Originally published on December 16, 2020 11:02 am
A house. Two cars. A kid in college. Debi and Nick Lemieur had all the markers of a middle class life. But they both remember one purchase Nick s $600 bass amplifier that prompted one of the biggest fights in their four decades of marriage. He didn t tell me he hid it in the trunk of the car, and I found it, Debi says, laughing, 14 years later. To me it was like, oh my God, how much will this screw with our budget?
An unexpected bill like that is what separates millions of Americans from financial disaster. In fact, survey after survey for years has found that most people in the U.S. live paycheck to paycheck.
Originally published on December 16, 2020 9:02 am
A house. Two cars. A kid in college. Debi and Nick Lemieur had all the markers of a middle class life. But they both remember one purchase Nick s $600 bass amplifier that prompted one of the biggest fights in their four decades of marriage. He didn t tell me he hid it in the trunk of the car, and I found it, Debi says, laughing, 14 years later. To me it was like, oh my God, how much will this screw with our budget?
An unexpected bill like that is what separates millions of Americans from financial disaster. In fact, survey after survey for years has found that most people in the U.S. live paycheck to paycheck.
Hannah Yoon for NPR
toggle caption Hannah Yoon for NPR
Debi and Nick Lemieur stand together at their home in Havertown, Pa. Hannah Yoon for NPR
A house. Two cars. A kid in college. Debi and Nick Lemieur had all the markers of a middle class life. But they both remember one purchase Nick s $600 bass amplifier that prompted one of the biggest fights in their four decades of marriage. He didn t tell me he hid it in the trunk of the car, and I found it, Debi says, laughing, 14 years later. To me it was like, oh my God, how much will this screw with our budget?