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We are in the final stages of trip planning and, for now, it looks like we’ll be headed home in the spring of next year. Call me the eternal optimist but I’m hoping there will be a fabulous vaccine and we won’t be relegated to the least inhabited areas of our country by then.

Since we’re staying off the beaten path, I wanted to plan one last hurrah at a nice campground in Florida…near civilization. There’s some beautiful spots on the white sandy beaches of the Gulf Coast. I shopped around and was stunned to see these camping spots crossed $100 a night. $100 a night!! For a parking spot! Some crossed $150! Five days at one of these ‘resort’ campgrounds would cost us more than a month at BLM or state park lands.

My husband watched in-depth review YouTube videos. I could see the stars in his eyes. Snorkeling in the clear waters. Sun tanning on the beach. Swim up bar at the resort pool. Walking hand in hand, watching the sun set. I knew exactly what he saw. “Book it!” he exclaimed. “We have it in the budget. If things aren’t better, we can cancel. Book it.”

Aerial view of a tropical island with white sand and turquoise water

I deferred.

That night, I tossed and turned. Sure, it is in the budget but I want to leave a big buffer. So many things could happen along the way. At 2am, I was still wide eyed. We don’t have the money. I can’t.

The next morning, I brewed a strong black tea. I searched and searched for alternatives. I found a delightful state park ¾ mile from the beach with tram access to that beautiful white sand. No, no swim up bar but it’s $40 a night (and we won’t be paying for those drinks at the bar!). I could tell my husband was disappointed but he looked at the numbers we had left in our budget for that category and he decided it would be best too.

Before we paid off our debt, we weren’t using a budget, we decided what to buy based on how much we had in our checking account. Money in. Money Out. These days, I have no idea how much is in our checking account. Seriously. Not a clue. I know exactly how much we have in each category. If I’m running out of money in a category, I pinch pennies. I freak out. When we relied on the checking account balance rather than how much we had budgeted for that category, we were legitimately broke! Now, I just FEEL broke all the time…but I’m not. It’s made me more conscious of what I’m spending and where. I tap the brakes on spending far sooner than I would have.

So yes, I hope you feel broke. I hope you budget well. I hope you stick to your budget. Your checking account will thank you. No, you might not get that great resort you were hoping for… but you won’t worry about your retirement either.

Beks

Beks is a full-time government employee who enjoys blogging late into the night after her four kids have gone to sleep. She’s been married to Chris, her college sweetheart, for 15 years. In 2017, after 3 long years working the Dave Ramsey Baby Steps, they paid off more than $70K and became debt free. When she’s not working or blogging, she’s exploring the great outdoors.

Starting a New Side Hustle

by Hope

With time on our hands, we’ve decided to start a side hustle we can all participate in.

Advantages

Super low start up costs

Little marketing required

Work on it when we want

Something we can work on together or separate

Main materials super cheap and easy to get around here

There are some super talented kids in my house (and that’s not just a mom brag)

Disadvantages

Reliant on the right person seeing our product

Takes up a good deal of space

Will need to master some new skills

Need to track expenses pretty closely so we don’t go overboard

What are We Doing

We are going to be refinishing/recycling/revitalizing old solid wood furniture. In most cases, the plan is to just give pieces a good cleaning and facelift. In other cases, we will be re-purposing the piece depending on condition.

Here’s where we are starting:

Bought 4 pieces of furniture within 10 miles of us, each under $30
1. Small corner shelving unit – $10
2. Coffee-ish, drawer unit on wheels – $10
3. Chest of drawers – $25
4. What-not cabinet – $30
Have set up workspace with all our paints – we have a TON of paint stuff. Between the kids art and working around our house, we’ve got all sorts of colors, types of paint and brushes. (You can see a few of the paintings Gymnast has completed this summer. He’s probably done a dozen pieces on all sorts of mediums in the last couple of months. There are several hanging in local shops as well. So far we haven’t been willing to sell them, but I am running out of room on my walls…so that will probably be the next step.)
Collected other supplies from around the house. We have a palm sander, sanding blocks, painters tape, hammers and finishing nails. (We’ve got some power tools too, but I didn’t set those out since our workspace is outside.)

Financial Agreement

I fronted the cash for the initial purchases and purchased all the supplies we are using. (I didn’t buy any new supplies, just purchased these in the past so they are here.) We’ve decided that instead of tracking everything little thing we use it will be easier to just have a standard fee for use of the existing tools and supplies. This eliminates the headache of counting every nail or ounce of paint, etc. but still pays me back for the supplies and over time, builds our fund to restock supplies or buy more tools.

Thick textured canvas painted in rainbow stripes Splatter-painted canvas in black, white, blue, and yellow with paint bottles Pour-painted canvas with swirls of red, green, yellow, blue, and white

If we have to buy anything specific for a piece that we don’t have here, we will add it for that piece alone. For the time being, I have decided on a set $10 fee per piece for existing supplies and tool usage.

This means that for every piece completed, I will receive the initial cash cost + $10 for tools and raw materials. Whoever works on the piece will split the money from the sale. For now, I am going to let them price out each piece and we will see how it goes.

Teaching Business Lessons

The kids and I talked extensively about this especially in regards to artists. (Gymnast has a very specific and specialized side hustle he wants to start, but the initial investment will be several hundred dollars.) We have discussed what costs artists need to consider when pricing a piece – the raw materials, their time, delivery costs (shipping) and how unique the piece is.

We’ve also discussed how to be competitive in a sometimes over-saturated market. How one can compete by price, by creating a unique product, creating a sense of urgency and limited availability and much more.

I’m looking forward to this side hustle and seeing what the results are. I will definitely post some before and after pictures of the pieces. We are hoping to complete and sell the 4 pieces listed above this month. Wish us luck!

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.

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.

I Hope You Feel Broke…