I'm Nora. I work full time, I'm a mom of two, and I'm paying off $135k in debt. I share what I'm actually trying to build income on the side — what earns, what flopped, and the numbers behind both.
The newsletter is where I put the full breakdown. More detail than a video, more context than a caption.
Finances
Monthly snapshot
Total income
$17,534.33
- W-2 stable $15,961.93
- Freelance / contract $800.00
- Affiliate $0.00
- Ad revenue $0.00
- Template sales $0.00
- UGC / sponsorship $0.00
- Other $772.40
Debt payments (month)
$3,092.98
Remaining
$129,347.53
↓ $13,514.20 paid down to date
Started at $142,861.73
9.5% paid off
Income by category
No category totals for this month
Income transactions
No transactions for this month
Debt overview
Using current debt balances / total debt remaining views — add active rows to debt accounts and debt payments for month-by-month balances.
Total remaining
$129,347.53 / $142,861.73 original
9.5% paid overall
| Name | Type | Original balance | Current balance (month-end) | Paid | Min |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apple Card | credit_card | $5,098.00 | $3,945.82 | 22.6% | $94.00 |
| PatientFi | personal_loan | $5,775.00 | $3,450.00 | 40.3% | $387.50 |
| Car Loan | car_loan | $23,124.41 | $18,902.83 | 18.3% | $414.17 |
| Window Loan | personal_loan | $43,382.32 | $38,836.84 | 10.5% | $462.16 |
| Personal Loan | personal_loan | $65,482.00 | $64,212.04 | 1.9% | $1,269.96 |
| Visa Card | credit_card | $17,417.00 | $0.00 | 100.0% | $404.00 |
| Amex | credit_card | $25,930.55 | $0.00 | 100.0% | $338.00 |
| Personal Loan | personal_loan | $30,812.92 | $0.00 | 100.0% | $596.76 |
Monthly budget
Household income
$13,650
Combined take-home from our day jobs — consistent monthly
Side hustle income
varying
Freelance, affiliate, ads, templates — reported in monthly income posts
Housing
29.1%
$3,978.92 for our mortgage payment.
Breakdown
- Principal & interest $3,289.54
- Escrow $689.38
Debt payments
19.9%
$2,718.59 toward minimum payments across six active accounts. Extra principal payments aren't included in this line.
Breakdown
- Medical loan $387.50
- Credit cards $858.00
- Car loan $414.17
- Personal loans $1,058.92
Groceries & food
11.7%
$1,400.00 — includes $1,000 for groceries and $400 for restaurants and drinks.
Breakdown
- Groceries $1,000.00
- Restaurants & drinks $400.00
Kids
5.1%
$1,000.00 for schooling, sports, and kids' spending allowances.
Breakdown
- Schooling $500.00
- Sports $300.00
- Children's spending allowance (2 × $100) $200.00
Misc
5.1%
$500.00 miscellaneous — home maintenance, vet visits, school fundraisers, extra date nights, and similar one-offs.
Utilities
4.3%
$593.00 for gas, water, electricity, internet, and phones.
Breakdown
- Gas $76.00
- Water $112.00
- Electricity $220.00
- Internet $100.00
- Phones $85.00
Savings
3.7%
$500.00 moved into savings and sinking-style funds each month.
Breakdown
- Emergency fund $25.00
- Medical and health $25.00
- Travel $25.00
- Business savings $25.00
- Gift savings $400.00
Sinking funds
3.4%
Set aside for subscriptions, annual bills, and home care that don't hit every month the same way.
Breakdown
- Tree cutting services
- Quip, Netflix, Disney (annual)
- Lawn aeration
- Annual HVAC checks
- Pest control
- Other home maintenance
Personal spending
2.9%
Separate discretionary allowances for Nora, my husband, and our two children.
Breakdown
- Nora—
- Husband—
- Children—
Insurance
2.6%
$853.28 per month for life, auto, and health coverage.
Breakdown
- Life insurance $88.28
- Car insurance $265.00
- CHM (health / medical) $500.00
Total budgeted
87.8% of stable income · $1,657 > extra debt payments
Tools I'm actually using
Some links are affiliate links. I only list tools I actually use.
- Supabase — Backend platform — Postgres, auth, storage, edge functions. Powers this site.
$35 /mo - Superhuman — Fast email client.
$33 /mo
Link - Kit — Email newsletter. 879 subscribers, 36% open rate.
$33 /mo · $390/yr
Link - Claude — Writing, research, building automations.
$20 /mo
Link - Cursor — AI code editor. Building and maintaining the blog.
$20 /mo
Link - Vercel — Hosting and deployment for Next.js. Powers this site.
$20 /mo - Sunsama — Daily planning tool.
$20 /mo
Link - Thomas Frank Notion Templates — Premium Notion templates. Ultimate Brain + Creator's Companion bundle — $228 one-time (no subscription).
Link - Granola — AI meeting notes tool.
Free
Link - Setapp — Mac app subscription service.
$13 /mo · $162/yr
Link - Notion — All-in-one workspace for notes, tasks, and wikis.
$12 /mo
Link - Wispr Flow — Voice-to-text AI for drafting content faster
$12 /mo · $144/yr
Link - Tella — Screen recording and video tool.
$9 /mo · $109/yr
Link - CleanShot — Screenshot and screen recording tool for Mac.
$8 /mo
Link - Buffer — Social media scheduling tool.
$6 /mo
Link - Todoist — Task management app.
$5 /mo
Link - 1Password — Password manager.
$3 /mo
Link - Toggl — Time tracking tool.
$0 /mo
Link - Raycast — Launcher and productivity tool for Mac.
$0 /mo
Link
Side hustles, debt payoff, & real numbers
I'm paying off $135k in debt while working full time and building income on the side. I share what's actually working, what flopped, and the numbers behind both.