[speaker001:] Well, we, in, in, in our family, have been pretty remiss in trying to, uh, you know, keep track of, uh, daily finances. Uh, the, uh, way back, what, twelve years ago or something when I got my first computer, I did what everybody else does, which is to put the whole family budget on the machine and put checks, and, you know, checkbooks and all this kind of thing and we kept that going for about a month and it became so onerous that we gave up on it [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] Uh-huh. That sounds about right [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] You know, so, uh, the only thing we're, you know, that we do now is, uh, I keep a, a little spread sheet of, uh, what I call the net worth calculation which is just the, the present value of various kinds of investments and so worth. Uh, and I only update that, oh I don't know, maybe once every quarter or so. Every three months. Just, basically when the statements come in.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] You know. Just to see whether or not we're falling, you know, getting ahead, falling behind or staying even or what.
[speaker002:] Right.
[speaker001:] Uh, that's really about, you know, the extent of, uh, of the kind of, uh, financial score keeping that we're doing.
[speaker002:] Uh [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] [Throat clearing].
[speaker002:] Well it's kind of difficult for me. Because right now, uh, like most teachers, I'm laid off and
[speaker001:] Huh. Oh dear, that's terrible.
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER] so, um, I spend most, you know, I substitute a lot.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] So it's a lot, it's very hard on a nonfixed income because I don't know how many days I'm going to be called in and whether I am or not, to try to keep track of finances.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] And, but I know how much I have to bring in a month [LAUGHTER]. And that's about it. That's about as far as we go. And then anything extra is, you know, more or less split up between all of us.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] And just thrown in the kitty, more or less, for a rainy day [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] Oh, I see. Are you, are you married? Are you living with a bunch of, with, with people that you're sharing expenses?
[speaker002:] Uh, no. I'm a single mother. I have three children.
[speaker001:] Oh, I see, uh-huh.
[speaker002:] So, uh, right now, we're on, we get f-, you know, aid from the state at this point because there's no other way to do it. And my ex-husband just sort of took off and doesn't pay child support [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] Oh dear.
[speaker002:] So right now I know what I'm getting from the state and, uh, I have to balance, more or less, what I get from the state with my bills and, uh, you know, try to work as many days as possible.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] Any time they call me in. But I still have to figure out. If I work too many days, then I lose all my state aid and [LAUGHTER] if I don't work enough days then I don't get enough to meet the bills and it's like a juggling act every single month.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] Like this week I've been just holding my breath and hoping they'll call me in but they probably won't because next week the kids have school vacation.
[speaker001:] I see.
[speaker002:] So, you know, the four days before, they only have a four day week
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] and they usually don't need subs because everybody's pretty good about coming in [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] A-, oh, I see.
[speaker002:] They don't like to be absent before a vacation.
[speaker001:] Oh, sure.
[speaker002:] But we're shopping around as far as, well I'm shopping around as far as trying to get, uh, that's why I'm doing this, to get some extra money.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] And, uh, getting pledge sheets for the Boy Scouts. My kids are in Boy Scouts so trying to get pledge sheets for the Boy Scouts because every penny I bring in is ten percent to me. So [LAUGHTER] it's sort of helps defray the costs a little bit. But, you know, we do a lot of robbing Peter to pay Paul. I guess we're in the situation that a lot of am-, middle-class Americans are in.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh. Yeah, you're the first, you know, uh, my next door neighbor just lost his job.
[speaker002:] Oh, my Lord.
[speaker001:] In a, you know, one of these, uh, his company went broke. I mean went, you know, bankrupt. Actually, it was a subsidiary of a, of an outfit called U S Shoe or something. I-, i-, it was a computer subsidiary. I don't know what a shoe company's doing running a computer company.
[speaker002:] Really.
[speaker001:] But, uh, you know, they just [NOISE] folded it up and, uh, uh, told him to, they took the top management and gave them jobs
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] with the, with the corporate, uh, at the corporate front office and everybody else was sent packing.
[speaker002:] Oh [snorting].
[speaker001:] [Noise] Uh, hang on one second I've got
[speaker002:] Sure.
[speaker001:] uh, somebody was knocking on my door here. Uh, it sounds like, in a certain sense, at least at the present, I mean, it sounds, sounds terrible to say, but at the present stage, you probably are even more in the market for a, a budgetary thing than, than most people probably ar-, might be.
[speaker002:] Right.
[speaker001:] In terms of keeping, keeping score of input and output.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh. Definitely.
[speaker001:] Do you have, do you have a computer at home or,
[speaker002:] Uh, yes we do. And we try
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] to, you know, I keep track of every penny.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] And, more or less, enter it in. Every single day I'm at the computer.
[speaker001:] I see.
[speaker002:] And, it's like, okay, what do we have left,
[speaker001:] [Cough].
[speaker002:] what do we have to pay, what
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] have we paid this month. What hasn't come in yet, you know [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] Yeah. Have you, do you use a standard, uh, a standard spread sheet or I mean,