by Hope
I am typically pretty decisive on my plan, but I’m really floundering this time around. We just have alot going on at the same time. And I’m struggling with my priority list. So here I am asking for some feedback from you. In a nutshell, here are the things going on in my head that I’m trying to balance along with my debt payoff (these are listed in no particular order other than how they came to mind:)
- Kids Co Op Costs – As I mentioned last spring I am going to be teaching two classes this fall as our homeschool co op to off set the cost of the kids’ classes. I had hoped that those two classes would fill and I wouldn’t have to worry about any tuition costs; however, it does look like there is going to be a difference. Typically, the little’s dad would be helping with this and this would not be an issue.
- Moving/Housing Costs – When our lease is up next April we are LEAVING. So I will definitely have some moving expenses or at least storage costs. Since I HOPE to be buying, I need to seriously consider upping the ante on my savings beyond the EF fund that I add to a little at a time.
- Travel – One of the places I am definitely going to loosen my financial belt a bit this coming year is on travel. We have two trips planned this fall, both to see family, so not much expense except gas and a bit of food…and we’ve just been presented with the opportunity to spend a weekend in DC and work a marathon which would be fun, but it is volunteer and I would have to cover our costs. (I’m not thinking beyond April with this, just short weekend trips to see family.)
- Educational Camps – One thing we really cut back this year was some of the educational camps/experiences we have done in the past. And with the twins beginning their junior year, I’d really like to get a few more in before they are in the “real” world. Not to mention, some of them count as a semester worth of credit for classes so they truly are “school” related.
- Music – We cut music out of our curriculum in the Spring of 2014. It was one of the first “big” cuts I made. At the time I knew it would be a temporary move, but I didn’t realize it would be so long. Princess has been asking when those lessons can resume. So I would like to consider adding them back in for at least her and any of the boys are would be inclined to really commit to it, ie practice.
So you will see I have a lot swirling around in my head thus making my “debt” payoff plan a bit more challenging. I really like my new budget…but I have to consider these others things and really make some decisions again. So let’s talk numbers, here are my estimated costs for the items listed above at least through April based on sketchy ‘ideal’ plans of which nothing has been decided or committed to. In fact, none of this has even been discussed with anyone other than you now…the sucky thing about being a single mom is having no one to bounce these things off of!
- Homeschool Co op Classes – Currently the kids are registered for several classes each over 2 days. The cost per semester will be right at $2,170, I can get a 10% discount off that if paid in full up front. Currently, it looks like I will be able to bring in right at $1,600 for the two classes I am teaching. I do still have openings in them both so if filled, it would cover everything, but I have to plan accordingly for now.
- Moving/Storage – I have no idea how this will go. I would anticipate at least $200 for a storage unit to hold everything if we were to hit the road. And probably a solid $10,000 would be a good place to be if we were to find the right place to buy. These numbers are just coming off the top of my head.
- Travel – Right now I am budgeting $250 per ‘family’ visit trip. This would cover gas, some extra food and that’s about it. Since we’ve been doing this particular trip forever, I know this is slightly higher than needed, but want to give myself a bit of wiggle room. Two times this fall and maybe one time in the Spring before April, so a total of $750 for family visits. And the possibility of DC, I don’t know? (Little Gymnast’s meets are a whole other story and I will cross that bridge when I get to it and have a meet schedule.)
- Educational Camps – There is really one in particular that I would like to send both the twins to for a week early next year and Princess to for a day. The total for this would be right at $1,000. (Oh, I can predict what I’m going to hear about this one…but I’m telling you, this is a solid educational program that they will NEVER forget and it does require about a month long preparation on their part to be ready for it homework-wise that is.) Oh, and if I register them in September, we would get a little over $100 off.
- Music – This one I really struggle with for two reasons. One I know how important music is both educational and emotionally. But on the other side, music lessons are expensive and with our currently living situation…practice would be hard.
Ugh, so if you are still reading and have gotten this far, thank you. I know this is not the most organized post. But this is where I am at as I try to discern the best path for paying off debt which I TRULY am still laser focused on AND maybe add a bit more life back in and plan for upcoming things.
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.
My immediate reaction to this is to skip the marathon volunteering trip, say yes to educational camps, and keep music lessons on pause for another few months until kids get in the swing of the new school year. Maybe reinstate music lessons if the interested kids can come up with creative ways to practice that don’t involve the apartment.
The travel to see family can probably just be cash flowed in the months they occur – I don’t think I’d worry about saving in advance for these. Since you’re living on last month’s income, you’ll know exactly how much cash is available at those times and adjust accordingly.
As far as moving funds, I would focus on paying off the vehicle loan and then formulate a plan to save up $10k in moving expenses.
I like the idea of not saying “no” to music lessons but “let’s see how the school year starts first.” That really makes sense to me, so thank you for that suggestion.
I really appreciate your logic…
I agree with Walnut. Skip the DC Volunteer trip, fund the rest and hold off on the piano lessons. When you do the math, it’s about $600 for the co-op, $750 for family trips, $1,000 for the educational camps and then the house fund – definitely do-able with your can-do attitude!
Once you get that car loan paid off, I would snowball extra money into your moving/house fund until that is at $10,000. That will give you so many options when you are house hunting.
