Blogging Away Debt Our Journeys to a Debt-Free Life

by Hope

This is more of a personal update but it does have financial implications.

History Buff arrived in Georgia in the wee hours this past Sunday morning. He drove the whole way without taillights and brought with him all his early belongings packed into a tiny little car. Frankly, it reminded me a lot of the first day he arrived on my doorstop.

Trash bags full of clothes, a few books and some electronics…that’s all he had/has. He’s moved on to the couch and we are keeping an eye out for a bed. And he’s starting to look for a full time job.

Why He Moved Out

As many of you know, History Buff decided to move out and dropped out of school in December, 2016. He was almost halfway through with his senior year, and had already applied for colleges. But there was a lot of upheaval.

• He had just turned 18 and I think there was some insecurity regarding his status in the family. (There are lots of horror stories about foster/adoptive kids and what happens when they reach 18.)
• His birth father moved away after being the only consistent adult in his life for the past 18 years. (The twins moved in with me a couple of weeks before their 13th birthday.)
• We were struggling financially, living in the camper, on foodstamps. Life was hard.
• There was a girl. I later learned that the turning point for him was when I grounded him from his phone because of failure to complete schoolwork. He was afraid to lose connection with this particular girl.
• A friend had indicated to him that he if he moved out (because he was angry with me) that his family would take him in. That was false and he wasn’t even able to stay a night with said friend, but that conversation gave him bravery and shame kept him from turning around quickly.

I’m sure there were other things, but these are the things he has mentioned as we have repaired our relationship and worked through the details of him coming home. In the end, he has learned that adulting is hard. Especially with no high school diploma or equivalent, specialty skills or trade and all the while attempting to take care of others.

The Plan Going Forward

History Buff has already returned to school work. We are starting with the basics – math, science, history and literature. I have registered with the state as a homeschooler of one child again. And he will begin working as soon as he can get a job. My goal is that he find one with regular hours, I think he needs that.

He will enroll as a dual enrolled homeschool student at a local college for the Spring semester. And is prepping for the placement tests now. I have already spoken with the director of admissions and explained the situation. His age (20 next month) will not prevent him from taking advantage of the state funded dual enrollment program for high school students, and he will be able to complete his senior year while getting college credits like Sea Cadet did.

Thankfully, I did not get rid of most of the high school curriculum I had for homeschooling when I did my purge this past spring. Figured it might come in handy as resources for Gymnast and Princess.

Essentially this final year of high school for History Buff will cost me nothing. And he will hopefully finish with close to 30 years of college credit. Now he’s just got to decide what he wants to pursue.

There will definitely be some growing pains for all of us. But History Buff is committed to getting back on track and I am committed to supporting him in doing so.

Hope

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.