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Jun 6, 2023    |       8 comments

The reserves are now empty…

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Since July of last year, I have gone from a significant and steady full time income to 7 months at a 30% reduction from that full time number.

On February 23rd, I became unemployed with income of just a few hundred dollars for that next month.

In mid-March, I started a part time job at $25 per hour, less than a 1/3 of my typical hourly rate. Bringing in right around $2,000 per month. (I do have to say that I LOVE this job. Very, very much. And I love the owner whom I get to work with. It has been such a refreshing change for me. And I come to an office every day.)

And then last week, took on another part time job at $40 per hour a little less than 2/3 of my typical hourly rate. (No payment yet.)

But with all that said…the reserves are completely dry. And as of last week, I am late on my first bill after 9 months of being under and un-employed.

Not panicking

And I have to say, I am not worried. I know this will all work out.

But my gut reaction…I am so freaking proud of myself! Anyone who has followed me knows that my financial life, especially when it comes to have savings has been a nightmare for the most part. But guys, I had enough in savings to make it through 9 months.

I’m continuing to look for side work, pick up website design for people, and applying via Upwork for contract/freelance gigs.

Less to worry about

Another side of this is that my obligations are lessening. The twins have moved away, back to Virginia. Princess is pretty much supporting herself. And we are just six weeks away from Gymnast moving.

Loaded and ready for her first roadtrip – Texas bound!

Oh, and my sister visited and fell in love with one of my dogs…so I have gone from 7 dogs, to 6 (Princess’ Chihuahua passed a month-ish ago), and now to 5.

I know these are not significate cost savings for me. But they are definitely burdens off my shoulders mentally. And that helps. Turning the corner and my best not to dig too deep of a hole while I get back on my feet.

Read more from Hope

Hope’s First post on BAD – March, 2014

Hope’s Most Recent post on BAD (before this one) – April, 2023

The Adoption Story – April, 2014

May 25, 2023    |       4 comments

Progress on Eating Out, Plus a Health Update

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It’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve been able to pop in and provide everyone with an update. We’ve been making some progress on things and are really happy to see results in trimming back our eating out. Here’s what’s new…

Less Eating Out For Our Family

Our family has actually been doing really well with not eating out recently. We haven’t cut it out completely, but we’ve managed to trim our $1,000/month habit down to $300 in just one month. We are taking the $700 in savings and tossing it at our debts (IRS first).

Next month, the goal is to get that figure down to $150 total for eating out during the month. Right now, with how our lifestyle is, that is a good goal for us. With us both working from home and having our little one home full-time, eating out will still happen occasionally because we are tired. However, the savings we’ve seen has been extremely motivating. We haven’t wanted to eat out as much and leftovers started to taste better when we realized how much money we were actually saving.

Despite cutting back on eating out, my health still hasn’t been the greatest. In fact, it’s felt like one thing after another recently.

Latest Health Update

I am scheduled for a heart monitor to be placed for the long weekend tomorrow. I’m hoping this provides us with some answers as to what’s been going on. I’m still dealing with heart palpitations just about every day, sometimes multiple times a day.

On top of that, I’ve become increasingly aware of several other issues. Tinnitus in my ears when I bend over (which I do a ton with a child under the age of two in the house), nausea every day, dizziness, headaches, chronic back/pelvic pain, and just general fatigue. It has been exhausting. So, I’m hopeful that the heart monitor can help address what’s going on. Either way, there will likely be a number of doctor’s appointments in my future still.

The silver lining here is that I’m able to take care of this. A few years ago, we wouldn’t have been able to handle any of these expenses (though it’s still stressful now). I have insurance. Plus, everyone else in my family is very healthy. All of these things are blessings, even when I’m feeling awful.

Read More From Amanda:

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