Paula did not know quite what went wrong. A year ago, she had it made. She was engaged to the boy of her dreams, she had a good job, she was graduating from high school --- life was great!! In just one year, however, it had all fallen apart. She was the mother of a one month old baby, she had no job, her furniture was being repossessed, she had been evicted from her apartment, and she was living with her parents who were none too happy to have her. She didn't know where Jerome was, and she wasn't sure if she cared or not. How did it fall apart in so short a time?

Their senior year had been great. She and Jerome had been Queen and King of the

Prom. They had decided to get married and announced their engagement at the prom, and their friends were almost more excited than they were. They really were the perfect couple. Both of them had good grades, were star athletes, and had plenty of good friends. People knew that they would live happily ever after. If ever there was a marriage made in heaven, this was it. Grad night was one of the best ever. She and Jerome talked for hours about their life together. They decided they would not go to college right away but would both work and earn a lot of money so that they could go without having to starve to death. Jerome had received a football scholarship to a local college but decided he would not take it. Jerome figured he should work for a year or two so that they could build up a good strong savings account in the bank. They both wanted children but decided they would come after college--when they both had good jobs and could afford them.

The wedding was also wonderful. Paula and Jerome had lots of friends and felt all of them had to come to the wedding. Since they had trouble limiting the guest list, it cost a couple thousand dollars more than their parents had figured. But because Paula and Jerome both had credit cards, they agreed that it was only fair that they picked up the difference. It was well worth it; their wedding reception had been one heck of a party! People talked about it for months afterwards. The first month of marriage had been better than they could have hoped. Jerome was a sweet, caring husband, and Paula was doing everything she could to be a great wife. They were spending a little bit more money than they had anticipated, but they felt this was normal - a newly married couple who had their whole lives together - they should spend a little more in the beginning. No big deal!!

The apartment was too cool. Paula and Jerome had looked at one bedroom apartments but they were way too small. A lot of times, when their group of friends came over to party, they would stay the night. So, they decided they really needed a two bedroom apartment. This way their friends could sleep over when they had parties. It was only an additional $300 per month for a two bedroom. They were both working, so they could afford the $1500 per month. Since the apartment was unfurnished, they had a good time shopping. Because they saw a lot of junky, cheap furniture, they decided that it was worth the investment to buy more expensive furniture. They figured it was better to buy something that would last a long time and pay a little more than to have to buy three sets of cheap furniture. Since they had been spending a lot of money, they decided to charge most of their furniture on their credit cards. After all, they both had jobs, so the monthly payments were easily affordable. Besides, the furniture looked great and they could show it off to their friends. When they had their parents over, Jerome's mom commented on how nice the apartment was and then mumbled something about wishing she could afford such nice furniture.

They had been shocked when they received their first paychecks. They were both making reasonable money but their checks seemed to be wrong. Both of them only received about 75% of what they had expected. Paula and Jerome did not listen to their High School Economics teacher who had explained about taxes. There were federal and state income taxes, social security, healthcare contributions, Medicare, and a bunch of other stuff that neither of them really understood. The deductions amounted to 25% of their gross income. Paula and Jerome were a little upset by this but figured they could handle it and still live comfortably.

As months went on, they noticed that they were spending quite a bit of money on lunches and dinners. They talked about bringing their lunch to work, but they both agreed that their jobs were not terribly exciting, and going out to lunch was a good break for them. It gave them something to look forward to. Besides, making their own lunches was so hard and a real bore. Since everyone else at work went out to lunch, they would look like real losers bringing their lunch. When they got home from work they were both so tired from working that neither of them felt like standing at a stove and cooking dinner. So they decided to go out to dinner on some nights and have dinner delivered on other nights. They worked hard all day and felt they deserved to take it easy in the evening. After all, how much would a couple of hamburgers or a pizza cost? On the weekends, they ate out all the time because first of all their friends went out to eat and they had to impress their friends. Also, there was not any food in the apartment because neither Paula nor Jerome wanted to go to the grocery store and wait in line and buy food. They both thought --- how much could going out to eat cost anyway?

Besides food, they were spending quite a bit of money on gas. After giving up the college scholarship, Jerome got a job at the local glass factory. However, the factory was on the outskirts of town. Jerome drove about 80 miles round trip to and from work. A fellow football player, named Bill, also worked at the factory and Jerome could carpool with him and save gas money. However, Jerome decided not to carpool with Bill. Bill was a jerk and the timing did not work out. Bill left for work about fifteen minutes before Jerome was ready in the morning,

and Bill liked to hang out for about thirty minutes after work when Jerome was ready to leave right away. Besides, Bill smoked, and he would smell up Jerome's truck. Jerome's truck was very important to him --- he loved that truck and even carried a picture of the truck in his wallet. Jerome's friends were also impressed by that truck and Jerome certainly didn't want his precious truck smelling like a cigarette factory when he would go out with his friends on the weekends. On the other hand, since Jerome had to leave for work early, Paula ended up taking the bus to work but she didn't mind. Jerome's monthly truck payment of $500 to his parents was stiff, but he and Paula were making pretty good money, and it would be paid off in three years. Besides, they couldn't get along without a car.

