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I appreciate all the feedback on my post sale budget. I’ve revised it to add more categories.

This covers the time period of May 15-the end of 2025 (eight months). And I thought that tracking whether it was a travel month, stationary month, or mix would make sense when I look back on this as that factor alone will greatly affect some of the categorial spending.

What categories have I missed? I want to get this nailed down before the sale closes so I have a clear plan on how to proceed.

Notes:

I saw several recommendations for revisiting life insurance. I’ve added it to my to do list once I arrive in Texas mid to late May.
I’ll have to transfer my car insurance and registration no later than the end of the year, I don’t know how much that will run in Texas so leaving insurance as it is now, and will revisit car registration when it comes time. My current tag expires in December so I have a little while.
Obviously the gas, food, allowance categories will fluctuate based on it being a travel or stationary month. When I’m stationary, they will just build up.

Sinking Funds

I need to have savings goals. But I did move them to sinking funds and gave myself either a long term goal or monthly goal. And I will track by month how much I contribute to each category.

I put them in order and set a monthly goal. My thought is this:

When I hit the monthly goal for that category, I will start on the next priority item for that month. For example, let’s say I make enough to contribute $500 to my EF in June, I would then start on the $500 toward the monthly car maintenance goal and so forth. And I start over at number 1 each month UNTIL, I hit the annual/overall goal. So when I get $20K in a EF, then every month I would start on number 2… and so forth.

Does that make sense?

Income

I know you want to see my income. But it fluctuates greatly. With this budget, I have to bring in roughly $2K per month after taxes and overhead to maintain, any more than that goes to the sinking funds. I think that’s easily achievable.

Some months I barely make $2K, but then with one project that jumps up to $8K. So I can’t really predict my monthly income. But I can tell you that I am laser focused on not only day to day work, but I’m working on two different passive income strategies and have been for 6 months now. Work in progress.

I’m also planning to search for a part time, in person job in Texas just to get me out of the house a bit. Maybe 1-2 evenings a week when a sibling can cover my parents. Probably more of a mental health thing, but will provide some income.

What do I need to clarify? What have I missed? (Before you ask, debt numbers are just around the corner.)

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.

Budget – Post House Sale

by Hope

This is my tentative budget for after the house sells.

The items on the left hand column are “required”, the ones on the right are “goals”. The total needed to live comfortably $3,807. Getting rid of my credit card debt and housing costs will be a huge weight off my shoulders. What am I missing or forgetting in this budget?

One thing to note, is this budget was created with the idea of traveling and car camping in mind (see all the gas,) but for the bulk of the summer, I will be stationary. The plan during the months I’m with my parents will be to put all monies not spent into savings.

Again, the two year goal is to save enough to be able to buy land for a tiny house. Thus, the $1,500 per month for Move. After 2 years, that will be $36,000.

I will be posting my “what will I do with the house money plan” in the next few days. It’s a really soft plan as I’m not sure how much money I will walk with. The current guesstimate is around $50K, but again, that’s a really loose estimate.

House Update

The house is currently under contract…again. Since this is the 3rd time, I’ve learned not to count my chickens before they hatch. So we wait…

It did go under contract to one of my “exclusions” with the realtor. A family who had seen the house a couple of times before I signed the contract with him. In fact, they didn’t make an offer until the day the professional pictures came back and it was going to be listed on MLS. So I am saving 3.5% in realtor fees if this one closes. I am paying the buyers’ agent 2.5%.

They had 3 contingency periods, the first has expired. They’ve put down $1,000 in earnest money. And the inspection happened this week. The second contingency period ends Sunday. If we get through that, I feel like it will most likely close.

But again…just waiting and focusing on work.