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Free Resources To Help Keep Your Finances On Track with August Funding

During my first marriage, my financial life was falling apart. There were times when I honestly didn’t know how we were going to buy groceries or put gas in the car. When we got divorced I had a new set of challenges. Paying off debts from that marriage and getting my finances back on track. With the help of August Funding, I’m sharing my experience with you.

It’s no secret that I had creditors calling. If my parents hadn’t let my boys and I stay with them I don’t know what i would have done. I was determined to work on getting myself financially independent and into a place of our own. It felt hopeless to me and I honestly looked into things like being a surrogate and donating plasma just to keep my head above water. But I didn’t end up having to do any of that. Here’s some free resources that helped me along the way.

Turn To The Money Gurus

It was obvious that I needed help so I started looking at the finance and debt gurus like Dave Ramsey and Suze Orman. I liked what they had to say. I remember one of Dave Ramsey’s books. It started off with, something along the lines of, him pulling up to a gas station in his vehicle and not knowing if his credit card was going to be decline to put gas in his card. That really resonated with me. Like, he knows what I’m going through. While you can buy the books you don’t have to. Dave Ramsey has free resources on his website, you can check out his books at local libraries, or ask to borrow from a friend.

You Can Get a Free Credit Report

I did pull a credit report when trying to get my finances in order. You are allowed to get 1 free credit report every 12 months. This helped me see exactly where I was at with creditors, amount owed, what might be coming down the pipes, and fix errors that might have showed up. Seriously check it. My husband’s parents had declared bankruptcy at one point. My husband’s name is very similar to his dad’s he ended up having to call because his dad’s bankruptcy info was showing up on his credit report! Obviously that would effect his credit if he hadn’t gotten it fixed! Sites like annual credit report help you to get your free credit report you’re entitled to.

Keep Tabs On Your Credit Score and More in One Place

I discovered Credit Sesame all those years ago. At first I ignored it thinking there was a catch but it’s still one of my favorite tools to use to keep me on track even after repairing a lot of damage. Here are just some of the FREE benefits of Credit Sesame:

free credit score
tips to increase your credit score
Up to $50K in aggregate identity theft insurance
credit monitoring
payment history
credit usage grade

Read Financial Blogs and Sites Like August Funding

I’ve found that there are a lot of helpful financial blogs, websites, and debt sites that have very helpful information on repairing your credit after a divorce, consolidating debt, and avoiding bankruptcy. AARP has great info for retirement finances as well.

Believe it or not, the debt collectors themselves can even be good sources. One recommended a debt consolidator to me. Another one called me and I basically poured my heart out to them. The “Hey I’m a single mom paying off all the joint debt from my failed marriage. I’m not getting any child support, I’m trying” I really didn’t expect much feedback. I honestly expected nothing but I was caught on a stressful day. But this debt collector actually told me just to keep paying what I could afford to pay like I was doing. Tell other debt collectors what I told her and most of them would work with me. You know what?! Most of them did. I might have paid $10 a month a first but once I started paying those off I started snowballing as Dave Ramsey might suggest paying $20 a month, then $50 a month. So on. I paid off $30K in joint marriage debt.

If you feel the need to you can even consult with financial professionals like August Funding to see how hey can help you. Or speak with a local financial consultant.

What I want you to understand is that it didn’t happen overnight. It it didn’t even happen over a year. It took me a number of years to do it but I did it. My credit still isn’t perfect but it’s a heck of a lot better than it was after my divorce. You can do this!

This post is sponsored by Diamond Links

Affordable Home Renovations To Consider As You Get Older

Blogging is my side-gig, my day job is actually a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant at a local hospital. I’ve been working as a COTA for about 18 years. One of the many things I do is to make recommendations for home set up when a person is discharged home to make their home safer so they can stay in their home longer. I recommend home health Occupational Therapy comes in because they can actually see the home and make specific recommendations for a person’s specific medical needs and of course their home.

When my husband and I bought our most recent home about 3 years ago I was already thinking of things that will need to be done and things that will help us when we get older.

There are often simple changes people can make in their own homes that don’t cost a lot of money. From preventing falls, to making it easier to get around these are things you can do fairly easily.

Remove throw rugs: This is a big one we recommend to elderly patients, patients with frequent falls, and gait problems. The reason being they’re easy to trip on, can move, and tend to bunch up.
Add hand rails to stairs: One of the first things i noticed in our home when we bought it was there was no handrail to go upstairs. I told my husband we will definitely need to add one. Not just for when we’re older but for the kids safety too.
Switching out door knobs: For those with arthritis or grip issue a regular round door knob can be hard for people to grip. Switching door knobs to a lever door handle can make it so much easier to open door. This can be done for entry doors and interior doors.
Create clear walking paths throughout your home: moving furniture and decor to create a wider, clear walking path throughout the house can make it much easier to navigate through your home, especially if you’re going to be using a walker or another type of device in your home.

Unfortunately, not everything is a quick or cheap fix. For some things like getting a lift chair or an elevated seat on the toilet insurance can help some. Then there are things such as adding a bathroom to the first floor or creating a ramp into the home that may take more financial resources. The Associates Home Loan of Florida can help you refinance, get a home equity loan, or get a home improvement loan if needed.

