by Hope
Here we go again. My full time client exercised the 6 week cancellation clause in our contract last month. So my full time income ends the week before Christmas. Of course, he cancelled just before the paid holiday break I had negotiated.
My income was cut by a fourth this month. Therefore, my progress slows again. And the insecurity that always comes when these things happen over runs my mental health.
Here are the debt numbers as of this month. (Last month’s update is here.) Still progress but not where I wanted to be:
| Debt Description | October, 2023 Total | Interest Rate | Minimum Payment | Current Total | Payoff Date (Est) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CC – Frontier | $3,857 | 29.99% | $130 | $2,295 | Jan, 2025 |
| Dad – New Furnace | $2,600 | 0% | $0 | $2,600 | |
| CC – USAA | $5,000 | 19.15% | $135 | $3,750 | |
| CC – Sam’s Club | $591 | Jan, 2025 | |||
| Student Loans | $22,121 | 2.875% | deferrment | $22,895 | deferred til May, 2025 |
| CC – Apple** | $500 | Paid off every month | $0 | ||
| CC – AMEX | $894 | 29.24% | $0 | $0 | Mar, 2024 – Closed |
| CC – Sams | $1,106 | 29.99% | $0 | $0 | April, 2024 |
| Personal Loan #1 | $2,500 | 0% | $0 | $0 | July, 2024 |
| Personal Loan #2 | $2,500 | 0% | $0 | $0 | August, 2024 |
| CC – Wander | $1,630 | 29.24% | $0 | $0 | August, 2024 – Closed |
| CC – Amazon | $1,497 | 29.99% | $0 | $0 | September, 2024 |
| Total | $44,206 | $265 | $32,131 |
New Debt
The Sam’s Club credit card has officially made a return, and here’s why. During my recent drive to Texas, it became painfully clear that I couldn’t put off getting new glasses any longer. Earlier this year, my daughters and I all had our eye exams, but I decided to hold off on purchasing new glasses to save money. That decision caught up with me—the drive was miserable.
As soon as I arrived in Texas, I headed straight to Sam’s Club and ordered two new pairs of glasses: one pair of progressive lenses for everyday use and another single-vision pair for computer work. For the first time, I decided to add transition lenses to my everyday glasses. I’d spent much of the drive wearing my old sunglasses, which are a couple of prescriptions outdated, so this seemed like a good compromise instead of buying a third pair. Fingers crossed the transition lenses work out!
Using my Sam’s credit/Plus membership, I was able to get 40% off the second pair of glasses. And no, I could not make do with a single pair, my eyes are that bad.
Work for 2025
A week after he cancelled our contract. We jumped on the phone and he explained that he’s wanting to re-organize his business and focus on partnering with firms, taking a piece of the profit versus just contract work. I get it. But man!
We went on to negotiate returning to a part time role for at least the first quarter of the year as he figures out how he wants to proceed. Took some pressure off, but man, I’m feeling all sorts of insecure again. I will have 11 days off at the end of this month to go heads down on formulating a plan. And then return to part time work with this company in January.
On the flip side, I’ve spent the last couple of weeks, standing up my consulting firm again, reaching out to old clients, and applying for contract work via Upwork. As I write this, I am preparing to meet with a potential new client here in Texas.
What I’m grateful for…it’s just me. Just me I have to be responsible for, feed, house. (Yes, I know I’m still helping Princess but overall, it’s just me.) That takes a lot of the pressure off.
I’ll keep you posted.
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.