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Wants versus needs…… a social studies lesson for kids by Paige Scott

Kid #1:  “Mom, I need to get some boxers since I am starting PE this year.  I can’t wear my regular underwear in front of all the other guys.” Okay, I think I can swing that.     Kid #2:  “Mom, I want an orange Lamborghini.  How much do they cost?” Well, let’s see……….. if you save everything you ever [...]

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The New Economy – by Chris Scott (Paige’s husband)

Okay girls, after reading your latest blogs, it’s time for me to weigh in.   I finally sold my parent’s house (unbelievable in today’s world) and my parents actually did quite well.   Maybe it’s because they live next to “Bob” (see blog post “Maybe Bob is Right”) and he has all of the spam and whiskey [...]

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Yorkie-Poo Boo Hoo by guest blogger Bella Anne in Texas

My husband and I recently celebrated the arrival of our third grandchild.  A beautiful and healthy baby girl! For those of you that don’t know me, I am a 30 year old mother of 2, step-mother of 4, and grandmother by marriage to 3. No, I am not reincarnating the spirit of the late Anna [...]

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Joie de vivre, c’est la vie and everything else in gay Pair-eee - Paige Scott

  I have been trying to figure out how to lose 20 pounds by Tuesday (of this week.)  That gives me all of 2 days.  As I was contemplating this over a glass of wine with my husband at the pool last night, a voice came out of nowhere that said, “Man, I have lost 20 [...]

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Four Leaf Clover - By guest blogger Mary Paige in Chicago

Hi Ashley & Paige-   I am still residing on my current planet which is not pink or sparkly…AT ALL. As a matter of fact, it might not even be rotating on its axis any more (Sparkly Pink Planet).   By nature, I am not a negative person, so I have to find humor in my current situation or [...]

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I’m Ready to Vote Paris off of the Island - by guest blogger Katie Miller

Today, as I was signing into my on-line email account, I noticed a headline that I just had to click: Suit Offers Peek at Paris.  I’m thinking, hmmm, everyone else has had a peek at Paris Hilton, sans underwear, clothes and dignity, I might as well, too.  If it doesn’t get blocked by my decency [...]

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Funny Face I Love You - By guest blogger Rebecca in Atlanta

Stress is the trash of modern life - we all generate it but if you don’t dispose of it properly, it will pile up and overtake your life.  ~Danzae Pace   Sunday, January 4, 2009   It is late in the afternoon and as I pull into the driveway I see that Neal has made it home safely from [...]

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Can’t Afford a New Lover - Paige Scott

There must be fifty ways to lose your lover Fifty ways to lose your lover Just slip out the back, Jack Make a new plan, Stan You don’t need to be coy, Roy Just get yourself free Hop on the bus, Gus You don’t need to discuss much Just drop off the key, Lee And get yourself free There must be fifty ways to lose [...]

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Houston, We Have a Problem - Paige Scott

  Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Common sense is genius dressed in its working clothes.”   Over my lifetime, I have come to realize that I have good common sense.  It has gotten me far in this life and has always helped me through many situations. Common sense by definition is sound judgment not based on any [...]

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Breadwinner - Ashley Taylor

So it’s time for mama to go out and get a job.  Yep, time to start pulling my weight around here.  Never mind that I haven’t actually worked in ten years.  Well, I mean the kind of work that has a paycheck, benefits, cookies in the break room, cubicles, and affairs – that kind of [...]

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Don’t Hate Me Because I Am Wealthy - Ashley Taylor

One good thing has come out of this recession – the guilt has totally disappeared.    I remember up until recently I would think to myself “what did I do to deserve all of this?” I had a lot of guilt about the amount of success and happiness my husband and I had.  Growing up, I [...]

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You Might Be White Trash if….. By Paige Scott

Small Town, Texas circa 1985 It was Ashley’s 16th birthday……… a rite of passage for her…… time to get her driver’s license issued by the state of Texas  (never mind that she grew up on a farm and had been driving her daddy’s pickup truck since she was old enough to see over the steering wheel.)  [...]

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You Might Be A Redneck - By guest blogger Rebecca in Atlanta

Our dog, LuLu, is a Bichoodle.  It’s one of those breeds that come with a bumper sticker that says “If You Can’t Pronounce It You Can’t Afford It”.  Fortunately for us, she was not a purchase but rather a “hand-me-down” gift from family friends.  We were bequeathed LuLu at age three, along with her prescription [...]

