voila, like that a barter deal was worked out, my furniture for a full years tuition for 3 children, 1 class each…SCORE! For those who want numbers this equates to about $600 in tuition. SCORE!
Hope is a creative, solutions-focused business manager helping clients grow their business and work more efficiently by leveraging expertise in project management, digital marketing, & tech solutions. She’s recently become an empty nester as her 5 foster/adoptive kids have spread their wings. She lives with her 5 dogs in a small town in NE Georgia and prefers the mountains to the beaches any day. She struggles with the travel bug and is doing her best to help each of her kids as their finish schooling and become independent (but it’s hard!) She has run her own consulting company for almost twenty years! Hope began sharing her journey with the BAD community in the Spring of 2015 and feels like she has finally in a place to really focus on making wise financial decisions.
Hi Hope – Missed you last week. I know this must be an extremely stressful and hectic time but hang on – you are almost there. Great job on the bartering. That is a chunk out of your payment there. Score!!! Keep us posted. We are here cheering you on!
Thanks, Mary, your encouragement is SO cherished, thank you for cheering us on during this rough transition.
Bartering for the win! Hopefully your garage sale and selling brought in enough cash to tide you over for any spending related to the move. Can’t wait to hear how the car sale and house repairs are going.
The garage sale was FABULOUS! Not that I want to ever do it again. But the cash is definitely helping towards the cost of the move and getting the house ready. I will post on that once everything is said and done and on the market.
That’s great! When I was in high school (I was home schooled) my mom had an agreement with my piano teacher for a reduced lesson rate in exchange for me watching her young children while she taught the rest of her lessons. Things like this can really work out well for everyone.
Obviously, you had a wise mom, Emily 🙂
I hope I can find other things for next year as it certainly did feel good to see that number drop in this case.
Awesome job! We missed you last week. I know this time is stressful and busy for you, keep hainging on, you’re almost there!
Thanks, Kayla! It seems that Wednesday’s get the best of me, because like last week, I woke up feeling over whelmed again today. Your support and encouragement means the world to me right now so thank you! And I cannot wait for this move to be over and we can find our new normal.