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Nov 11, 2015    |       8 comments

How Do You Write about Money…

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It’s very hard to write about money and paying off debt when you don’t have any money to pay off debt.  And I’m certain we don’t want to turn Blogging Away Debt into Hope’s Job Search.  So there is the challenge I face as I continue to try to write.

Thus, the goal of “finding” some money to not only sustain us while I job search but to also, maybe continue at least paying the minimum debt payments.

So I’m back to finding more things to sell and even downsizing even more.  Prior to the job loss, we were DEFINITELY moving in April so I had a timeline to digitize all my files, update all my scrapbooks and trash the duplicate pictures and finish going through our limited items in storage.  Now that timeline has been moved up since we may move sooner than that depending on what happens with a job for me.

As I’ve been cleaning things out, I’ve found even more items to sell and some or hopefully all will bit a bit more on the valuable side.  The problem…I’m not sure where to sell these items or if I just got the ebay route…how to price them.

So here’s what I’ve collected thus far:

  • Soft sided luggage in like new condition (have a 6 piece set but we really only use the smaller pieces so have 2 large pieces)
  • Care Bears in like new condition (the old pose-able ones)
  • Antique cameras – about a 1/2 dozen of them
  • Some collectible memorabilia which frankly I have no idea where it came from
  • Antique silver ware set that was either my great-grandmothers or even older than that

So I’m going to do some digging this week to figure the best place and price to start selling some of these more unique items.  I’m also working on crafty presents for our homeschool co op teachers, family presents and even some for the kids.

I’m grateful for these ‘chores’ to work on.  They help me feel like I’m still being productive, although the bulk of my time is being spent on networking and job search.

Two more phone interviews yesterday….and several last week.  I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the right opportunity comes along and that I make good decisions in the mean time.

Nov 10, 2015    |       16 comments

Car Inspection and Winter Hobbies

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Happy Tuesday everyone!

From my last post, I discussed needing to save up for my car’s state inspection and emission’s test, which I had scheduled for November 9th. Well, that day came and passed and it hit me to the tune of $887.00, which was within the range I was expecting. I needed some work done, which I was told about over the summer, plus I decided to get 4 new tires. Although they passed inspection, the mechanic told me they would have failed given another month of driving. To be honest, I was surprised they even passed at all. Instead of delaying the cost to next year, I decided to get a new set and just take the hit today. But now that this is out of the way, I could either 1) Replenish my EF (or savings, or slush fund, I’m not sure what to call it at this point), again or 2) Start tackling my loans. Personally, I want to see how long I can do #2, before I have to do #1- which should take me into the New Year, at least. I want to get back to paying off my loans as soon as possible (I’m getting very antsy to do so), which could be as early as today, even with only $1,000 in my EF. My goal would be to get below $40,000 before the end of the year, before contributing to my EF again. What are your thoughts on this?

Also, I have some exciting news on the hobby front. After taking a month off from playing guitar in September and half of October, I got back into it, like REALLY into it. I’ve probably put in 2-3 hours a night during the week and 5+ hours per day during the weekend, even spending some time at our city library to try and wrap my head around music theory. A little background: being in a band has been a dream of mine for the better part of ten years. While I have had some jam sessions with other friends who play guitar, they’re mostly just starting out and weren’t as interested in starting a band. Anyway, I put an ad out last week looking for other people who may want to jam/start a band, and I received a reply! We hung out this past week, and I think it looks really promising! The whole experience of putting myself out there and taking action with it was such a rush, as I’ve only played for my girlfriend and those few friends before.

The problem with this whole scenario is that equipment is EXPENSIVE. I have a guitar that is performance quality, but I don’t have anything else that’s up to par. I would need a new amp and speaker cabinets, pedals, and all the other miscellaneous hardware that comes with putting on a live show. But…we aren’t even close to this point, and I’ll likely be out of debt before I worry about gigging. For right now, I guess, it’s just something in the back of my mind.

What are some hobbies you guys have? Has money ever become a factor for them?

I hope everyone has a great week!

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