by Hope
This month is pretty much a wash since the bulk of the money I would have paid off debt with is going to Princess’ dental surgery. I am using a CC for the fee. I paid it off at the beginning of the month, but will max it out with the surgery.
So the card won’t get paid off until next month.
| Debt Description | October, 2023 Total | Interest Rate | Minimum Payment | Current Total | Payoff Date (Est) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CC - Frontier | $3,857 | 29.99% | $130 | $0 | December, 2024 |
| Dad - New Furnace | $2,600 | 0% | $0 | $2,600 | January, 2025 |
| CC - USAA | $5,000 | 19.15% | $135 | $5,000 | March, 2025 |
| Student Loans | $22,121 | 2.875% | $22,816 | September, 2025? | |
| CC - Apple** | $500 | Paid off every month | $0 | ||
| CC - AMEX | $894 | 29.24% | $0 | $0 | Mar, 2024 - Closed |
| CC - Sams | $1,106 | 29.99% | $0 | $0 | April, 2024 |
| Personal Loan #1 | $2,500 | 0% | $0 | $0 | July, 2024 |
| Personal Loan #2 | $2,500 | 0% | $0 | $0 | August, 2024 |
| CC - Wander | $1,630 | 29.24% | $0 | $0 | August, 2024 - Closed |
| CC - Amazon | $1,497 | 29.99% | $0 | $0 | September, 2024 |
| Total | $44,206 | $265 | $30,416 |
I did make some extra money this month on a side project. (It was supposed to come in last month.) And I’ve put that towards my personal loan. Otherwise, not much to report on the debt journey this month.
Next Goals
After I pay off the Frontier CC for good next month (November), I plan to tackle the personal loan next. I realize that the USAA CC is still high and accruing interest. But it will feel good to pay off my dad and go into the new year with just the one remaining credit card debt.
Quiet Focused Months Ahead
Other than the family trip to Texas at Thanksgiving, I anticipate some very quiet, focused months ahead. As of this posting, none of the boys will come to Georgia for Christmas. And the girls have their own residences now, so it will be pretty low key. I’m working on planning house projects on the weekends in anticipation of putting the house on the market in the new year. I’m thinking that will happen in March right now.
I’m also planning to meet with a few real estate agents over the next month to determine what projects MUST be done and what can be avoided. That will certainly affect the budget over the next couple of months especially once I figure out what I can do myself and what I will need help with.
Any tips from the BAD community for selling a house?
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.
My advice is to not sell the house and spend some time and money trying to find a good therapist to help you figure out how to stop running.
This is the answer.
Agree. I think you need a good therapist, it feels like you have had so much instability in your life that you do not know how to live in a world that is stable; your comfort place is instability because that is what you experienced most in your life. You need someone to help you unpack that trauma and to give you tools to accept peace and stability and to live in that world and not turn your whole world upside down every single time you get to a stable place. I beg you to do this for YOUR Children, if you wont do it for yourself. They did not ask for this life and do not deserve to be further traumatized by worrying if their mom is going to be homeless or be able to pay bills.
Your current totals on many columns are blank. As far as advice for selling a house, get recommendations for a good realtor and listen to them. They are the professionals. They should have a good idea which projects would yield the best return on investment. You may also consider selling “as is” if you don’t want to do a lot of projects. You will get a lot less for your house that way, however.
By the way, why is it taking so long to get comments approved? Posts from you that are a week old have no comments.
Kitchen cabinets, real closets, and replacing the barn doors with actual doors. That’s probably going to be on any realtors short list.
Your posts are confusing. You just said owning your home was a great decision and provides you security but you’re still selling? You made changes that you knew would decrease the value but you insisted this was your forever home. Obviously you can change your mind, but I guess don’t be surprised when a realtor tells you t
Walnut is right. I beg of you-sit tight! Pay off your debts totally. Save a years living expenses, save for moving expenses and deposits for a new place. Get actual health insurance and long term care insurance. Get into a groove of living debt and crisis free for a while. Then if you still want to move-research what it would take to get the most from your home. Save additional funds to make those changes-THEN list your house.
Over the years, you have been given a LOT of advice, very little of which you have heeded. Everyone explains different ways to help you and then you decide either your way is best, or you’re just going to do what you feel like at the moment without regard to best.
When we say that if you want to sell this house, that you need a realtor, we mean exactly that. Get a realtor and then do what they say. Don’t get one who is new to the game. Get a good one. And then don’t decide, ‘well, what they said to do is a lot of work and I don’t think it needs that much. I’ll just do the least amount possible and it’ll all be fine.’ Because that’s your MO and it will not end well for you financially.
Also, I’m not trying to be mean. Just realistic.
still trying to figure out why posts from October 15-17 just got posted today.
And something strange went on with your mortgage that was not completely explained. Was the increase temporary? Is due to insurance or escrow? Is that payment amount stable? If you had to make up some differences in Escrow or were making up for missed payments, you need to be clear both if your payment will stay somewhat the same, or also if you are going to have to pay a chunk outright if you sell it. Also what is the interest rate on it? You do know interest rates are still very much higher than they were when you purchased?