Riches to Rags

I saw this article this morning in my inbox and found it very interesting. I thought I'd share for those of you having a hard time in this economy! Read the whole article here

My choice to be a stay-at-home mom gives me immense pride. But it does not give me immense piles of money with which to buy every little item that might seem like a necessity at the time. Wipes warmer anyone? Even though our household income had been cut in half, we were used to living a certain way. We did not take charge of our finances—we had other things to attend to. After a long day of nursing, laundry, playing, and cleaning (okay, I'm lying about the cleaning), we didn't want to look our checkbook in the face and accept that we probably couldn't afford to order in.

To make matters worse, my husband works freelance, and his monthly income is never guaranteed. He doesn't get benefits like health care and a 401K. As with most people working freelance, he lives by feast or famine. Now add to this mix the current economic climate. For us, these circumstances led to some pretty serious credit card debt. I cannot blame the economy for most of this. In fact, you could say that the economy is what finally brought the situation to our attention.