by Hope
Following up on my post last week about being more transparent and posting more numbers. This is my income and spending plan for this week based on my current forecast.
| Sea Cadet | 24-Aug-18 | 50 |
| Auto – Gas/Main | 25-Aug-18 | -35 |
| CS | 28-Aug-18 | 150 |
| Upwork | 29-Aug-18 | |
| Princess’ Camp | 30-Aug-18 | -178 |
Details:
- Sea Cadet pays me $50 towards car insurance every two weeks. This doesn’t quite cover the cost for his insurance but the even number makes it easier for both of us. And I feel it’s teaching him responsibility while not burdening him while he’s focusing on school. (He’s still looking for a new job since returning last week and just started back to school last Thursday.)
- When I wrote this, I didn’t know how much I would earn from Upwork this week. I’m hoping I remember to come back and put the number in. (If I didn’t, remind me in the comments and I’ll pop it in.) There’s a 10 day hold between the end of the work week and pay date.
- Princess has decided she wants to return to camp again next summer. The cost for the two week session is $1,650. I paid the $50 deposit to lock it in for her. Princess is going to cover the cost of camp. She must pay $178 every month. She has been working since June to save and has almost 3 month’s payments saved. The cost will be charged to my account so I track it, and with her ability to work limited with school and volleyball right now, I will cover if she gets behind. I trust her to pay it in full on time. She has Christmas and birthday between then and now as well. (When faced with the price tag and knowing I wasn’t budging in paying for it, Gymnast decided to forego camp.)
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.
Thats great that you are planning your weekly cash flows, keep it up. Its more important though to try to get a monthly budget. Even if you don’t know what you are going to get in terms of income, try to estimate it so you’ll see if it is close. Lots of bills come at various times during the month so a weekly budget isn’t always key.
Hope,
I’ve been following you since you started blogging here. I love the weekly projected numbers and would really love an end of the week actual vs. projected for the week before. Just an idea!
Hi Kari,
Yes, I’m trying to figure out a way to work that in. Thanks for the suggestion.
~hope
It’s really hard to comment on this because e ven though I see a deficit your last week per projection had a projected surplus of $800. Additionally while you mention that Princess is paying monthly for the camp it does not show that in flow of $178. I’m guessing that she isn’t actually going to pay you until summer and camp is due. Personally this sounds like a great time to hook princess up with a savings account at a bank. She probably won’t earn a ton in compounding interest but why not let the bank hold the money and give her some “free money” towards camp when she has that higher balance. As for gymnast G ood for him for knowing where his priorities lie. Keep encouraging him to consider babysitting to cover that extra hour of gym time he wants for gymnastics.In real adult life we have to prioritize and work for things we want(and need) I second the other poster in saying the actual budget used during the week would also be helpful.
She has, actually all the kids, have had checking and savings accounts for years and years. And she has already saved 1/2 the money she is going to pay. I will pull it out of her savings account once the payment is made. Since we are both paying 1/2 the cost, I will pull half of each payment each month.
I’m a little confused by this. Is she paying 1/2 the cost of camp or the whole cost? Your post made it sound like she was completely covering the cost of camp, but then here you say you are both paying 1/2. Or are you only taking half the payment right now until she can save some more money up?
I think it’s great that the kids are learning about the cost of camp and making the choice to either work for it or skip it. When I got to be around Princess’ age I started working when my extracurriculars cost more than my parents could pay and I think it was a really good lesson.