They were both pretty shocked when they got their electric bill at the end of the first month. Paula had a cat named Freckles and the cat was a completely indoor cat because it was declawed. So, Paula decided to leave the air conditioner on all day so the cat would not suffocate in the apartment while they were at work. They knew that leaving the air conditioner on all day might be expensive, but they couldn't let the cat out. Jerome suggested that they might get rid of the cat but Paula put her foot down stating: "Marry me --- marry my cat!" This was not open to discussion.

Paula's parents' 25th wedding anniversary also cost them a bundle. They threw a big party; after all, both her mom and her dad had been very good to them. Paula and her siblings decided they would buy their parents an 80" 8K LED TV (which are not cheap). Paula told Jerome that she would just charge the TV on their credit cards until her siblings could pay her. Paula's brothers and sisters were a little short on money they had promised to chip in later, but as time passed, they hadn't seen any money. It had been worth it though because her parents were really surprised and delighted.

On the way to the factory, Jerome had an accident. It was no big deal, a fender bender, but the insurance company said that he had two tickets already and that this accident meant that his rates were going to go up. They shopped around for cheaper car insurance but could not find any that was cheap. So, Jerome decided oil and that he would not have any car insurance. Then came Jerome's other accident. This one was a big deal. He was driving home from work, tired, and he dozed off. He totaled his beloved truck and had a lawsuit against him. Paula didn't blame him; he had been working long hours, and he was tired. Without his truck, Jerome was forced to ride with his jerk friend Bill, who charged him $50 per week to carpool to work. The worst part, though, was that Bill was not too reliable. Often, he didn't go to work or forgot to pick up Jerome in the morning. On those days, all Jerome could do was to call work and let them know that he would not be there. They were getting pretty tired of it, but Jerome had no other choice. Jerome depended on Bill. On days when Jerome didn't go to work, he sat at home

and watched TV. What else could Jerome do? Bill flaked on him and he had no other choice.

Then came another surprise. They weren't sure how it happened, but Paula was definitely pregnant. She was always sick, and she !mew that she wasn't being very nice to Jerome, who was worried about his job and was not being very nice to her. When Paula came home, they didn't have much to say to each other. She knew it wasn't his fault, but she resented his being home all day while she was sick and going to work. When she bought herself a maternity dress or had her hair done, she explained that she needed to feel human. She was bloated, sick and felt ugly. She needed something to keep her sanity. Besides, it was her money and her credit cards. Besides, Jerome had charged for new clothes, shoes and video games last month.

After six months Paula had to quit work because she couldn't stand all day which was required by her job. That cut their income a bunch. While it would only be for three months, it was tough to see how they were going to survive on only Jerome's paycheck, which was getting smaller since he was only making it to work two to three days per week. The final blow came when Jerome lost his job. They had both seen it coming but decided there was nothing they could do about it. He was stuck with Bill, and Bill just became less and less reliable. Jerome's boss was not mean about it, but she explained that she needed someone who was reliable.

Suddenly, their dream life together had become a nightmare. They didn't talk to each other very much unless it was to argue. They were behind in their rent, furniture payments, and credit card payments. In addition, collection agencies were sending them nasty letters. When the apartment owner explained that she was going to evict them, they both decided that it would be better if they went their separate ways. Jerome was living with a friend, but Paula didn't think that it

would last too long. His parents were willing to take him for a while, but Jerome didn't think it would work out. They hadn't seen or spoken to each other for a couple of weeks. They were not divorced, but it looked like it might end up that way. How had it all gone wrong? Clearly, Paula and Jerome were good people with talent and opportunity. They loved each other, and they were good to their families. What had they missed? Their first mistake they made was to

failure to recognize and accept the basic fact ofMAKING CHOICES. What would you say to Paula and Jerome? Can they save their marriage?

Directions: As you read the story about Paula and Jerome below, write down in the space below ten DECISIONS/CHOICES (both good and bad) that they made concerning spending money and their lives in general.

Decisions & Choices made by Paula & Jerome

Directions: This exercise is about making choices...no matter what you choose to do, there will be consequences to your actions. Now it is your turn to give Paula and Jerome some advice about choices they made. Write between 7 suggestions for the couple/ What should they have done differently? What can they do to improve their lives now? Can they save their marriage? Why or why not?

What can Paula and Jerome do to improve their lives?

Can they save their marriage?