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2009 Tax Relief - Paige Scott

April, 2009:  I held my breath.  My husband was on the other end of the line and was informing me that he had just gotten off the phone with our tax accountant. Darling husband:  I just got off the phone with Cindy.  She said that we were getting some money back on our tax return [...]

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When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Go to Vegas, Baby! By guest blogger Katie Miller

My daddy always told me that there’s no such thing as a free lunch.  I don’t know if he’s a little less trusting than me because he lives on the East Coast and I grew up in the South, or because with age comes wisdom.  It’s probably a little bit of both.  I mean really, [...]

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Get Rich Quick - Paige Scott

A few months ago, I kept getting this e-mail in my inbox titled “Make $3000 a month selling on eBay.”  Of course, my initial reaction was, “What a scam!  You would be crazy to even look at that e-mail!”  After numerous clicks of sending it to my spam folder, the same message kept magically reappearing [...]

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Dallas Botanical Garden - Ashley Taylor

So, remember that lawn mower Matt swiped out of our neighborswhohaveapaycheck yard (Let Them Eat Cake)?  The one that he found in their trash pile by the curb that made me want to knock on their door and swear he had been involved in a scavenger hunt?  Well, it wouldn’t start.  Apparently even Matt was [...]

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A Riches to Rags Tale (Tail) - Paige Scott

I still remember the conversation as if it was yesterday. Mother-in-law:  I think it would be so cute if you got the two older boys a puppy. Me: Awww, that would be so cute since we are expecting our 3rd child.  Mother-in-law:  Let me get the puppy for them.  I really want to do this for them [...]

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Stick to the Budget - Ashley Taylor

I wrote this in my journal on August 11, 2008.  The economy had yet to really tank and I obviously was very confused about what was happening.  Nothing has changed; Matt and I now merely have a lot of people clinging to our life raft whereas back in August we were out at sea, bobbing [...]

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A Recession Rap Song – by homegirl Paige Scott

Ashley is going to kill me………………………yes, kill me.    I have written a rap song……………..yes, a rap song.    Oh well, she never responded to me as to whether I should post a rap song or not, so here it is!   Hey, ho – all my homeboys and homegirls in the house……………….. here’s a little recession ditty to [...]

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Laid Off - Ashley Taylor

I just got a phone call from a good friend of mine telling me that her husband got laid off  of his job two weeks ago.  Two weeks ago.  I suppose that she is just now able to discuss it with anyone.  I see her almost every day and believe me, two weeks of keeping [...]

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Dwindling Bank Account Equals Dwindling Self-Esteem – by Paige Scott

 Let’s rewind to last year, almost exactly one year ago at this time.  The time before the dreaded “our net worth has fallen over 50%” conversation. The time before the Budget Talks began.  The time when money seemed to grow on trees.  One day I looked in the mirror and decided that after 5 kids [...]

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Member Since 2000/The Card - Ashley Taylor

Aaaah, Christmas season.  Time for the endless flow of the “look at how perfect my family is” Christmas cards.  Occasionally you will get the “if you can’t recognize just how flawless my children are, I will spell it out for you in a Christmas letter” card.  Those are truly special.  Blech.   I was one of these [...]

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Recession: When the money goes, so does the toxic wife (submitted by our friend, Ross Stokes, from Singapore)

Prada to Payless - Great stories, thanks for the sharing, I know they will help many people have a laugh about their own situation. I thought you might like this article… From UK’s Daily Telegraph …. Recession: When the money goes, so does the toxic wife As the recession worsens, a lot of rich men are finding their gold-digging [...]

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Happy April Fool’s Day…….Paige Scott

April Fools’ Day or All Fools’ Day, although not a holiday in its own right, is a notable day celebrated in many countries on April 1st. The day is marked by the commission of hoaxes and other practical jokes of varying sophistication on friends, family members, enemies, and neighbors, or sending them on fool’s errands, [...]

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ECON 101: A Revised Course for the Miller Family, 2009 edition - by guest blogger Katie Miller

Twenty years ago, I was a bright-eyed freshman in my first university economics class.  Which, coincidentally, I paid for with federally-backed student loans.  But no matter, I was there, at the university of my choice…taking it all in.  Supply and demand.  Microeconomics and macroeconomics.  From assets all the way to zero sum-game.  I ate it [...]

