by Hope
I am so grateful for all the feedback and education and tips on my new budget. After 3 4 rounds, I am feeling pretty good about this. And I’m determined to do better at tracking my spending and being held accountable. Still figuring out what that is going to look like. But here is where I have landed after all your notes.
You will note that there is a new category: renter’s insurance. It will cover all of my items with me, in Princess’ apartment, and in the storage unit. It’s tied to Princess’ apartment address as I am a legal tenant there. And I upgraded some coverage to cover my electronics which I haven’t done before. I figure with travelling and such, it would be best to have good coverage just in case.
It technically won’t cost me anything for the next 12 months because I am getting a significant refund from my homeowner’s policy, over a $1,000 but they said it will take two billing cycles for me to see that money.
I have to be honest. Playing around with the formulas, pivot tables, and different data manipulations in a spreadsheet is something I truly enjoy. And I’ve learned a lot from this process.
Business Next
Now I’m going to work on doing the same type of budgeting for my business. Here’s where I’m starting:
Now that work is steadily paying the bills again, I want to tighten things up. Switch some of the monthly costs back to annual (says 15-20% typically).
I’ve also got to work on transferring everything to Texas. My LLC is already registered in GA through the end of the year. I paid for 2 years back in 2024 so didn’t have that expense this year. So I feel comfortable taking my time to figure out the logistics and costs, but definitely need to handle by the end of the year. (The numbers above for those things are guesstimates based on GA costs and quick Google searches.)
And like my personal budget, this is an 8 month budget, just through the end of 2025. I don’t feel like there is any “fat” on this right now. But I will definitely be spending some time evaluating it once I get settled in Texas.
Thoughts?
Hope is a resourceful and solutions-driven business manager who has spent nearly two decades helping clients streamline their operations and grow their businesses through project management, digital marketing, and tech expertise. Recently transitioning from her role as a single mom of five foster/adoptive children to an empty nester, Hope is navigating the emotional and practical challenges of redefining her life while maintaining her determination to regain financial control and eliminate debt.
Living in a cozy small town in northeast Georgia with her three dogs, Hope cherishes the serenity of the mountains over the bustle of the beach. Though her kids are now finding their footing in the world—pursuing education, careers, and independence—she remains deeply committed to supporting them in this next chapter, even as she faces the bittersweet tug of letting go.
Since joining the Blogging Away Debt community in 2015, Hope has candidly shared her journey of financial ups and downs. Now, with a renewed focus and a clear path ahead, she’s ready to tackle her finances with the same passion and perseverance that she’s brought to her life and career. Through her writing, she continues to inspire others to confront their own financial challenges and strive for a brighter future.
on the personal budget, your credit cards are not an expense when they are not carrying a balance. In this case, credit cards are a method of paying the expense lines, so the contemporaneous spending using a credit card counts on the budget as what you bought, and not a separate credit card payment. The money is counted as spent when you make the transaction, then the payment on the credit card, if made before the interest grace period closes, is treated as a budget-neutral transfer.
If you carry credit card debt, then the minimum payment would be an expense line under “debt service.” Since you got a windfall to pay off credit card debt, you should implement the above method going forward instead of letting CC purchases build up over the billing cycle to count the CC payment as an expense. Also, make sure you plan for some trailing interest charges over the next 1-2 billing cycles post-payoff.
sorry about the serial commenting, were you clear with the renters’ insurance agency that you are a leaseholder but not necessarily a resident of the property? Some policies only cover belongings of actual occupants of the property (however they define).
You probably want to think ahead about your residency status for several different concerns, which may have differing definitions and expectations of residency. Examples: Georgia state income tax, health insurance, car insurance, renters insurance, basically anything with ties to your state or particular address.
Seems very reasonable. The biggest question would be to have at least a reasonable handle as to what you income is. Is you are going to make $30,000 a year it’s not a great plan, if you are going to make $100,000 a year it’s excellent.
Sorry for the typos in my text above!
Hope-I am glad to see all this thought process and numbers. You have put a lot of thought into this. I ENCOURAGE you once settled to tackle those student loans. Just be done with them once and for all. Speaking from experience, the elation you will feel will be insurmountable. It took my 11 years, but I paid off $185,000 (grad school + law school) plus interest (over $265k with interest) and there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t regret the 3 jobs and hustle it took me to do that. I did it while traveling and owning a house.
Few notes-I don’t understand what the credit card line item is? Are you planning on using your credit cards to finance things or simply for ease of purchasing? If it is ease of purchasing they don’t really need a line item as they are paid out of cash flow and not a minimum payment style. I suggest a sinking fund for a new computer, that is really the biggest need in your job and if it gets damaged or stolen or just wears out, you need a few thousand to replace it. Additionally, double check with your renters insurance, since you so not reside in Georgia at the apartment, I am not sure they will write you a policy for it, I realize you are on the lease but you don’t live there. You definitely want a policy for your storage and something else for yourself at your parents. But I think claiming Princess’s Georgia apt as your address is insurance fraud, as you have never lived there and dont intend to.
There is a free version of Zoom- am wondering if you really need to pay for it. The free version offers 40 min sessions- just kind of double checking to see if you really need longer than that for most of your calls?
Like a few others, the Credit Card line item confuses me. If all CC debt is now paid off, there need not be a line for it. I assume the $400 a month is for things that might be put on a credit card, like clothing or a new charging cord for you phone or whatever is necessary for living life, and since you have budgeted $400, you should not spend more than $400 on these types of things. I am perhaps naively assuming you will not incur any further CC debt!