This post is sponsored by Diamond Links.

Finding Scholarships for Your College Major

My oldest son is at the end of his junior year of high school. He’s been attending college fairs, he’s scheduled to take his SATs, and he knows what he wants to go to college for, and even which college. He’s looking at biology with a fisheries major. His ultimate career goal would be to work for the fish and game commission.

We found out that in Pennsylvania, there is only one school that offers this major as an undergrad program and it’s Mansfield University. I’ve asked for guidance from other parents who have recently been through the college application process (it really is overwhelming). Also doing my own searching and education has yielded some results. Of course the hope is always that maybe he’ll qualify for a some grants and/or scholarships.

If we take my son’s fishery major as an example. I started doing searches for scholarships, fisheries scholarships, and scholarships specific to Mansfield University. I was actually surprised to find several. One of which was the Ralph Abele Conservation Scholarship that includes several conservation majors in Pennsylvania including fisheries. I was able to find this buy searching the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat commission website. I also found that many colleges and university have scholarship funds set up from donations and trusts specific to the university and even majors. There are scholarships geared towards auto mechanics out there too. If fixing damaged cars is your thing, there’s scholarships out there for you.

There are scholarships that anyone can apply for but are lesser-known like the Melvin Brewing Scholarship. This scholarship is for students who are currently enrolled either full-time or part-time in a college or university. Melvin Brewing Company also does a fair amount of Philanthropy work around Jackson Hole, Wyoming and beyond.

This post is sponsored by Diamond Links.

Getting My Gardens Ready for Spring

When we moved into our home about 4 years ago, we had some beautiful perennial gardens that were already started. I was excited to have some gardens to work with, more land to plant trees, and for the kids to run and play. Keeping up on the maintenance of 3 large perennial gardens definitely keep me busy but it’s so work it to drive up to my house and see the beautiful colors.

I’ve acquired a collection of gardening tools to help me with weeding, pruning, and prepping. One of the things I MUST have is a good pair of gardening gloves. A good fitting pair of gloves with latex grip protection has saved my hands more than once. Between these aweful prickly weeds to protection against bug bites, garden gloves are essential for me. I like Kaygo because they are flexible, puncture resistant, durable, breathable, and affordable.

I have no idea what this tool in my hand is actually called but it’s works the best for these prickle plants and dandelions. I just plunge it into the dirt at the root and then pull up with my gloved hands and these bad boys come right out. Kaygo makes an awesome and affordable pair of gardening gloves with rubber grips. And if you use code: LUVSAVING you can save 20% off too.

So after weeding I decided to lay down weed block this year to hopefully cut down on the amount of weeding I’ll have to do this year. It’s a bit of a pain to lay out when my gardens are as oddly shaped as they are and as big as they are but I know in the end it’s going to end up savings me some work. Work I won’t want to be doing when it’s 90 degree is 80% humidity outside.

Then we got mulch. We found it’s more affordable to just get the mulch by the scoop and use my father-in-law’s truck than to buy it by the bag or have it delivered. Plus, my father-in-law’s truck we could drive the truck to each garden and unload it.

I think the gardens turned out great. We still need to get a couple bags of mulch for touch up and I have a little pruning to do but it looks so much better than it did.

We’re also working on fixing the steps up into the yard this year. I can’t wait to see how those turn out too. We’re adding a handrail to make it easier for our older relatives to get up into the yard for picnics and parties.

We also planted a cherry tree this year. I just love gardening!

Tools I used on my gardens:

Kaygo gardening gloves – save 20% off with code: LUVSAVING

Weed block fabric

Weeding tool

This post does contain affiliate links. I will earn a small commission from sales made through these links at no extra cost to you.

Y’OUR Skincare: A Skincare Regimen Personalized To YOU

Here I am at 39 years old and I feel like I have no idea what my skin wants to do. I have fine lines starting around my eyes and between my eye brows. I break out in my “T” zone, and my skin gets dry at times. So when Y’OUR Skincare asked me to try one of their boxes I figured, why not? I did an unboxing video when I first got my Y’OUR box.

When you visit the y-ourskin.com you’ll see it will ask you to take the skincare quiz. The quiz will take you a few minute to complete but they really want to learn about your skin so they can create a skincare regimen specific to your skincare needs. The products in my box and the ingredients in my products might not be the same as yours. Y’OUR hits all the check offs for a good-for-you skin care routine too:

clean ingredients
made in the U.S.
vegan & cruelty free
paraben & toxin free
free shipping
3 months supply in each box

I told you in the video that I’d try to get some better shots of the ingredients list on the bottles. Here is a close pic of the cleanser ingredients as an example:

The next question might be, Did if work for me? Well if you watched the video you could see I had an obvious pimple around my chin area. I also had a few more pop up after the video. I’ve been using my Y’OUR skin care products for 2 weeks now. My skin is completely clear of acne. This is me, bare skin, no make-up.

Y’OUR skincare also has a blog post about getting rid of acne on their site: y-ourskin.com

Check out Y’OUR skincare for truly individualized skincare products that are safe for your skin and actually work!

I received a product sample in order to complete this review. Any opinions expressed are my own.