by Hope
Remember our Garage Sale when we were in purge mode last year. And all the other stuff we sold. Well, we’ve broken down and decided to spend some of it. I had hoped to be in a permanent home before we did that, but circumstances require some shopping!
We are going to buy a TABLE for our tiny dining room. It’s got to be the right size and shape to work for the space, and I’m hoping it will leave enough room to put some sort of storage in their too as our kitchen is just unpleasant with all the clutter.
To do this and make the best use of our money, I am watching the local online sale sites and we are regularly visiting the ReStore. We are all pretty excited about making better use of the space and having somewhere to 1) eat together as a family that is not balancing plates on our knees in chairs and 2) spread out school and project work when needed.
SIDE NOTE: We originally had almost $5000 from all our downsizing and sales, but I dipped into that to help pay for our “new to us” car. (Yes, I know you want a post on that, and I will get to it.) So we have about $1800 left. But I think a table will run $130 or less for what we are looking for and we can get a few chairs at $20 or less each.
Hope is a resourceful, solutions-driven online business manager with over two decades of experience helping clients streamline operations, manage projects, and grow their businesses through digital marketing and technology.
But life has a way of rewriting your plans.
A year ago, Hope made the decision to move in with her aging parents full time – a season she wouldn’t trade, even as it came with its own financial and emotional weight. Earlier this year, she lost her mother, and is now walking the tender, disorienting path of grief while learning what “forward” looks like from here.
Hope came to the Blogging Away Debt community in 2015 as a single mom raising five foster and adoptive children. She’s written through job changes, financial setbacks, and the bittersweet transition to an empty nest. Her kids are finding their footing in the world now – and so is she.
Rooted in faith and fueled by the same perseverance she’s brought to every hard season, Hope is ready to face her finances with fresh eyes and an honest pen. She believes that clarity, courage, and community can change the trajectory of anyone’s story including her own.
She lives in Austin, TX with her dad, loves adventures with her dog Addie, and is figuring out, one step at a time, what this next chapter is meant to be.
Watch the craigslist free section. Mine has tables and chairs very often, sometimes multiple sets a day.
Thinking outside the box, if you’re looking for something with storage, maybe a shelving system (one on each end or a large one spanning the middle) with a tabletop screwed to it could easily be made from Restore pieces, think old kitchen cabinets and flat doors (even hollowcore would be strong enough for 1-2 years use). In college I used a homemade desk built with a hollowcore door and it was cheap and withstood the time. A tablecloth will hide the ugly top if you are worried about it.
I’m a lurker and very much like this site. I have to say your posts often annoy me. I hope the story about the car is worth the dangling of the carrot you have been doing to the readers for the last few weeks (or is months now?). IDK, it’s kind-of weird you are putting off the story.
I’m not meaning to “dangle a carrot” by any means. In fact, I probably wouldn’t write about it here at all except for the constant requests for the “story.” I mention it to be pre-emptive from getting overwhelmed with comments about it just to let readers know I haven’t forgotten.
The delay…how do you make a story out of it? It’s not debt. I had already written about extra work and saving that money all spring. Now I mention the savings we had from last fall from selling almost everything we owned.
It’s really not a story and definitely not a dangle…I saved money, I bought a “new to me” car, I got a great deal because I knew the sales people and was very specific with what I wanted and was prepared to walk away as I had a driveable car. That’s it, that’s all. NO story. So I have had a hard time writing a post about that to make it worth writing.
I write on Wednesdays only normally so feel free to skip those days if I my writing annoys you. Just saying!
Hope, you said in an earlier post that you bartered for the car, now you are saying you paid for it. Asking you to write a post about the purchase of a car on a debt blog isn’t that out of the norm
Any plans to do a debt update post? I think that’s something else that readers have been asking about. Your consumer debt is paid off except your ex-husband’s vehicle, and you asked for advice on what to throw your money at next. You also have talked about your decision to move/not to move. Your budget has an effect on all of those decisions (obviously) so seeing some numbers would help the readers give more relevant input. You’re not beholden to the readers in any way, but I thought that the whole point of being a blogger on this site was for accountability. You’ve done a great job so far – let us help cheer you on the rest of the way and offer any constructive advice from an outsider’s perspective/maybe as someone who has already gotten out of debt. I know there are people who have been hard on you – some with good intentions, some not so good, but I think the majority of the readers WANT you to succeed, but we need something concrete every once in awhile to know how best to support you.
Yes, I mentioned in a recent post that ALL debt repayment is on hold until I figure out a housing decision. As soon as that issue is settled I will have numbers to work with, a new budget and a debt payoff plan. My date for making a final housing decision is September but am getting more and more settled with what I think we will do.
You might also want to check out FreeCycle, too.
Could it be a construction project for you and the kids? Nothing crazy, but even taking an old door and attaching some pre-made legs (available at most hardware stores) to it……check out pinterest for DIY ideas?
And it could be tied into a homeschooling lesson!
You can make an awesome large table using IKEA components that have storage as the base and just getting a giant piece of butcher block or formica top from a hardware store. We have done that for hard to fit spaces. Then you don’t worry about table legs and have storage built right in. Just an idea to think about!! The IKEA Expedit (on craigslist)or Kallax units (the new version of expedit) hold a lot of weight and have great storage. There are lots of them on craigslist too! There is nothing better then a table that is big enough for your needs! I totally understand!!! You may be able to make a “table” using more functional pieces. And butcher block is great and stands up to all kids of kid and adult abuse!! 🙂