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by Hope

This next month is going to fly by. I have enough work to pay January’s bills which gives me some breathing room to chase new ongoing work. Last December I was struggling on every level, every plan I had for 2023 had been quashed the by sudden end of my 5 year relationship and engagement, not to mention the ongoing job debacle. But it was really my personal life that threw 2023 for a loop. I did not start the new year in a good headspace at all.

And it has been a rough climb out of that all year. But I’m back.

My heart is mostly healed. I have reconnected some very special people from my high school years which has been very empowering. And I have grown accustomed to the new reality of being a mostly empty nester.

The world, this new year is all mine. So I will be using December to make plans and lists and setting goals for 2024.

Goals by Week

I have decided the best way to keep me on track is to make a list of weekly goals and post it here. This way, the BAD community can keep me accountable. I know you all will be excellent at that. Last week, I made a list of things I needed to or wanted to get done before Christmas.

Then I added all of them to my Task List that syncs with my calendar. I won’t bog down this post with everything, but the finance/work related tasks, here they are. (Let me know if I’ve missed anything.)

Week 1 – December 3

1. Create a $2,500 budget
2. List/re-list sellable items that might do better during this Christmas season (jewelry, old computer, etc.)
3. Research selling digital products online, make a list of steps and related resources

Week 2 – December 10

1. Create a master list from the business cards I have collected over the last couple of months
2. Create one digital product using Canva based on research done in Week 1
3. Do initial digital review of 6 from the list created in #1 this week and compose somewhat standardize communication to send them

Week 3 – December 17

1. Set up digital product (Step #2 previous week) to sell – Stripe, Printify, Etsy, landing page, etc? (These are not affiliate links, just tools I am exploring.)
2. Do initial digital review of 6 more from the list created in #1 previous week and compose somewhat standardize communication to send them

Note: Short week since the kids start arriving on December 21st so don’t want to over commit.

Week 4 – December 24

1. Create marketing plan for my new digital product and schedule it to begin in the new year.
2. Create second digital product? Maybe.
3. Do initial digital review of 6 more from the list created in #1 during the second week and compose somewhat standardize communication to send them

Note: Another short week since the kids will be in town until December 27th so don’t want to over commit.

Week 5 – December 31

1. Kick off marketing of my digital product #1.
2. Kick off initial contacts to my list of small businesses I’ve been working on.

Ongoing Work

Throughout all of this, I will continue to apply for local work and apply to corporate jobs with the different revisions to my resume that I’ve been working on. These goals are outside of those ongoing tasks that I work on pretty much daily in one form or another.

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.