Mamma Said

I was encouraged to marry rich as a child. My mother, with all of her best intentions, put this into my head from a very young age. She had married rich the first time (but that didn't work out too well for her which is ironic)....so she divorced and met my dad who was decidedly un-rich at that point. But they had a little house in a beautiful town and had me and everything was perfect. But as I got older, my night in shining armor left his horse and his castle and relocated to Wall Street. 'Find an investment banker' she said. She went so far as to go through my Class of 1999 college entry book we got freshman year and pointed out boys who had 'finance' or 'business' as majors.

Needless to say, things don't always work out as Mamma said. I met rich boys all right, how could I not growing up where and how I did. But I never fell in love. Not until November 1, 2002 when I met my husband, from here known as Broke Bloke, on the balcony of a New Orleans bar. He was traveling to the US for work from England, hey SCORE! He must be rich right? Well guess who was wrong. The thing is, I didn't CARE. And that's what love is about. It has nothing to do with money....it's what you feel inside and how they make you feel. And Broke Bloke is like another son to my parents.

2 years later, Broke Bloke wed Broke Babe (that's me) and whisked her off to London to live a great life in one of London's top neighborhoods. We both had good jobs, traveled loads, had the world at our feet. We worked hard to pay off debts from our past....and returned back to the USA with plenty of money. We moved to our current town, bought a fixer upper and were ready to take on the world..........

Until the lay off happened. The layoff that shook our marriage. He'd transfered to the US office from his UK company....he'd been there a while and was successful...of course they wouldn't downsize him. WRONG. So there we were with a house that needed too much love and a condo we were still paying rent on and a new mortgage and builders starting work. Oh boy. Needless to say, we got through it. It was a long 5 months but my husband was able to manage our builders while finding another job. Things were hunky dory when we got a new job in January 08.

Until another lay off in July. 2 layoffs within a year, in fact, almost exactly a year apart. Our marriage has been tested so much over the past few years.....and you know what, I know we are not alone. In these economic times, it's good to know you're not alone in getting through the tough times.

Why did I start Broke in Love? Because we need it. Because a few years of struggling over money and bills has been hard enough. I don't like being Broke In Love but I don't want us to ever become Broken Love. Is our marriage sound and intact? Of course. Are we keeping our heads above water now? Yes. Can we pay our bills? Yes. Is there anything extra laying around at the end of the month? No. Can we afford the children I so desperately want? I just don't know. And I know, I know we are not alone in these struggles.

Some of you might look at what I've written and think 'OH boo hoo. Poor You. Cry me a river'. Wealth is such a personal thing. I know we are lucky. But this blog is not a place to compare sob stories. This blog is a place to share ideas and celebrate the small (and sometimes bigger) things in life. How we get through tough times will be so different per couple, so this blog is a reflection on us. A reflection on how Broke Bloke and Broke Babe, the B's, will work on building up the fun and friendship that so commonly gets put on the backburner after worrying about bills. Thank you for joining us on our journey, I hope you'll stick around!