[galligator]

It's great that you were able to work to better times. When my husband was part of larger work layoff in 2002 (IT downturn out of country) things were tight for awhile. We had a 2 year old and a newborn. He was able to find a jog within 2 weeks paying 50% of his prior salary. My sister switched to accept auto repair in liu of daycare payments at this time. Luckily my husband's name finally came up for Federal employment within 3 months of his layoff, so we escaped with dinged credit (Which did make a mortgage broker an essential step in our new state when building our next home). Shortly after his hiring my father passed away. Now, we have 3 great kids, a rural home on small acreage & a decent beginning on retirement savings. I have a shoe closet with few high end designers but lots of loved styles. Shoe are one of the few things that I actuallu 'do' just for myself. So, anyway, while we are doing well, I try to make sure to at least have some charity involvement, I am always looking for ways for toys & clothes to be usefully donated. There are a lot of people that just need a little bit of extra support for a short time to turn a bad stretch around - now that my youngest is getting older, I am hoping to get them aware of volunteering as well. Life is a lot of work sometimes. I guess what I am saying is that a lot of us have been through some version of tough times. Don't feel guilty for the occasional splurge. You know, if you are not behind on your bills & can afford the occasional treat, that should be okay. Some people spend their income on dining out, classes, , hobbies, heck even little statues of frogs - this is just your (and ours) hobby.

Enjoy 'em.