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by Hope

I mentioned how I was spending a lot of my road trip time just reviewing ideas for expand my business. I’m capped with the hours that I can actually produce work. As I let my mind go down whatever rabbit hole came to mind, I realized that I need to set some goals (outside of my financial ones) for my life now.

2026 is going to be here before you know it. Before I know it.

Q4 Plans

This is the list I’ve come up with for this last quarter of the year to set me up for success going into 2026:

1. Decide what I’m going to do about my state of residence.
2. Research health insurance options for Gymnast and I going into 2026 – this is tied to #1. I have to make that decision first. Two sidenotes one this: 1) Gymnast is going back to school in January – woot! 2) All of my oldest children are now employed full time with full benefits – woot, woot! Proud mama!
3. Identify a black friday and new year offer to “sell”.
4. Health (weight loss oriented) plan.
5. Implement a new CRM for my various websites.

These do not include my focused financial goals of:

1. Saving $10K in my high interest account.
2. Paying off my student loans.

There are no changes to those plans.

Other Items

There are lots of other personal to dos that my dad and I have discussed that need to get addressed specifically with his end of life planning. He and my mom set everything up when my mom was diagnosed 8 years ago. But things have changed.

And he’s made some decisions for him and his health now that we need to 1) discuss and make sure everything is aware of his wishes, and 2) get things lined out with the VA to make sure we are able to facilitate those decisions when the time comes.

We have definitely learned the hard way that working with the VA for him to receive his benefits and care can be very challenging. We want to prioritize navigating those now while he can answer the required questions and knows where all his discharge papers, etc. can be found.

And I need to set up some end of life plans and a will as well. Really want to get these items addressed over the next quarter.

Do you have some end of 2025 goals you want to achieve?

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.