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by Hope

The twins started learning to drive right at 10 years ago this fall. And since that date, I have been sharing my car with one or two or even three children at a time. I’ve taught them all to drive, given them access to the car once they are licensed, had them chauffer me because they want to drive, chauffeured them to work and school when I needed the car, and so on and so forth.

10 years of being constrained by sharing my car. (To be clear, this is not a complaint, it’s just what we do as parents.)

The last couple of years has been Beauty…her to work, her to school, or her using the car for fun and errands.

I’ve had to make sure she was able to get to work by 9:30am and picked up at 6pm-ish. And you don’t really notice the limitations that puts on you until it’s gone.

Beauty Bought a Car

Last week, Beauty bought herself a car. She’d been saving since February. And was ready.

And that released me from my final child sharing car responsibility after 10 years!

Freedom to Go

She had until the next day to get her insurance settled. Once she confirmed that was done, I started untangling myself…

No More Extra Driver

I called our auto policy and removed her as a driver on my car/my policy. It only saves about $89 but I’ll take it. We all know this is the biggest bill I have so $89 helps.

No More 9:20am Alarm

I’ve had an alarm set on my phone for 9:20am for the last year. Wherever I was, whatever I was doing, I need to either get home or prepare to take Beauty to work. This mostly came into affect when I work mornings my part time job in catering (2-3 days a week.) I would need to stop what I was doing, let the team know, clock out, run home, drive her to work, and then return to my job. It was never an issue or a burden. It’s just what had to be done.

Dinner Anyone

And now, I can go to dinner 🙂 No, but really, needing to be in town to pick her up from work around 6pm meant no dinners with friends in Atlanta, etc. Or very rarely. I always had to think it through…could she get home okay, was it going to be too cold, too hot, raining? But now, I’m free. I can go, see, do as I want too. So dinner anyone?

Another Transition

Saturday, I just left…I went to a macrame 101 class in a neighboring town, I went to the mall and walked around (no I didn’t spend a time, just walked), I just went…and it was so weird to not have to worry about anyone other than myself. It was also a little sad. I’m sure the web world will take this as a complaining post, but in reality, it’s just another transition I am adjusting to. You just don’t think about these things as a mom until they happen. And suddenly you have all this time, all this freedom. And absolutely no idea what to do with it.

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.