A long, long time ago, way back when I was still in college, I lived from paycheck to paycheck. I barely scraped by and often paid for a tank of gas with pennies and nickels. Sad, eh? I could buy a whole chicken for $3 and feed myself for three or four days. Imagine how absolutely sick and tired I was of chicken by the time I'd picked those bones clean? Ahhh...those were the days of Ramen noodles and clothes I wore until they walked on their own because the laundromat and laundry soap was EXPENSIVE.

Thank goodness I didn't have kids to feed, too.

I make a bit more now and added a husband's paycheck to the mix. But what I find boggling is that we STILL seem to be living paycheck to paycheck. How does this happen? How do you bring home more but still, somehow, feel like you're pinching pennies? Sure, the mortgage is more than the rent I paid on the falling apart, leaky, three-decades old trailer I lived in and I am shopping for four rather than just one now, but how can I still feel like I'm living paycheck to paycheck?

It just doesn't make sense. And when I start thinking about all the single moms (and dads) out there supporting their kids and household on one paycheck I wonder how the heck they manage every month, and I wonder if I could do it. Could I go back to making poverty level wages and get by, like I did years ago?

I imagine with some effort we could, but it definitely wouldn't be easy. And it wouldn't be much fun, either.