Blogging Away Debt Our Journeys to a Debt-Free Life

by Hope

I didn’t get an update in last week.  We were traveling to see my grandmother and I neglected to deal with the “no internet” issue at her home.  In the past, I always had a hot spot with my cell phone plan, but since I cut that last fall, well, I didn’t plan well.  I went out for a few hours to get internet and get work done, but otherwise, spent the entirety of my time reveling with my family.  It was truly an amazing trip, and I’m so glad I spent the money to go!

The total cost of the trip was less than $150 for two tanks of gas, and one meal out which I paid for.  But the fun was priceless!  Swimming, fishing and riding four wheelers at all my different extended families homes.  The little kids did not want to leave, and frankly, I didn’t either.  I was especially grateful to my cousins and uncles who spent a good deal of time with my little ones as I have been struggling with what I am calling the “fatherneed” especially for them.

Princess and Little Gymnast with their catch of their FIRST ever fishing experience, and then we all got to watch the fish get cleaned and then ate them…SO, SO YUMMY!

I’ve also got the big housing decision deadline coming up in the next 30 days and am still struggling with what to do there, but that’s a story all on it’s own and I’m sure I’ll write about it in the upcoming weeks. Needless to stay, it’s still taking up a bit of my time researching, thinking and praying about what the right move is on that front. (Our lease is up in September, but we have to give notice by July of what our plans are.)

And most importantly, we are speeding quickly toward our “no consumer debt” pay off debt which is just a week away.  And I’m beginning to contemplate the next move on the financial front and more immediately a new budget since we’ve been on our super frugal budget now for almost four months.

Oh, and one big thing has happened.  We bought a car!  A family car, just in time for our Georgia trip.  I just couldn’t stomach the thought of the cramped conditions for 8 hours each way and frankly, while the Accord is a good little around town car, I just didn’t trust it for such a long trip.  So after much research and thought, I bought a car.  I will give the details on that in the next week or so.  The twins helped drive down to GA in it, and they too were glad to not have to drive the stick shift for so long.

Sea Cadet driving on the first leg of the trip to GA. It was his first time driving with the entire family in the car…boy, was it scary!

Hope

Hope is a creative, solutions-focused business manager helping clients grow their business and work more efficiently by leveraging expertise in project management, digital marketing, & tech solutions. She’s recently become an empty nester as her 5 foster/adoptive kids have spread their wings. She lives with her 3 dogs in a small town in NE Georgia and prefers the mountains to the beaches any day. She struggles with the travel bug and is doing her best to help each of her kids as their finish schooling and become independent (but it’s hard!) She has run her own consulting company for almost twenty years! Hope began sharing her journey with the BAD community in the Spring of 2015 and feels like she has finally in a place to really focus on making wise financial decisions.