by Hope
I sat down this week to review my finances and decisions for this past month. Based on my “write it down” post, I have decided to spend some time each month recapping the previous month. And I’m not talking about here on BAD, but more so in a journal format.
I want to remember the big decisions I made, the memories that were made and the milestones accomplished. This practice will help me as I look back…as much as I hate to admit it, I am not getting any younger and what seems so clear in the moment…well, sometimes when I think back, I wonder, “what in the world was I thinking?” In addition, I think this will be something the kids will enjoy having one day…as they too wonder “what in the world was mom thinking?”
August in Review
This month has been one of settling into our new family life and school schedule and lots of long distance calls and Facetime sessions with the boys not at home but overall it has been a very quiet month. And I paid my first payment on our car!
I was thinking this morning how nice it is to be able to pay bills every month without the “borrowing from Paul to pay Peter” or however that saying goes. I just don’t take that for granted at all anymore after the really hard years we had leading up to this place we are at now.
So here is what I came up with as far as reviewing August from a financial front:
- Sticking to a cash budget for every day spending has really helped me with impulse buying AND more importantly, given me the peace of mind to buy some wants. (When the budgeted money is gone, it’s gone and I/we have to deal with the fall out.)
- The private school has been a big financial investment, but after 3 weeks there, I am so happy with the choice. Princess is being challenged academically like she never has been before. She is getting as much playing time on the volleyball court as she wants. And I truly believe that her education opportunities will be greater after two years at this school, and that in the end, is the primary goal.
- I love our new car. And after all the comments, felt like I would get buyer’s remorse especially taking on so much more debt. But I haven’t. I know better than to try and explain my feelings on this, and I do realize they are more than financial. But I feel good about providing my daughter with a reliable car that will serve us both for the next couple of years, and then eventually be just hers. It should last her through college and beyond and most of that time, still be under warranty.
- This new routine…it’s working for us. It’s hard and long and tiring. But the early mornings, exercise and freer nights for dinner together are good. I am working hard to finish my workday by the time Princess is done with volleyball. And then we are spending our evenings together…dinner and then homework. She is slammed and I want to support her as she digs in. I am enjoying cooking every night. But I am even more excited about the cooler weather and soup season!
- Having a work space in my home for the first time in, oh about 8 years, has been life changing. With Sea Cadet in California and Gymnast in Illinois, both History Buff and Princess have their own rooms (as do I.) And our living room, which was both the twins’ room, then just Sea Cadet’s room after Gymnast moved out, is now a true living room AND my office! Just the small walk from my bedroom to the living room has made a huge difference in my work day and focus. (After working in my bedroom since the twin’s moved in with us…well, wow, I missed having a work space!) I am more focused, more productive…I love it! And I am sleeping so much better without my work sitting in my face all the time.
So I guess this update isn’t all financial. But at the end of the day, we are in a good place financially and I am working hard to get us into an even better place. I wrote a lot more in my personal journal. But I think these were the highlights and the ones that most affected our financial place.
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.
