by Hope
The Good News…
Whatever knocked me flat the last couple of weeks is slowly dissipating, thank you for your concern.
In addition to my newer part time job, I’ve picked up one decent sized web design project and two on-going small part time consulting jobs. By my educated estimates, if all goes well, this could increase my monthly take home by about $600. (This doesn’t include the web design monies as they would be more lump sum.)
The Bad News…
Last month I had anticipated receiving payment for a larger project and thus had budgeted for that income. Through no fault of my own, that project is at a stand still and thus I was about $2000 short on my budgeted income for the month.
Because of this I cleared out my newly started “emergency fund” of the whopping $150 I started with.
The Ugly…
Because of the short income, debt payoffs were a mere trickle, just barely making minimum payments across the board.
In addition, there is now some new debt, some from an expected source which I had hoped to put off a bit longer but that is no longer possible and some from a “I should have known better” source.
It has been a VERY hard week back from our wonderful get away financially, but as my sickness clears so does my head and I see the silver lining. Lots of planning going on in my head.
(It’s Tuesday night now when I’m finally able to hold thoughts together long enough to write this. Needless to say, I haven’t gathered any financials together yet. After working my part time job in the morning, I hope to sit down and do that. I appreciate you bearing with me.)
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.
Good news on the additional income. Perhaps when the $2,000 comes in, you will be able to make some traction on debt.
You win some, you lose some. May I suggest making that $2000 payment the start of your emergency fund? It’s frustrating to not make much forward progress on debt, but it’s much more frustrating to go backwards.
Hope, I too am going backwards this month. On June 1st I had to go and buy new tires for my car for a price of $665! That was something I was expecting, but I wasn’t expecting it at this time. I thought I’d have a few more months, but alas I had a tire blow out and it wasn’t worth risking my safety to put off the purchase.
My goodness…isn’t that the way life is. We have such a wonderful mountain top experience (your vacation) and then life happens. Hope you are finding your way back up the hill. Will you be sharing the story of how you have “new debt” soon? I know that must be discouraging but keep your focus on the silver lining. Wishing you a great day!
Just curious, do these setbacks alter your travel plans for later in the summer?
Ugh I hate that. Life loves to wait until you have money or plans, and then destroys them all. We had a small windfall and planned to make a decent emergency fund out of it. Wouldn’t you know it, a filling of mine failed and I have to get a long-delayed crown.
Life loves to do that. Good news is, you aren’t alone.
Keep plugging a long. Two steps forward, one step back.