by Hope
Things are still pretty dire. I am still significantly behind on several “four walls” bills. So there are debt payments that are just not getting paid.
Figured I would get that out of the way, so you wouldn’t wonder why some of these debt numbers are going up!
| Debt Description | October, 2023 Total | Interest Rate | Minimum Payment | Paid This Month | Current Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Personal Loan #1 | $2,500 | 0% | 6 months to pay | $2,500 | |
| Personal Loan #2 | $2,500 | 0% | 6 months to pay | $2,500 | |
| CC - AMEX | $894 | 29.24% | $93 | $954 | |
| CC - Wander | $1,630 | 29.24% | $124 | $1,834 | |
| CC - USAA | $5,000 | 19.15% | $135 | $131 | $5,190 |
| CC - Amazon | $1,497 | 29.99% | $53 | $55 | $1,519 |
| CC - Sams | $1,106 | *29.99% | *$40 | $40 | $1,113 |
| CC - Frontier | $3,857 | 29.99% | $338 | $170 | $3,994 |
| Car Loan | $19,581 | 12.69% | $500 | $563 | $19,581 |
| Student Loans | $22,121 | 2.875% | $306 | Deferred until Dec, 2023 | $22,186 |
| CC - Apple** | $500 | $500 | $497 | ||
| Total | $61,186 | $61,868 |
A couple of notes:
*The website to get my statement and these details was not available so these are estimates.
**I pay this CC off every month and reuse. This and the USAA CC will be left open. But the goal is to pay off and close all other lines of credit.
Catching Up
On the flip side of that, I have contracted out enough work to pay the bills through the end of January. Most of these are one off projects. My regular monthly intake has increased from the $2,200 per month from my part time job to around $2,700. (I will need to allocate some of this additional income to self-employment taxes.)
I am hoping to be caught up with everything by mid-December. This really depends on how timely I will receive payments for these projects. And I’m hoping to resume saving with the $200 from my part time job. I will definitely feel more comfortable when I have some sort of emergency fund again.
I continue to literally pound the pavement on a daily basis. Hitting up and few brick and mortar stores and introducing myself and dropping off a flyer details my service offerings from web design to social media management and everything in between.
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.
