Buried Alive

When we first got married my wife and I had part time jobs, but somehow managed to pay the monthly bills without having to resort to bank robbery. In fact, we had it pretty good because we ate out most nights, were able to do most anything we wanted, and could still put a little cash aside for rainy days. Then came our first child, followed swiftly by doctor and hospital bills. We were still doing good, as I had the bills budgeted to allow us a leisurely 5 or 10 dollars left over each week. Our second child popped out the week that we got done paying the hospital bills from #1 son. Over the years a steady trickle of new bills starting gathering speed, and after my wife's student loan payments started arriving and the kids turned into teenagers then into college goers, the trickle was an avalanche.

Looking at the mail from the past couple of days I've discovered not only how far in debt we are, but how disorganized things are now. It seems like the mail comes so fast that we don't have time to sort through it, so all of our end-of-the-year interest payment information is scattered throughout the house, and I'm sure we'll be scrambling to gather everything up right before we go get the taxes done like we usually do. My neat and orderly system somehow vanished over the years and now it's an adventure to try to find whatever it is I happen to be looking for. There are many times I miss those first years of marital bliss, living poorly but well, when the month's bills fit in an envelope in a drawer and restaurant dining was a nightly affair, not a special event.