Blogging Away Debt Blogging Away Debt follows real people on their journey to debt freedom — with tips on the debt snowball, budgeting, cutting expenses, and staying motivated.

by Hope

I bet you read that and thought…oh, here she goes again, spending money instead of getting out of debt. But no, that’s not it this time. I’m just taking some well-deserved time off work! And I’m so excited. It’s going to be a staycation filled with days reading library books in my hammock out back, working on house projects with the music blasting through the house, cooking recipes that I’ve wanted to try forever. A whole week doing whatever I want too!

You see, Gymnast is going to Texas for fall break. And Princess and Beauty don’t have fall break. So I will have the house to myself for an entire week. So exciting. And you know I have a list a mile long of stuff I want to do around here.

Since one of the perks of my new corporate job is unlimited paid time off, I decided this was a week I wanted to take advantage of that. Sleeping in, the only mess I have to clean up in my own. I am so freaking excited.

I’ve got a stockpile of library books. Have a plan for house stuff I want to get done (and most of it has a budget around it now where needed – more on that later.)

My staycation starts next week. I’m doing 3 half days and then taking all day Thursday and Friday off. I just couldn’t take the whole week, it’s not in me to ignore work for that long.

Tell me, because I know a lot of people have experience with staycations since COVID, what do I need to come out of a staycation feeling refreshed and that I didn’t waste my time off work. Best tips for a child free staycation?

Hope

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.