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The grass is growing again.

I think I could end my post there with all the pain that thought causes me. Don’t get me wrong. I love my gardening and my yard and all that…but the weekly maintenance is a pain. Last year, you all gave me a hard time about continuing to pay for yard service.

And I am trying to do better and take your advice. So I’m taking on my yardwork, and biting the bullet and going to purchase the lawn tools I need. And I dread it all the way around.

I do not look forward to:

Having to maintain the equipment. As good as I am with computers, I am just as bad if not worse with mechnical things.
The weekly chore in the heat of mowing the grass, weedeating and edging, and blowing the leaves and grass.

I am just dreading it! (It is so worth the $50 every other week to have someone else handle this stuff.) But if I’m going to commit to it.

Fix it first

My grass already needs to be mowed. So when April payment gets here, I will find a lawn mower to start. But in the meantime, I have got to fix some issues with my yard.

If you have been around a while, you know I have had a flooding problem. Well, in February, my daughter’s boyfriend came over and helped me clean out the culvert in the back. That has REALLY helped. But I still have a few areas that are of on going concern and have to be address.

The larger hole is about 3 ft deep and almost 5 feet wide, and probably more than that. This same hole has reoccurred 3 times over the course of our almost 7 years here. The city has come out twice to “fix” it. And it just gets bigger and bigger. The other two are places where the cement piping below my side yard is separated and exposed. So last week, my daughter’s boyfriend (actually now ex) was home from spring break. And he graciously came to help me address these areas of concern.

He dug them out a big (pictures) and then we came up with a game plan. (My dad contributed to this plan with his expertise as well.)

For the two, concrete pipe areas, I bought some flashing which we covered with dirt to try to stop water and debris from filling the pipe that is already overflowing when it rains. I was able to find small sheets of the flashing for $8 each at Tractor Supply. Everywhere else required I buy a whole roll for $50-60 that would have also required a special tool to cut it.

Now the larger hole, we dug it out a big more, the filled it with larger “rocks” that he had access to, cost $0, then filled it with dirt. I’m hoping with the rocks in their, it won’t reoccur. So far so good, one rain down and it held.

More plans

I’ve got additional plans for the yard this year. And he has agreed to help me with them when he comes home from school for the summer. (And yes, I did confirm with my daughter that she is okay with this ask.) But I know I won’t have the budget for too much.

But first…a lawn mower. Ugh!

Sidenote: this is the text message I sent to my 3 sons…

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.

Being Paid To Gain New Skills, Extra Money Coming In, And Therapy Progress

by Vicky Monroe

It’s been a long time since I was paid by a client to gain new skills. When you’re a freelancer, clients expect you to come in knowing how to do the job. But I’ve been lucky that my new client is willing to invest in training me to be a newsletter copywriter!

This new assignment has reignited my passion for writing. It’s so easy to get complacent when you keep doing the same type of assignments over and over. There’s not as much mental challenge anymore, which can cause things to feel stale. Plus, it’s bad for your resume to pigeonhole yourself into one type of writing or one niche. So it’s great that I’m being given the opportunity to step outside of my professional comfort zone while still earning the extra money I need.

This new gig is requiring me to be really creative. I’m writing about mental models and biases that can cause business owners to make bad decisions. But I’m explaining them using pop culture references and humor. I’m being encouraged to fully infuse my personality into my writing and think innovatively, which feels so good! I truly believe that this is an area of writing that ChatGPT won’t be able to replace anytime soon, so I’m grateful to be gaining these skills.

Extra Money Coming In

In addition to the extra money from this new gig, we’ve received our tax refund and a $900 escrow refund from our mortgage company. We also learned that our mortgage payment is going down $50 per month since our escrow account is nicely funded. Although escrow shortages and surpluses seem to be cyclical, it’s nice when you get a check in the mail to stash into savings and good news that your payment is going down for a while.

Plus, this month is an extra paycheck month for my partner.

Money Is Going Straight to Savings For Home/Car Repairs

Of course, all of this extra money is going into savings because we may have a few home and car maintenance expenses coming up. Our well seems to have some kind of slow leak because of the way the pump is running.

We had a technician come out to look at it, but he wasn’t able to figure out what’s going wrong. From my research, it seems like one of our underground pipes may be the cause of the leak. On the upper end, this type of repair could be $1,600 because they have to dig into the ground to access the pipes. We’re hoping it’s something simpler like a part that needs to be replaced, but we’ll just have to wait and see. Another more experienced technician is coming out to assess the situation soon, so we’ll have more answers then.

Our car’s solenoid needs to be replaced as well, which is going to be about $150. As they say, money comes, money goes! But it’s nice that we got some refunds and extra money to cover these expenses.

Therapy Is Going Well!

I believe I’m heading into my first full month back in therapy this week. So far it’s going really well and I’ve been able to make a lot of progress. Since my old therapist was not practicing anymore, I had to choose a new therapist. I think we click even better than I did with my last therapist.

We’re diving even deeper into self-regulation and emotional coping strategies. My therapist is helping me learn to master mindfulness and responding to my body’s emotional and physical needs before I reach a crisis point.

In the past, I don’t think I was open to mindfulness because it can be difficult to be truly present in my body. To deal with my chronic illness symptoms and push through them, I’ve been encouraged to ignore the feelings and sensations in my body, even by doctors.

This approach has helped me “muscle through” the day when I’m not feeling well. But the dangerous part of ignoring my body to that degree is that I’d never get around to addressing its needs, so I hit a burnout point way faster. Especially when I have other stressors going on in my life like my relative being ill.

Learning A Gentler Approach to Productivity

My therapist is helping me learn that getting through the day doesn’t have to mean completely ignoring my body. Since I work from home, there are many ways big and small that I can check in with my body and take care of myself. Whether it’s stopping to stretch, making myself a cup of tea, or even taking a power nap, I can listen to my emotional and physical cues to make getting things done easier on my body. I’m not a student anymore, so I don’t have to stay chained to my desk!

I think this gentler approach to productivity could be a game-changer for my ability to sustainably work more. Plus, I believe my ADHD treatment is also making it easier to maintain a bigger workload. It feels like things are aligning in a way they never have before, so I’m feeling much more positive about my ability to meet my career and financial goals.

What I’ve Learned From Financial Anxiety

I hope that these updates aren’t boring to read and hopefully make it to the ears of people who are struggling. Through my financial anxiety, I’ve learned that sometimes financial worries and struggles can signal bigger problems in your life that you may need professional help to address. It takes time and work to find the right supports, medications, and therapy providers, but it’s worth the effort.

I know self-improvement (financially, emotionally, career-wise, etc.) will be a continuous process for me, so I’m not “done,” but I’m glad I’m at least feeling like I’m generally on the right path now. And I’m hopeful that I won’t need to be in therapy forever and can continue the journey myself within a few months. Of course there are still challenging moments here and there, that’s just life! But I’m not feeling “lost” like I was when I started writing on this blog. I think many of you discerned that from my initial posts even though I was in denial about it back then.

Read More

Landed More Work and Back in Therapy

Frugal Living Topic: Therapy???

Vicky Monroe

Vicky Monroe is a freelance personal finance and lifestyle writer. When she’s not busy writing about her favorite money saving hacks or tinkering with her budget spreadsheets, she likes to travel, garden, and cook healthy vegetarian meals.

Blogging Away Debt Blogging Away Debt follows real people on their journey to debt freedom — with tips on the debt snowball, budgeting, cutting expenses, and staying motivated.

Yardwork – Ugh!