When you manage $ better than family

THE UPSIDE: We can afford to pay for anything we want in cash. In fact, we have a new swimming pool in layaway now and plan to have it paid off by summer. We are hoping to save up enough money to buy a new car - with cash - by the end of Fall 2003.

THE DOWNSIDE: Neither mine or my husband's family manages money very well. Both of my sister's, and my father live with staggering debt and live paycheck to paycheck. My husband's two brothers, sisters, and father, all have debt that is so out of proportion to their income, that they have trouble even living paycheck to paycheck. I'm sure all of you know where this is going.......Everyone comes to us asking to borrow money, most of which we never get back because "we can afford whatever we want". What they don't realize is that we have done our sacrificing, paid off our debt and are refusing to incur more debt, for any reason.

It is difficult because some of these family members have to go without medication or food unless we give them money.

If any of you are in this situation, please give me some advice.

Oh, the funny thing is - during the whole year and a half my husband and I were paying off debt, our family told us how "stupid" we were and that it is the "American way" to charge - HAHA - I guess we showed them, huh!!