by Hope
I’ve had several commenters request a new budget…and I will address that after the holidays. We have stuck to the Fall Budget. As previously mentioned I will have to add in a line item for Princess senior year of high school.
For the last several months, I have paid the minimum on my debts, put $100 into my EF and then saved all extra income. I really thought I was going to be in a REALLY good place going into 2020, and I was excited to decide what to do with the “extra.” But having a client not pay has really hurt.
I’m planning to run new averages on all my utilities and reevaluate our grocery budget. Now that we’ve got several months of being down to 2 kids and me under our belt, I think some of the numbers will change.
Ready for the Holidays
The holidays are covered. I’m about done with my shopping and planning for experience gifts for Christmas. Now I’m focused on recovering from my none paying client and building my stable of clients for the new year.
The only thing left is to decide on the Christmas tree. If you will recall, last year, we decided to go with a real tree. We will not be doing that this year. But I am also not convinced that I want a fake tree, especially one that I will have to store afterwards. Ugh!
I saw this picture on Facebook and thought we might could do something similar with supplies we have in our Christmas decor box. (We have a ladder like this already, inherited from my family.)
Princess told me I was a “sinner” to even consider not having a traditional tree. History Buff loved the idea. I think my compromise is to purchase a smaller 4′-ish tree from Dollar General for $15. Then if I don’t want to store it afterwards, I won’t feel so bad for donating it afterwards.
I love Christmas and I want to decorate…I’m just not convinced I want the traditional tree this year. But I guess I will break down and do it, I do still have kids at home. And I suppose their opinion matters some (that’s sarcastic.)
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.
Hope, are you continuing to send invoices to the non-paying client? Please don’t count that money as a lost cause just yet. Continue to send invoices and requests for payment. You may get money yet. Maybe the client is in a bad way financially. You never know, but you have to keep asking.
As a snarky return to daughter, you could ask for a ‘chapter and verse’ for that accusation of being a sinner for not having a traditional tree. LOL
My first thought when seeing the ladder tree was “oh how cute” and my second was “my cat would happily murder that thing day one.” Haha
I hope you are still pursuing payment from the client.
Please continue to press for payment from the client. You may need legal recourse and you need documentation for that. And even if you don’t want to go that far, keep pressuring them. Don’t just accept it. Also, can you publicize their bad payment practices somewhere?
Agree that you should continue to pursue payment from the delinquent client.
With respect to the new budget, I guess that is OK but what would be tremendously more helpful would be any sort of follow up on previous budgets and how what you learned from those influenced future plans. And of course that is only really helpful with more detailed accounting of income and how it relates to those spending choices. I think that in all the time on this blog, this sort of persistent follow up has never been done.
If you don’t have a crystal clear view of what is happening on that level, it’s hard for me to understand how you can successfully design and execute on longer term savings goals. And that is probably why in the past several weeks there has been whiplash between discussion of potentially giving up on the student debt to focus on retirement vs being debt free in a (unrealistically short) period of time by focusing exclusively on debt, vs the ongoing goal of home ownership.
Have your attorney write a letter to the client. My husband is a consultant and occasionally has a client who drags their feet with payment. A letter on law firm letterhead usually does the trick.
Definitely continue to press for that money.
Also, there are TONS of DIY videos on you tube for decorating on a budget for Christmas. The dollar store is a crafter’s best friend during holidays.