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Broken down or a breakdown? – Paige Scott

Anyone who knows me well knows that I am NOT a morning person. As much as I have tried, I realize that I am just not wired that way. I’ve tried all the tips to be a better morning person: go to bed earlier, setting the alarm clock across the room so that you have [...]

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Bad Credit, No Credit - It’s a Problem! Ashley Taylor

A few months ago, my new friend “the bankruptcy lawyer we don’t acknowledge in public” recommended that we contact both of our credit card companies to plead for an annual APR reduction.  It really is asinine to think that they are making BILLIONS of dollars each year from outrageous interest rates.  BILLIONS.  They have us [...]

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I think we can still make it to Necker Island…Paige Scott

Hey, Ashley – I read your last post and I am so sorry for what you are going through. I think I am too late to help you save your house, but I do have good news. I had never even heard of Necker Island and had no idea what you were even talking about [...]

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Short Sale or Foreclosure? - Ashley Taylor

Shit damn. It happened again tonight.  Matt came home and the first words out of his mouth were “Andy (THE mortgage broker) thinks that we should just walk away from this house, hand the keys over to the bank”.  I am sooooo tired of this conversation.  Didn’t I already hand over the keys to my [...]

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Recession Talk , AKA “Things I Never Thought I Would Say Until This Recession Hit” – Paige Scott

  @ the kids -  “Hey, kids – what are you all thinking playing so rough?  I told you all that nobody better get hurt!  We can’t afford to go to the doctor right now.  Yes, I know you are bleeding. And yes,  we are out of band-aids and I am not getting anymore until I [...]

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Need Cash!!! - Ashley Taylor

Matt and I woke up this morning to the alarm clock.  Matt looked at me and said “I didn’t want to tell you this last night but when I picked up my prescription yesterday the debit card was declined.”  Immediately my blood pressure rises.  The room spins and I can’t catch my breath.  Holy Mother [...]

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Recession depression……. I guess Mickey will have to wait - Paige Scott

 If any of you have ever been in a car accident, you can relate to this feeling I am trying to describe.  Everything is normal at first and when the accident occurs, you are blindsided.  In a split second your life flashes before your eyes.  You immediately begin to think, “What in the hell just [...]

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Never Let Them See You Sweat - Ashley Taylor

hyperhidrosis is the condition characterized by abnormally increased perspiration, in excess of that required for regulation of body temperature.   I am a sweat hog and it sucks.  I sweat in the winter and I double the pleasure in the summer.  Fortunately, I only have “excessive” sweating under my armpits; unless I am really really nervous or [...]

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To Market, To Market to buy Spaghetti-o’s by Paige Scott

  Before our little “downfall”, I was convinced that if my family was not eating everything organic, we were all going to get cancer and die.  I have no clue why I thought this.  Maybe it was that we had several family members get cancer in a few short years and in researching the various cancers, [...]

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Let Them Eat Cake - Ashley Taylor

Years ago I read an interview of Sarah, the Duchess of York.  She had just separated from Prince Andrew and was in major debt – over drafted by $4MM, give or take.  In the interview she talked about how hard it was to adjust to downsizing her lifestyle.  In particular, cutting out the magnificent weekly [...]

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Maybe Bob is Right - from guest blogger Chris Scott (Paige’s husband)

Paige and Ashley— I love your blog—it is what we need in these very challenging times! Thank you for doing this and keep up the great work! I want to introduce you to a friend of my parents named “Bob”—not his real name, but you know that already! Bob is a nice guy, but he’s a bit [...]

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Stock Market in the Toilet, Mouth in the Sewer - from guest blogger Katie Miller in Houston

Everyone handles stress a little differently. Some people stop eating. That’s not really my M.O. Some people can’t stop eating. That one I tried. It was good for a while. Snickers bars made me absolutely happy. They don’t call it a sugar high for nothing. Then I recognized that, if I continued to eat at [...]

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Bailout Blues - Paige Scott

My husband works for a bank. If you are following the news about the stimulus plan (which, who understands any of this stuff…………maybe someone with a Masters and a PhD in Stimulus Plans with 8 years of school studying only stimulus plans), banks are getting bailout money from the government. His bank happens to be [...]

