Blogging Away Debt Blogging Away Debt follows real people on their journey to debt freedom — with tips on the debt snowball, budgeting, cutting expenses, and staying motivated.

by Hope

This has been a very hard week. I mentioned previously how my kids have been struggling. One in particular has been seeing a counselor for some time now. Between the big move, the sudden change in our lifestyle, some of my parenting choices and teenage years, in general, led to a battle with depression and a very tumultuous home life.

To be honest, I wish I had the time and resources to see a counselor myself. Life has just been slamming us!  I don’t feel like I have time to take a breathe between emergencies. Please keep my family in your thoughts and prayers as we work toward a new normal, and I work really hard toward being a better mom, creating a more regular schedule and being more patient.

Celebrate Adoption

That being said, we have a lot to celebrate this month. Six years ago this month, the twins were placed with as as foster kids and three years ago today, their adoption was finalized.

Job Loss

In addition, it was two years ago this coming Monday that I lost my job. Our lives changed forever then. It has been hard, but we have so much to be grateful for. We have had so many new experiences that we would never have experienced without that push. We got to experience Tiny Living, Glamping and then a big move to a new tiny town. October is a big month for us.

Next Week’s Budget

I am more and more committed to becoming debt free, creating some security for my little family and getting healthy mentally. I must keep moving forward for my kids if for nothing else.  Without further ado, this is our budget for this next week:

We have been much more successful in our No Spend Month this week. We didn’t even spend our grocery budget last week. I am really excited that I have found a way to cut my cell phone bill a bit beginning next month. I am also excited that I am starting to pay for my new car, and am already anticipating paying it off by 2019. Debt update getting published this weekend…finally!

Hope

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.