If somebody gave me a nickel...

The title of this piece is a quote from my husband, circa 1990, I'm guessing, when we were in such dire straits financially that we had 20 cents in our local savings account. I am not kidding. When the savings statement came from the bank, my husband looked at it, uttered those words, and continued with, (if somebody gave me a nickel) "We'd have a quarter in our savings account."

We were in that position since we had decided to function as a family with just my husband's income to provide for us. That had not been the plan, pre-children, and we had definitely not saved enough for the path we ultimately took after 11 years of two paychecks and no children. Our household income was cut in half when I stayed home to care for one, then two, and a third child in 4.5 years. We exhausted our reserves and soldiered on. I remember the scrimping in those days. We did things no one else was doing. Our babies wore cloth diapers that I hung on the clothesline to dry. A roll of paper towels could last a month in our house - dish towels and table cloths made up for them with one washer load and line drying cutting costs even more. I even hung heavy clothes like jeans and comforters in the basement to air dry. If I could do it for less, I did. I was constantly on the lookout for more cost-cutting ideas. Do I need to mention that baby formula never crossed our threshold? Or that dinners out were absolutely never done? I don't regret any of those decisions and our family and children are better off for it. No one will ever convince me otherwise.

Today I find myself selling real estate in Michigan and although things are looking considerably up, my husband is still employed in the auto industry and the bottom of our security, such that it is, could drop out at any moment. Sure, we have 401K plans, IRAs, stocks; some do well, some not so well - we are in it for the long haul in most investments and are told to not sweat the temporary setbacks - just like in real estate. We expect the equity of old to return to our home, one day, and daily savings efforts are evident once again. Sometimes we let the satellite go out - we barely watch TV anyway, not even our children. We keep the heat really low in our large house, though I must say I did a listing presentation in a lovely condo yesterday and my nearly frostbitten hands had a hard time turning the pages of my booklet - my guess, 45 degrees. At the end when we talked about net proceeds, I learned that there was no mortgage on the property. Turn on the heat then!!! I came home to the comforting warmth of 63 degrees, a sausage and roasted vegetable dish prepared by my son, and plenty of fleece blankets. It felt like heaven; it is heaven. Sometimes we forget.

I have to look back to those seemingly desperate years so long ago and wonder if lack of money was really a problem. We found ways to cope and survive. Our bank account eventually grew to a sizable amount; we purchased our next home, this home, with a hefty 20% down payment. We may have had 20 cents in our savings account then but we weathered the storm and prevailed. It is how I look at real estate now. Cut costs but not services. Will the work be harder? Of course, nothing in life is ever really easy or free - it is all in perception. The weak will succumb but the strong will survive. I will survive.