by Hope
I was reminded this past week, once again, how grateful I am that I still rent. After two days in the mid-80s, I broke down and turned on the air conditioning a couple of nights ago in order to sleep without sweating. It immediately started blowing.
I wandered around the house turning off the fans and closing all the windows and doors. Then I went to bed.
Two hours later, I woke up sweating! I checked the A/C control unit and it was 80+ in the house and the setting was set to 75. Ugh!
I turned it off and went back to bed, knowing I would literally sweat the night away.
The A/C guys have me those directions the last time they were here. And they have been here every single summer since we lived here. (We’ve been here 3 years last month.)
I did go ahead and call our landlord and let him know that we now have a “manual start” A/C unit. He said that if it happens again to let him know and he will get someone out here. I was just glad it started. The last couple of 80+ degree weather days have been much more pleasant with A/C.
But what I was really grateful for was that I do not have to worry for one second the cost of fixing or worse replacing our A/C unit! And that is worth it’s weight in gold. Here’s to renting for the foreseeable future!
On a side note, Princess and I sat down and worked out that when she graduates next year, this will be the longest we have ever lived in any one house since her dad and I split 13 years ago. We have moved 9 times in those 13 years.
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.
