Money and Neighbors and Friends...Oh My!

The worst part of being in financial trouble for me is the local service providers we know personally, and to whom we owe money.

I play the piano. It's actually really important to me. My kids have been taking lessons for a couple of years too. Their piano teacher is a friend of mine. Her kids are in the same class at school as my kids. She's wonderful, talented, friendly, smart, and a terrific teacher.

And now I'm afraid to talk to her.

Her studio policy is that we prepay by the semester. Last year, I didn't have the money up front, so I paid her a few hundred dollars every time I could until we were caught up. She was wonderfully understanding. In the spring, she asked returning students to make a commitment for the fall and pay a deposit. She waived the deposit for us, because, again, I didn't have the $200.

Over the summer as the unemployment situation dragged on, it became obvious to us that there is no money for piano or any other activities this year. I sent an email to the piano teacher apologizing profusely and explaining that we would have to suspend piano lessons. I didn't hear back from her, but that wasn't surprising, because she spends the summers out of the country.

This week, she left a message on our voice mail, wondering where our daughter was during her lesson time. EEK! She never got the email! And now she's got a hole in her schedule for not one slot but TWO students--because of us. Ugh. I feel rotten. But I just don't have the money.

I will call her tomorrow. I will.

We also owe the local dance studio for last semester's fees. The owner, who is our daughter's instructor, is a neighbor of ours. I feel so icky not being able to pay her. For the record, the check that I wrote at the time the payment was due bounced because I wasn't managing my (lack of) cash flow very well. We will pay her, but we need to save the house first.