by Hope
Last fall things got really, really tight. I had lost my dream corporate job in the summer of 2022. Then my contract job was a significant cut in pay. Then it ended versus becoming a full time position in February of 2023. And finally I had a 20 hour per week job beginning in March of 2023.
My finances were a mess and super, super tight. And it came to head last fall when I was at risk of not being able to pay our auto insurance along with Gymnast car payment and so on.
Some of you are probably familiar with this phase of my roller coaster of a life. And what I did…
The History
As with each of my kids, I had agreed to help Gymnast get on his feet post high school (or school) completion by paying some of his bills for 6 months. In his case, it was his car payment and auto insurance. He moved to Texas as soon as he turned 18 and that started the clock for the 6 months.
But I ran out of money and the ability to pay the bills about 2 months early. So I made the difficult call to let him know. I held out as long as I could. And probably waited too long. Because it did blindside him.
The Resolution
Thankfully, he had listened and was making fantastic financial decisions. And without question, he sent me the money not just to pay his car payment, but also to catch up and cover the entirety of the family auto insurance bill. He didn’t blink. He didn’t blame. He didn’t wait to be asked. He just did it.
I was beyond floored. And so proud. And I told him I would pay him back.
Fast Forward to Now
Gymnast has continued to refuse my offer to pay him back. And I know he’s been stressed over the heavy load that is his car payment and car insurance. (He has had 3 car wrecks which he’s covered as well.)
But now we’ve been able to refinance the car getting the interest rate down to a reasonable rate. And our insurance premium has dropped with this next renewal. And he has the lofty and from what I’ve seen very achievable goal of paying his car loan in full in the next 6 months. And I now have stable and solid full time income again.
So I’ve decided to HELP him in another way that will hopefully give him a bit of relief and the push to really meet his goal of paying off his car. I am going to pay his portion of the family auto insurance policy from August (yes, last month) through December. This is why the kid’s contribution was significantly less that budgeted last month.
The total of this will be just slightly more than the amount he covered last year so it’s just a different way of paying him back for something I had planned to cover. And hopefully…it will help him get that much closer to being completed debt free. With a nice and reliable car to carry him through these young adult years!
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.
Let’s take a look at last months numbers Hope. You planned to earn $9580 and actually earned $8607 with a laptop sale. You planned to spend $9475 and spent $10064. You underfunded your savings, you underfunded the principle on your mortgage, you underfunded your investments, and you put zero into travel savings despite saying you are headed to Texas. Do you think this budget was a financial mess?
Oooof when I read your comment, I died a little on the inside. I hope she has a solution but this is where I always get worried for her!
Advice regarding gymnast- I would encourage him to have whatever a month’s worth of expenditures are in the bank or $1000 ( whichever is greatest) before he considers paying off his car. This way if he needs a tire or he has a week he is sick he isn’t going to be set back. Money is about achieving balance between earning, spending and saving. If he starts off using his earnings to do both spend ( to pay down his debt on the car) and save, he’ll be in a much better position to achieve financial security and he won’t find himself putting out dumpster fires when life inevitably smacks him around.
Yes! That is exactly what he has done and is doing. I am so freaking proud of him.
I can see where you’re coming from. Hoping that you travel safely to Texas! The biggest lesson is that Gymnast is learning from you – he helps you in the way you have helped others and he continues to save and be smarter with his money which is also amazing!