Cheryl Smith-DuBois - Surviving on one income
A cashier at a Mobil station, Smith-DuBois and her husband are surviving on her weekly salary of $287 and his $400 unemployment check. He used to bring home $720. She is 61 and lives in Bristol.
It's absolutely horrible. My husband is out of work. He's a carpenter and he can't find work. No one is building homes.
We're struggling, trying to make ends meet. Rising food prices are horrendous. It's very, very hard to make ends meet. I work any extra hours I can. Sometimes it's several nights a week.
And you tighten your belts. We don't buy anything. We don't go anywhere. We don't go out to movies anymore. We don't go out to restaurants anymore. We cook at home. We stay at home. That's what you do. We don't drive unnecessarily.
I have a new grandbaby I hardly get to see and she's 10-15 minutes away from my house.
I just have to cut the corners where I can to make ends meet. It's hard to live within a box.
Last updated April 14 2009: 11:21 AM ET
RSS