And you are more organized than you think – just the fact that you have this list is a great starting point.
I’m with Walnut & Den!
I am really good I put this out there, was feeling quite overwhelmed at the thought of everything and with just a few sentences you all have given me a different perspective to look at it all with AND a bit more “umph” to keep going. So thank you!
I agree with skipping the marathon trip, but I say go for the music lessons. The boys have sea cadets and gymnastics. Does Princess have something along those lines? Help her grow her interests!
Princess is actually going to play volleyball this fall…and I’m going to be the assistant coach. Since I know NOTHING about volleyball we will see how that goes. A whole season for $46…I jumped on it.
That’s a stellar deal. Nice job!
When goals are scattered, I think it’s easy to lose focus on what we want to accomplish. I would recommend socking away as much as you can and then thinking carefully before you commit to a purchase. It’s fantastic to keep a list of what you want to accomplish but until money changes hands nothing has been committed to and it’s just an idea.
You are very right…this list of things floating around in my head and from the mouths of the kids has definitely distracted me. Luckily since I am in a stable place…at least most of the time, I don’t have to move quickly!
Thanks for the suggestion to slow down a bit.
I agree with others: skip the marathon trip, cash flow the little weekend trips, go for the camps and music lessons for your daughter, pay off the car, and save up for moving costs (whatever those look like in the end.) The only other thing you have left is student loans, right? They’re big, I know, but assuming you go back to paying as much as possible after you move, I might back off on them for this year so that you can save up a ton of cash for moving.
Yes, “ton of cash for moving” sounds like a fabulous goal to me 🙂
And since I have a $98 student loan payment right now, I think you are right to tackle everything else and then the that loan. Thanks for the new perspective!
seems like the trip to DC could be axed easiest.
About the music lessons: is princess playing the piano? do you have your own? is that in storage? how have you handled paying for it in the past? were you able to barter for some of the expenses? would you be able to do so again?
is there another (smaller aka more appartment friendly) instrument she’d be interested in taking up? just thinking that maybe a guitare could fit in an appartment more easily. not sure if online tutorials (there are plenty on youtube) would also help practicing an instrument.
does the homeschooling coop have any music program? something she could participate in? Or would it be possible for her to attend the music program of a local school?
She plays piano and guitar…we have a full sized keyboard in the apartment up in a closet and a guitar, probably also in the same closet. I think she is most interest in piano resuming right now.
I hadn’t thought of seeing if our local middle school would let her in the band…that might be something worth checking out for sure! Thanks!
oh and regarding the kids’ tution: I think you can still ask their dad if he’d be able to contribute a small sum to their education.
I broke down and did that yesterday…I pre-empted with a gracious intro and then basically dropped it all in his lap and gave him two weeks to come up with some of the money. He hasn’t started working yet in his new state…but you know he definitely won’t contribute if I don’t tell him about it so this was a good first step! Thanks for the prompt.
Of all these wants, you have committed to four things:
1) kids homeschool fees
2) braces
3) moving in April
4) paying off the personal loan for your ex’s truck
You need to figure out how much money you are going to need to fulfill your commitments. For instance to move in April you need 10,000 dollars for the downpayment and closing costs (going with oyur most expensive option) and another 5,000 or so to cover moving? So that is roughly 1800/month. Braces are 500/month. Car is 110 per month ( I think). So 2,410 per month, right? If you have money left over after that, fund the trips to family, the educational camp, and music lessons. If extra money comes in from new jobs, your ex paying his car payment, or even child support you can use it to fund the next want on the list.
I really like how you did that math…that’s an excellent way to look at it when I look at things I want to commit too! Will definitely be using this as I make a plan!
My input is to really focus on how you’re feeling when you’re reading everyone’s responses, particularly in terms of suggested sacrifices. I tend to agree with the others that the volunteering trip may be a bit too much to take on at the moment, but if you find it really important, then it’s time to get creative on how to fund it. If you’re feeling more of a sense of relief about a potential monkey off your back, out it goes!
One other thought: you can just do music lessons for the Princess since she’s the only one who’s expressed an interest. Not all things are equal all of the time. And maybe, if you’re paying for her music lessons, maybe only the twins go on the educational trip?
Again, really focus on how these suggestions make you feel.
Thanks, April…I am definitely a emotionally driven person so I appreciate you putting that out there. I LOVED everyone’s perspective on this one, gave me lots to think about.
And definitely some good guidelines for saying “no” or “not now” for those things that may need to wait a bit longer.
I agree with Marzey’s comments, just a couple above this comment. I was just going to say that you need to prioritize what is most important to you. I initially read a lot of, “you should do this and you shouldn’t do this,” but I think really only you can make those decisions for your family. I’d think carefully about it and write down in order of importance. & then following Marzey’s logic, you can fund down the list as money becomes available. Of course, circumstances and priorities are always changing, and so it ill be an on-going process. But for now, you can meditate on your current wants and work on focusing on the most important. & it’s okay to change your mind tomorrow or next week as you think through it or things change. For me, my priority list is a constant work in progress.
We will all probably never have enough money to do absolutely everything we want to, but it’s easier to be happy when all the most important things are covered. & whatever that is will be very individual.