Just our stuff, though - which is survivable.

In 2000 we started a small business as independent service techs for machines used in cabinet-making and woodworking. We developed a strong customer base up and down the west coast of Florida. We weren't rich, but we were comfortable. We lived in a great neighborhood in a brand new 2000 sq. ft. home with a 3 car garage. As far as we knew, we were doing everything right. We used our own capital as start-up, had a credit rating of 803, a line of credit at our local bank to handle the ups and downs of owning a business, new cars every two years or so, etc. etc. You get the idea.

Then The Great Recession came along. Our once successful little company slowly started going down the tubes. No one was building new construction so no one was making new cabinets anymore. My husband began sending out resumes in Dec. 2008, just in case, but we were still optimistic we could ride it out. He called all his friends and colleagues he'd gotten to know over the years only to learn that they were struggling to keep the employees they already had, much less find a place for him. Still, ever the optimist, I woke up every morning thinking today the phone would ring and everything would be okay.

This went on until October of 2010. We've learned lots of interesting things since then. You can make every single payment on time for DECADES, but miss three, and they come take your stuff. You try to negotiate with them, but they want you to send a payment first. If we could afford the payment, we wouldn't be trying to negotiate. By September of 2009, the vehicles had been repossessed, the house was in foreclosure and it was only a matter of time before the sheriff showed up, we had no power or water. We sold off as much as we could to try going to Texas thinking we would have better luck there.

We finally did, almost a year later, when my husband got offered a decent job here in Oklahoma. Granted, he makes a third of what he did before, but we are thankful for every penny. I found a job here at a Walgreen's. It was minimum wage and I was way overqualified, but it was work. We saved up the money I made and bough a really nice used truck.

Wanna know how to REALLY piss off the finance guy at the car dealership? Pay cash. I mean literal cash. Bundles of $100 bills. The guy was livid and mumbling something about having to report it to the IRS.

What we went through was horrible, but some amazing things came out of it. You certainly find out who your friends and family really are. Some people shy away from you insisting you must have done something to cause it but I think they are really just afraid that if it can happen to people like us, it can happen to them, too. Most amazing of all was the number of people who were either acquaintances or complete strangers who did things like leaving an envelope in our mailbox containing a hundred dollars or more, a few bought us groceries, one neighbor brought us coffee every morning until we left for Texas. Those people still bring tears to my eyes. Now that we are able to stand on our own two feet again, we look for opportunities to pay it forward.

From here on out, we play by our own rules. We will never again buy anything on credit - even if we could. We save up the money for larger purchases such as furniture and appliances - paying cash still and always will. We find this life much simpler and we like it that way. Someday we hope to buy a little travel trailer or pop-up camper and travel around the country making whatever little money we can just to sustain ourselves. You'd be surprised at what you can live without when you have to and we have found that most things we always thought we couldn't live without we can no longer live with.

Why do I suddenly have this overwhelming urge to put flowers in my hair and paint peace signs everywhere?