by Hope
Next week, I will spend $2,600 on the house.
I’m going to paint the interior all one color (expect for the bathrooms and the laundry room, those will remain untouched.) We discovered an issue with electric that must be resolved to sell the house. Don’t get me started on how that happened.
Showings continue to be steady and I feel like I’m in the right pricing bracket now at $195,000. There are few other 3/2s in that price bracket.
After the paint and electric is complete, it will be listed with an agent.
I’m going to sit tight here in Georgia until the end of May. Focus on enjoying Princess college graduation. Then relocate to Texas with a plan to remain there the bulk of the summer and help with my mom.
While I was there this month, we all got the flu. My dad, me, one of my brothers who was also staying with my parents, and then my mom. It was rough. And reiterated the need for me to be there, rather for someone to be able to stay with my parents full time. (I am still recovering. It is slow going.)
Work is steady and growing weekly which I am very grateful for. I am only paying minimums on everything and hoarding cash. Once I get through these house expenditures, I am going to focus on building an emergency fund again before I turn back to debt.
The plan is to use the bulk of the proceeds from the house to pay off all my consumer debt. Based on my math that should be achievable even at this lower price point.
Then I will be starting fresh. With a focus on saving and paying off my remaining student loan.
Hope is a resourceful and solutions-driven business manager who has spent nearly two decades helping clients streamline their operations and grow their businesses through project management, digital marketing, and tech expertise. Recently transitioning from her role as a single mom of five foster/adoptive children to an empty nester, Hope is navigating the emotional and practical challenges of redefining her life while maintaining her determination to regain financial control and eliminate debt.
Living in a cozy small town in northeast Georgia with her three dogs, Hope cherishes the serenity of the mountains over the bustle of the beach. Though her kids are now finding their footing in the world—pursuing education, careers, and independence—she remains deeply committed to supporting them in this next chapter, even as she faces the bittersweet tug of letting go.
Since joining the Blogging Away Debt community in 2015, Hope has candidly shared her journey of financial ups and downs. Now, with a renewed focus and a clear path ahead, she’s ready to tackle her finances with the same passion and perseverance that she’s brought to her life and career. Through her writing, she continues to inspire others to confront their own financial challenges and strive for a brighter future.
I thought you signed with an agent before leaving for Texas?
That was the plan; however, the house was under contract when I left town so no real estate agent was ever engaged.
Sorry, but how much consumer debt do you have? And how much is left on your house loan? I am confused why the price drop of ~15-20k from the original means you wouldn’t be able to touch the student loans, as when you were originally talking about selling, it seemed like the sale would leave you with excess after all debts?
An update with all the debt numbers would be very good (including house loan) so we can understand where exactly you are, as it is hard to really comment without that picture. Especially on a blog about getting out of debt
Do you have a 2nd mortgage or a home equity line of credit?
As far as I can tell she’s never answered why her mortgage went from 600 something to 1,000. If I was a betting person, I’d say her readers will never know.
No, I do not.
Did you refinance the entire mortgage at a higher rate and get cash back to pay other bills?
Then why did your mortgage go up by $400/mo? Mortgage payments don’t just go up for funsies. Something changed. What was it? Include numbers. For once, just be honest.
Hi Hope. I think you could begin to clear up a lot of reader confusion if you just answered a few
questions:
1. Where is the $2600 coming from?
2. Why did your mortgage go from $600 to over $1000? At one point I believe you mentioned a mortgage modification, but those typically aim to LOWER monthly payments, not raise, even temporarily. Did you take a HELOC? Borrow against equity for debt?
3. Why did your debt numbers recently increase by $9000 within a short period of time? Where did this money go?
4. How much equity do you have in your home? If you sell for $195k, assuming FSBO, what is going directly into your pocket?
Numbers are simple, if you honestly lay them out. You never have. Get honest with the numbers, then you can create a realistic budget and debt pay off plan. This is why readers are confused and frustrated. You contradict yourself frequently. Numbers change willy nilly with no explanation. Ten years of blogging away debt….what changes have you made? How much debt have you paid off? Why are you not debt free? I know a lot people are tuned into the “train wreck” here on BAD, but some of us would also like to see real transparency and focus on actually getting out of debt.
re #2, I believe the most likely answer is a cash out refinance. The conversation with the lender may have started at loan modification, but it must be a fundamentally different loan to have the 1000 payment for the remainder of the term. That or it is/was 1000 temporarily to catch up arrears and things are just unclear.
Agree – a cash out refi could have just kept payments flat at the time. And then maybe the new loan was an ARM that has now reset up. That would inflate the payments. Escrow could have been increased too, by increased homeowners insurance costs — those are up everywhere.
It’s plausible, but readers shouldn’t have to speculate or deduce it. The blogger should easily be able to answer.
Should be an easy answer, but that’s never been Hope’s MO. Nor does she seem ready for the basic mindset change needed to stop financially yo-yoing, evidenced by her post following this one . Hope’s history on this blog is cyclical and crucially defined by the “missing missing reasons” behind her posts. The more something is not said, the more crucial it will become for why we can’t understand her motivations, once the truth slips out months or years later.