by Hope
Well, I’m not where I want to be, where I planned to be, but I am further than I was.
Current student loan balance (as of 2/23/26) is $15,255.65.
Income dropped unexpectedly as one of my clients took an early retirement once he qualified for disability. I’ve gotten no hours for the last two months. Our contract still stands, but he’s backed way off.
My other contracts continue as they have, but this one was the bulk of my income in Q4 and this drop was completely unexpected.
Thankfully, this hasn’t affected anything except my debt payoff. I’ve not accrued any more debt. still going cash only, but I’m also being really cautious until I replace the income. Especially since I am in Q1 of a new business launch.
What am I doing about that?
I’m looking for new work – both W2 and 1099. I continue to apply for projects via Upwork. And recently joined a couple of local, in person business networking groups (free). I attended my first two meet ups this past Friday. In addition, I’ve been applying for remote only W2 positions, but am being very selective on that as caretaking for my parents in the priority still.
I’m not in the whoa is me state that I’ve been in in the past when work fell through, but I am in a rebuilding phase of my primary business contracts/projects again. The last year has been really, really solid though so I’m in a good place.
New Business Update
As I am launching my new business, which is not taking much or really any money at this point, just lots of time; I am just hoarding my income paying bare minimums on everything. I’m anticipating breaking even on the money invested in this new venture near the end of Q2 and hopefully *crossing my fingers, will begin seeing some profits in Q3. But that will all be re-invested. It’s really running on a skeleton tech stack and to take it to the next level, I’ll have to invest a little more money. But getting through this first year as lean as possible to prove proof of concept.
And long term, this should become relatively passive. Goals – at least!
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.
Glad you haven’t accrued new debt. Would love to hear about your new business!
Seems like a lot of good progress and student loans are clearly within sight of elimination!
It’s great that you’re looking for work in different ways. But why do you say you’re paying the bare minimums? I thought your only debt was the student loans?
What does Dave Ramsey say about job loss? You’re sharing the duties with your siblings, would they not be understanding that you have to make money to live/survive?
Sorry on the income hit. It’s never easy. But I’m glad now you feel like you can handle it without just racking up credit card debt. I bet your savings and having a community also help. Glad to hear you will still be committing to cash only.
However, I really think you need to consider in-person W2 jobs. It would give you so much more stability and options to catch up. This is a terrible job market already and remote jobs are high competition and few and far between. It could take months to get a W2 job (even in-person), so I would just continually apply and if you do get an in-person job then you can work out the schedules with your parents care accordingly. Take a leap of faith that you will find a way to make it work if the opportunity comes. I wouldn’t discount it immediately as you could probably work something out and it could make a world of difference in catching up on your finances and creating savings to your long term goals. It’s a lot easier to stay consistent when your income is stable and W2 jobs are at least slightly more stable than your contracting which seems to be a roller coaster ride on a 1-2 year cycle.
If she weren’t taking care of her parents, I’d agree. But, right now I think the flexibility may be more important than the stability of having a W2 job. All of my contemporaries are dealing with both aging parents and facing retirement in the next decade. As much as I’d like to be able to max out everything at work, it’s just not compatible with the family responsibilities at this stage of life.
This…
Since your last debt update on January 2, you’ve paid off $704 in debt. I have no idea whether this is laudable, pitiable, or somewhere in between. Can you share an actual budget with actual income and expenses? Otherwise this debt “update” is pretty meaningless.
I am confused. Your last debt update listed $176 as your minimum student loan payment and yet you sent $704 but you stated you are sending minimums, as in plural. What are we missing? Is the student loan debt your only debt? Are you paying $176 going forward? There is no clarity here. As long as there is no clarity there will be no accountability. I agree with the above poster. You should share a boilerplate.budget with us. The budget should include anticipated income and actual outflow. For example, I anticipate my spouse will receive 2800 at his next biweekly paycheck. Our outflows for that pay period is a cellphone service and two credit cards. In addition I budget grocery, gas and savings each paycheck to avoid running up those cards. We have sinking funds for house repairs/ upgrades, medical bills, vacation, personal care, car maintenance, subscriptions/bills that are not monthly like our personal property taxes, personal allowances( this is our own personal money that we can spend as we wish, no discussion required; you’ll note this is not how we treat the budget as a whole) and gifts. We do this again to avoid running up those cards. If he does not receive 2800 I have areas I can and do cut. For example, I cut vacation from the last budget. Additionally I did not fund subscriptions and bills because I had already hit the amount I needed to hit to cover the taxes I needed and the subscriptions. More often than not he hits our goals. Why? I’ve set our budget at a realistic minimum for his variable income and not utilized pie in the sky aspirational numbers. If I have excess I place that money into paying down debt or into our annual savings( we have goals for that too). Our budget gives us freedom because it reflects what we want and need. I do get that some have smaller budgets but the same concepts apply. You look at what you get in and on payday plan for what needs to go out. You try to anticipate “ emergencies” by having money put to the side for things that can and do come up like a broken dryer or a new tire. You also put money away for long term needs like retirement if you have that in your budget.
Please show us what this looks like to yo if you REALLY want us to hold you accountable.
I have been following Hope for almost 10 years now – she doesn’t post a real budget or even use ChatGPT to draft one for her. I don’t know if it’s because she doesn’t want to share her specific business income, which is totally understandable, or she is just engaging in avoidance behavior.