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by Hope

One of the things I worried about the most was food. I do not qualify for food stamps. With just one minor child in the house, my income had to be below $1,900 to get SNAP assistance. I am making right around $2,000 per month with my one part time job. I knew we would be fine until Gymnast moved. Feeding him is priority so other bills will wait until then. (And he works at a grocery story so is getting pretty good at getting good deals.)

Preparing to grow my food

But after he has moved, I will cut that grocery money as much as possible. In preparation for that, we did a number of things…

1. 1. The twins helped me repurpose our raised garden beds into standing beds. This will prevent the dogs from fertilizing and harvesting my garden. Ick! And oh my goodness, why didn’t I do this before. Not having to bend down to week and care for my plants has been life changing!
   2. Beauty and I started a bunch of seeds inside to be ready for planting time. Seeds run around $2 per pack, where baby plants (not sure what to call them) run $6+ per plant. This saved us ALOT of money with all that we are growing.
   3. I got real creative and did lots of googling for space saving and efficient ways to grow all my fav veggies. We are growing squash and cucumbers in this self watering planters made from styrofoam coolers and large water bottles (all of which we collected from people’s cast offs). The plants are starting to flower and I’ve tied the first vines up. I expect we will start seeing veggies soon.
   4. I did a ton of research on fertilizing and using household “trash” in my garden beds. We used cardboard as weed barrier, Gymnast helped some neighbors with mulching their yards and they gave us their extra bags, saving all eggs shells and using them specifically around my tomato plants. And much more…

What we are growing

We’ve got 3 tomato plants going strong, two pepper plants going strong, two squash plants flowering now, two cucumber plants climbing the trellis, lots of radishes, carrots and salad mix at various stages of growth, cantaloupe vines sprouted, lots of herbs including basil, rosemary and cilantro.  Oh and a TON of strawberries…evidently they like where I planted last year because they have come back prolifically!

I am confident that by July I have will a very edible yard. Both the front and back yards are planted. And when I have some time, I’ve got one of the old raised beds on the side yard (outside of the dogs reach) and I think I’m going to make it a wildflower plot to attract pollinators. My initial thought was to make it a composting bed, but after researching and seeing all the work and rodents I might attract, decided against it.

Read more from Hope

Other than Rent…Food – August, 2020

Princess Starts her Job Hunt – October, 2019

Where’s Your Money Going – September, 2021

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.