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Sparkly Pink Planet - Mary Paige in Chicago

Hi Ashley and Paige –   I have enjoyed your blog and I am feeling the pain right along with you! My husband is in the commercial real estate industry – he develops shopping malls…need I say more.  Anywho – I am writing to tell you a story that I hope you will enjoy.   I have a [...]

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Mr. Fix It - by Paige Scott

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Bankruptcy is NOT an Option! - Ashley Taylor

In Dallas there are a few people who eat, sleep and chatter about their country clubs -incessantly. Maybe it is their security blanket or their invitation to society. Perhaps membership is their badge of acceptance, possibly ranking up there with their highest personal achievements. Truth be told, it is nothing short of a political race [...]

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More Stories from the road during Hurricane Ike…Paige Scott

As many of you know, when you stay in a nice hotel, you have to have room service every now and then (especially with 5 kids!) What is so interesting to me is the dichotomy of a person. A few days earlier I was literally clipping all the coupons I could get my hands on [...]

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Cherries Jubilee - Ashley Taylor

So I am at Kroger today, again, talking on the phone a mile a minute (I know, I know those people annoy me too), not paying one iota of attention to what I am throwing into my basket.  I literally have ten minutes until carpool is going to drop off my oldest daughter at our [...]

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Stories From the Road During Hurricane Ike…Paige Scott

So, part of the $5000 expenses during the hurricane trip was a trip to Saks 5th Avenue to get my hair done. I know what you are thinking……………..WHY and HOW COME? All I can truthfully say is, “I honestly have no idea.” I lost all control when we evacuated to Dallas. It had been quite [...]

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One Man’s Food Is That Man’s Fortune - Ashley Taylor

You know how your children will say something and you hear it but you aren’t actually listening?      Child:  “Mama, I would look just like Kit Kittridge if I cut my hair”  Mom:  “Mmmmm hmmmmm”  Child:  “Where are the scissors?”  Mom:  “In the kitchen drawer”   We are all guilty of this.   Recently my six year old was playing next to me while [...]

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Well, Hurricane Ike blew through and blew out my budget…..by Paige Scott

Yes, I was doing so well saving money and in one single day everything changed. I went from clipping coupons and buying store-brand toilet paper to staying in a suite in a hotel and ordering room service……………….for FIVE DAYS! Let me explain……. When Hurricane Ike blew through, we had no electricity (in Texas in September………..need I [...]

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If We Are In A Famine, Why Do I Keep Feasting? - Ashley Taylor

You know the worst part of this “recession”?   I am a stress eater.  Everyone knows when Ashley is stressed because Ashley balloons.  It’s no wonder I have been 15 lbs. over my normal weight for the past two years.  Hubby comes home from work, hubby starts rubbing his eyes, staring at the floor.  I immediately [...]

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I Miss My Starbucks! By: Paige Scott

As we were looking over the “budget” (my newly learned vocabulary word), we added up what we were spending on Starbucks every day. We were spending on average $7 per day at 7 days per week……………..that would be almost $200 per month on COFFEE……… and that was if we didn’t have the kids with us [...]

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House Envy - Ashley Taylor

God, I was just kidding. Really. I no longer wish that my dining room walls were upholstered in that amazing Scalamandre linen floral print that costs $362 a yard. Really. Could I just simply keep my house instead? And God said NO, you selfish shallow child. Wake the eff up and get your priorities straight. For [...]

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From $80 Youth in a Bottle from Sephora to $4 Neutrogena from Walmart - Paige Scott

Yes….it has come down to this…………. I have had to give up my Youth in a Bottle and some of my vanity. I actually had already placed the order from Sephora online a week earlier for more of my Youth in a Bottle when the budget talks began. So I thought………..well, it has already arrived [...]

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Prozac Anyone? - Ashley Taylor

  This web page all started when a friend of mine called me, in tears, because her home phone had been cut off due to “lack of payment”.  I can relate.  Over the last year my cable has been cut off along with my cell phone, water, electricity and home phone – more than once.  The [...]

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THE Day I Will Never Forget - Paige Scott

  It was a fairly normal day in late June of this year.  My nanny was at my house watching my 5 little ones, I was in my study surfing the Internet for a trip to Disney and Ms. Janet was in the laundry room washing all of our laundry.  Then the phone rang and our [...]