Trap Tales. David M. R. Covey

the extra money seemed to evaporate. Alex and Kim's expenses were now growing out of proportion to their income. He began charging frequently and liberally on his credit cards.

      From the beginning, Alex justified and defended his spending. Luxuries became necessities. He needed his country club membership so he could golf with his business associates like Chaz. To keep up with his coworkers, he had to take the same sort of expensive vacations and cruises. He loved high-end watches and the latest technology gadgets. To Alex, who'd been brought up in this lifestyle, these expenses weren't extravagant. But 20 years into their marriage, Alex and Kim had zero savings, no retirement money in the bank, and a pile of debt.

      When Alex's company was going through financial difficulties during the recession, he was laid off without any warning. Alex had always been a top performer, so he assumed he would not be susceptible to occasional downsizing or restructuring. He never imagined that his company would become disrupted, obsolete, irrelevant, or that he could lose his high-paying job.

      Alex remembered that time all too well. His mind flashed back seven years.

      He had arrived home from work much earlier than usual. He normally got home around 6:00 or 6:30, but never as early as 3:30 in the afternoon. Kim, who had been working from home that day, was in the laundry room folding a huge pile of clothes from several wash loads.

      “Hey, honey,” Kim smiled. “What are you doing home so early?”

      “I just got laid off,” he blurted out in a state of shock.

      “What?” She dropped the shirt she was folding. “You're kidding, right? You're one of the star executives at that company. How could they possibly lay you off?”

      “I know. I know. It's not about me. Apparently the company ran out of cash, so the whole thing went bust. We all lost our jobs, just like that,” Alex said, bewildered.

      Kim seemed lost in thought. “Did anyone see this coming?” she asked.

      “I certainly didn't. I'm sure my boss must have known,” Alex said.

      “I mean, I knew company cash was tight, but to completely run out of money? It's ridiculous,” he fumed. “How can you run a business and not have a plan for getting more cash? It's downright irresponsible!”

      The company Alex worked for had been around for 35 years and in its heyday had generated almost $500 million in annual revenue. Despite its respectable revenue stream for a privately held business, it had always managed its expenses poorly. In its most recent year, the company had generated around $350 million in revenue but had not adjusted expenses or downsized the number of employees accordingly.

      “So what do we do now?” Kim asked, a hint of fear in her voice.

      “I guess I start looking for a new job,” Alex responded dejectedly.

      “It's pretty brutal right now. Have you seen how many jobs we've lost as a country in the last six months? Who knows how long the job hunt could take? I guess we could cut back on eating out so often, and we could cancel that expensive country club membership.” Kim began pacing as she calculated other ways to save.

      “Kim, Kim,” Alex said, reaching for her hands. “Don't worry about it. No need to do anything extreme. We'll figure it out.” He could see in her face that she wanted to believe him. But there was a twinge of something else there, too.

      Alex snapped out of his reverie. They had figured it out, but it took a lot longer than Alex had imagined. For eight months, he searched and searched for a new job before finally landing with his current employer six years ago. He probably would have kept looking for something better if Kim hadn't insisted that he swallow his pride about the pay package. He had been a successful sales executive for seven years. Why weren't companies willing to pay for his valuable skill set?

      Alex's unbridled confidence and cheery optimism took a big hit after he was laid off. What bothered him most, now that he was earning only 60 percent of his previous salary, was the pressure to put the brakes on his comfortable lifestyle. He couldn't stand the thought of resigning his country club membership, or abstaining from luxury vacations and the newest technology. That would be asking too much. Sure, too much debt was no good, but throughout his life he'd always managed to juggle some debt.

      Lately he'd been so stressed out about his work – and then there was the fight with Kim – that he hadn't faced the enormity of his situation. He started to add up all the debt he'd accumulated. The family had $50,000 in credit card debt, a $278,000 mortgage, and two car payments totaling $900 a month. Laura would be in college in 18 months. How was he going to pay for that? She had her sights set on a university in New York City that several of her high school friends were planning to attend. But the out-of-state tuition was astronomical, and without any savings, Alex and Kim clearly couldn't afford it. He didn't know how they could afford in-state tuition, for that matter. Why hadn't he planned ahead and put away some money for Laura's education?

      Alex couldn't believe how unprepared he was. How could he have been so foolish and shortsighted? And what would he do about paying down the debt?

      He contemplated, just for a moment, the idea of raiding Michael's bank account. His son was very secretive about how much he had saved, but at only 14 years old, Alex was sure there was at least $15,000 in his account. Michael was a saver who rarely spent anything. He also had a knack for capitalizing on money-making opportunities. Since Michael was 10 years old he had made money for himself by mowing the neighbors' lawns and selling off the gadgets his family no longer used.

      Alex pushed the desperate thought aside. He was on vacation, for goodness' sake, and he didn't want to focus any more on his financial woes. This was finally his time to recharge, refresh, and recover from all the hard work and difficulties he'd faced over the past few years. He threw on his swimsuit and made his way out to the beach to take in the salty air and goof around a little with his kids.

      Nearly two hours later, the sun was setting, and after playing so hard everybody was hungry. Alex wanted to take his kids to one of his favorite places on Oahu – Roy's Restaurant. Wet, sandy, and barefoot, the three of them returned to their room to change for dinner.

      As Alex walked back into his room he spotted an envelope on the nightstand with two chocolates on top. He opened the envelope, which contained a beautiful card detailing the schedule for the vow renewal ceremony he and Kim had planned together when they set up the trip.

      Just then, his phone vibrated. It was a text message from Kim. She had accepted the job in San Francisco.