Wednesday, October 1, 2008

How Do They Do It?

At precisely 8 AM this morning, my paycheck was automatically deposited into my checking account.  At about 8:01, most of it was automatically taken back out.  Reflecting upon this, I reminded myself that Aimee and I have been financially fortunate.  We hardly live in excess, but we keep our bills paid, our home repaired, and our cars running.

Next I wondered, how do other people do it?  We're fortunate, so how do the not-so-fortunate get by?

On the way home, this question slipped my mind while I muttered various oaths about Washington Fat Cats while listening to the radio.  By the time I picked Evelyn up, I had completely forgotten my "ghost check" from this morning.

For the past several weeks our neighbors have been scarce.  This evening, they were home.  I didn't have time to say "Hi" while unloading the car, but later on I stopped by to chat.  When I queried about my neighbor's scarcity he replied "We're being foreclosed on."  His response saddened me, as we've enjoyed these neighbors very much.  One of them lost their job, and they were unable to keep their home on a single income.

Out of twelve houses on our block, this is the fourth one which is empty.  It is the second house in foreclosure, and there is at least one on the adjacent block.  I strongly expect another on our block to enter foreclosure shortly.

Usually I grumble about poor fiscal management when I hear of a foreclosure, however these folks didn't have a huge house or a pair of new cars.  How are those other, less fortunate folks doing it?  They aren't.

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