Blogging Away Debt Our Journeys to a Debt-Free Life

by Hope

The goals for this last week were:

Week 1 – December 3

1. Create a $2,500 budget
2. List/re-list sellable items that might do better during this Christmas season (jewelry, old computer, etc.)
3. Research selling digital products online, make a list of steps and related resources

Here’s how it went…

The $2,500 Budget

What a good and eye opening exercise! Although I found is near impossible to get down to the goal of $2,500.

I loved watching the conversations on Ashley’s recent post about paying off her mortgage vs buying an income generating property. The idea of having a paid off house going into retirement age is certainly appealing. I know it is an emotional thing, but there also is some sense of security with having what is typically one of your largest bills paid for going into that age when you work less or not at all and live off a fixed income.

I know I am nowhere near there, but definitely a conversation I am following.

For Sale

I relisted a bunch of jewelry and items on Facebook Marketplace that I have collected over the last few weeks as I have been going through all the nooks and crannies in my house. I took the time to take better pictures and am opening to make a couple of hundred dollars this month  as much of what I am selling would be great Christmas gifts. My motivation for the purge has been twofold. One, I am more and more inclined to own less so believe that after the holidays I will do another big purge of primarily furniture type things. I’ve mentioned before that I’ve given the kids time to give me feedback on anything that is important to them. So after the crowd leaves, I anticipate I will be ready to do a purge on a much larger scale.

It’s not that I don’t love my stuff. Most of them are inherited from grandparents and even great grandparents, but I find myself less and less inclined to spend time dusting. 🙂 Can anyone relate to that? So I want to live in a far more simple setting.

The second reason, is that as I consider renting out or selling my home…I realize that much of the “stuff” I have does not bring me joy anymore. So less to care for, less to potentially store or move. And I’d rather purge now, then have to have a “fire sale” down the road. I am being very thoughtful and intentional as I sort through things. Handling them, remembering where they came from, and deciding if they are worth keeping to me.

Digital Products

I have thoroughly enjoyed this research. And it’s been coupled with a lot of questions about what is next for me. I believe I’m pretty clear on the process and what will need to happen to set it up, all within my skillset. The question now is, what direction do I want to go in…still working on that.

The New Part Time Job

As of this morning, I have accepted a new part time role as a Catering Coordinator that I had two interviews for last week. The details that I know are as follows:

1. Expect 20-25 hours per week but will start with regular onboarding for this fast food company.
2. Starting pay at $13 per hour as advertised. Once I’m trained and working independently, they will reevaluate pay.
3. I won’t have “regular hours” rather I will work hours required by catering orders that come in which means, I could work any combination of breakfast, lunch, and dinner hours on any given day. I will not be preparing the food rather coordinating the teams efforts to make sure the right food and goods are ready/delivered on time. And I will also be doing community outreach/marketing to grow the catering side of the business.

This is a new role for them so it’s kind of a grow and evolve as it makes sense. I’m super excited.

And I did speak with my current boss at the accounting firm and she fully supports the flexible hours I will need to make both jobs work. Woot, woot!

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.