Spending Money Archives - Page 40 of 152 - Blogging Away Debt Blogging Away Debt

I may have shared this before (the image that is,) but felt it was a good reminder especially this time of year. The holidays are hard for lots of people. I know they are for me, especially this year.

At this time last year, I was happily engaged, planning to take my engagement photos in just a couple of weeks and setting a wedding date. We were all going to be together for Thanksgiving here in Georgia after years of going to Texas. And we were going to have Thanksgiving with my Uncle and other extended family over in Clemson.

I had lost my dream job, but had gone right into a contract job that was supposed to go permanent. Everything wasn’t perfect, but it was pretty good. Well, excellent really. I was so in love and so ready for the next phase of my life.

Never Could of Predicted

I never in a million years would have guessed what all would go wrong in the next several weeks.

My beloved uncle died just a few weeks after Thanksgiving.

My fiancé ended our five year relationship over text the same night, just one short week before he was to move to Georgia.

My contract job would back out of becoming permanent and give me an end date early in the coming year.

As I look back at that time, it was so, so dark. So dark. I did not want to live.

One Year Later

One year later, and I would say I am just now starting to recover from the beat down I took mentally and emotionally. My heart still aches. And I cry out to God on a regular basis as to “why me?” Why this?

But as I work every day this month to focus on gratitude, I realize that this image is spot on. And as I sit looking out my back door, watching the dogs play, feeling the breeze and fresh air flow through my house, I realize…I am SO MUCH to be grateful for. So much!

Even on my worst day, my hardest day, my lowest moment, I have been so blessed with amazing kids, a glass half full attitude, and an ability to see adventure is absolutely everything that comes my way.

I pray that this holiday season truly blesses you. That you see hope for your future. That you can learn to appreciate what you have in spite of what you don’t have. And that you will find that the smiles around you light up your heart.

Hope

Hope is a creative, solutions-focused business manager helping clients grow their business and work more efficiently by leveraging expertise in project management, digital marketing, & tech solutions. She’s recently become an empty nester as her 5 foster/adoptive kids have spread their wings. She lives with her 5 dogs in a small town in NE Georgia and prefers the mountains to the beaches any day. She struggles with the travel bug and is doing her best to help each of her kids as their finish schooling and become independent (but it’s hard!) She has run her own consulting company for almost twenty years! Hope began sharing her journey with the BAD community in the Spring of 2015 and feels like she has finally in a place to really focus on making wise financial decisions.

Facebook Marketplace – Sold!

by Hope

I mentioned a week or so ago, that one of the ways I was trying to come up with some cash to catch up on bills was selling my diamond jewelry from my ex-husband. I got a lot of flack for my ignorance about it’s value. In all, honesty, I had no clue what to expect. I didn’t think it would go up in value, but I didn’t think it would be essentially worthless.

The local pawn shop offered for $120 and the local jewelry store only buys jewelry based on it’s gold weight. (I don’t know if it all being white gold mattered.)

Well, rather than just give up as I have in the past, I determined that it was time to let it go and sell it.

Enter Facebook Marketplace.

Just List It

I figured with the holiday season upon us, I might could sell it. So I listed all but one of the sets on Facebook Marketplace along with some, admittedly pretty bad pictures. Evidently, my prices were too high. All I got were the spam responses offering me above asking, etc. We all hear the horror stories.

I simply responded Cash Only and never heard from them again.

Several days later, I lowered the prices significantly. I was just ready for it to all be gone.

Lower Prices

As soon as I lowered the prices, the offers on the engagement ring began rolling in. And if I hadn’t accepted an offer pretty quickly for $350, I would have gotten more. But I honored the first deal and the woman showed up as we agreed and brought cash. Utility disconnect averted!

The other items are still listed for what I consider reasonable prices. They are all white gold with real diamonds. (The jeweler and pawn shop did confirm this. And I have the receipts from when it was purchased.)

I’m just going to let them right for the next couple of weeks and see if I get any bites.

Personal Note

I held onto this jewelry with the thought that Gymnast or Princess would inherit it someday. But after asking them, they were both adamantly opposed to wanting anything from their dad. There is one set I’m keeping for a particular reason for them, but these pieces are all just reminders of his violence toward me.

I thought I would feel relief, maybe even joy once the engagement ring sold. But I pulled back up to the house and just sobbed. Overwhelmed, by deep sadness which shook me. I called my best friend because the emotion confused me. And what she said made sense…I wasn’t grieving him or the end of the marriage (over 16 years ago,) but rather the loss of that dream of happily ever after the ring had represented.