Message #746

[fireproof]

oh dear - I lost part of my posting....



I was going to say, it's one thing to just decide that you must spend XXX amount of dollars on a particular item, because you believe that that is what's necessary (and yes, I'm talking about baby clothes here - but this would apply to anything); it's quite a different thing to discover that there just isn't XXX amount of dollars to spend.  This, I think, is where people get into trouble.



Please, please, please - if you cannot deal with your impending financial situation (and I do sense some denial in your posts), get a professional to help you analyze your finances dispassionately, and to help you figure out exactly what you need to do to stay solvent.  Like it or not, a portion of your income is spoken for - and you do seem to have pared that down as much as possible - and what is left HAS to stretch to cover everything else, the new baby included.



Personally, I'm a little perplexed by your reaction to used baby clothes; in my office we routinely exchange boxes of outgrown items.  Must be a cultural difference.  we have no shame in prefering to spend our hard earned money on things with more staying power (and it's nice to share).  I've given things to supervisors who make three times what I do, and gotten them from clerks who earn a lot less - we're all parents looking out for our kids, and it just seems practical to save what money we can for their braces, dances lessons and college educations.