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by Hope

I have been “forecasting” for years. It’s my way of budgeting and planning. My kids also use this method.

Here is my planned spending for next month. Praying there are no surprises because I am planning to the last penny especially with Princess’ wisdom teeth surgery this coming month.

I will pay off the Frontier card this month. And savings continues. And I will figure out this month how my new income is going to affect my taxes and self employment related costs. So that number may be affected significantly once I run some analysis.

It’s also the twins’ birthday month! Last year I could do almost nothing. While I will stick to my budget, I do plan to try to come up with something pretty cool for their birthday. Ideas?

With the dogs being boarded next month for our Thanksgiving trip to Texas, I must make sure they are up to date on everything specifically Bordatella, etc to prevent kennel cough.  Not sure on cost, but I figured this amount should be plenty.

The kids’ contributions have been adjusted based on Paying Back Gymnast AND I anticipate that Beauty will have a plan for moving out and no longer be paying rent. (That’s not firm at this point, but it’s a definite possibility so I am planning accordingly.) Their remaining payments are their phone payments (the Verizon bill).

Update on 9/16: I wrote this post at the beginning of the month. And then all sorts of things changed. So I’m publishing it as planned, but there will be revised version going up by the end of the month that will be a more accurate plan. Lots of moving parts and decisions being made.

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.