Those are two beautiful words. I’m not saying this because I’m a lobbyist (I’m not by the way). Those two words are significant because we paid off our magnificent iMac today, courtesy of a bonus that appeared in our checking account today (and well deserved, if you’re willing to take my admittedly biased word for it).

I’d feel better if we’d paid off the cars, the roof (which we had to redo last year), or the house; but I’ll settle for this too.

There’s a Judge I go before about once a month who says something to every couple that appears. I hear it all the time (so much that I sometimes hear it in my sleep), but it never ceases to ring true in my ears, particularly now… when I’m paying off a computer we bought on credit (“***WITH NO INTEREST FOR SIX MONTHS!!!***“).

“You guys are probably like everyone else in this country. You spend about 105 percent of what you make….”

There’s usually a lot more to it (including an admonishment, like “… what I’m telling you now is you’re going to have to redirect some of those earnings to your children”), and occasionally with a few well placed swear words mixed in to taste, but you get the picture.