Planned spending in Hope – September 2024

Written by Hope

I plan to post my actual spending at the end of the month. (You can find this month’s plan here.) But I thought I’d go ahead and share my planned spending for September.

Debt repayment goal

You’ll notice that the current plan is to pay off my Amazon credit card in full. So far, the votes on this post have been pretty consistent. But I’ll be watching to see if anything changes. Assuming that happens, I’ll have paid off and closed three credit cards and two personal loans since February.

princess help

You will also notice that I expect to contribute $750 toward Princess’s October rent next month. Her internship ended last week and despite many applications, she has not been offered a job for this semester/school year. I am sure she will be offered a job but that has not happened yet.

Travel savings

Nothing unexpected here. I won’t be using my savings again, especially for travel since we are planning a Thanksgiving trip to Texas. I want to make sure I cover the cost of the trip in cash. By November, I should have $1,688 saved in my travel fund, which should be enough for that trip. (I used all of my personal savings and the bulk of my August travel savings to pay off one of my credit cards.)

Full Disclosure

As I write this, I’ve been feeling a persistent urge to head to Texas in September for a few weeks now. I don’t know if this is my usual urge to go somewhere, or my anxiety about my parents, or just a premonition that my mother’s end is near. (For those new here: My mother has Parkinson’s disease and is bedridden, unresponsive, and requires 24-hour care. The only bodily function she still has control over is swallowing, and my family reports that she has become less inclined to eat. Which is to be expected at this point.)

My father’s health has also deteriorated due to his recent surgery, and he has been in constant, undiagnosed pain for almost a year. I’m sure this is also related to the stress and difficulties of being my mother’s primary caregiver.

I feel like I need to go and stay for a while and help. Or be there. Or something like that.

I’m not committed to this. I haven’t mentioned it to them (my dad would have done it in a minute if I had). But it’s a pretty consistent mental motivator.

If I did, I would drive out and take the dog. Assuming Beau still lives at home (which is a whole other story), I would keep the other two. I don’t really know what I would do. I don’t want to go, but I want to too. Does that make sense?

I appreciate having a job, and now being free from childcare, which makes me able to make a last-minute move like this if needed. I’ll keep you updated.