A wise aunt of mine once said, for every action there is an equal and opposite criticism.

She said that probably about a hundred years ago, and it’s still true today.  And even though she never met him, she could have been talking about my husband.

Trevor, bless him, doesn’t understand money. He just doesn’t.  He doesn’t understand that when you have a balance on your credit card, the fact you’re paying your minimum monthly balance doesn’t mean it will be paid off some day.  He never looks at the interest rate charges, the 28% on those cards that happens when he misses a month here and there.  And that just because you made a $400 payment doesn’t mean you should go out and spend another $400.

We got in debt deep lately, particularly when he was off work due to an injury.  Disability covers some, but not all the expenses.  It’s less than what he was making, anyway. So we had a little come to Jesus on this and realized we needed to find some cash to keep up his health insurance premiums. Without that, his medical expenses would be even worse.  So I looked at his car and said, let’s sell it. He of course went through the roof. Which was my ploy.

I had in mind all along to get a car title loan.  I already knew to go to Park Forest Title Loans, because my daughter said her boyfriend went there too and it worked out well.  With a car title loan, you keep the car, you just get some money that you pay back gradually.  I knew Trevor would get back to work in about two months, so I saw this as a way to get through it.  And we did.  And he now knows not to criticize.

By the way Park Forest is near Matteson, Olympia Fields, Chicago Heights, Crete, Richton Park.

Remember half the people you know are below average.

Like my mother in law.  She thinks that her son is perfect.  He played football in college. He majored in business. He has entrepreneurial instincts.

The smartest thing her son did was marry me. Because he hasn’t proven his business skills yet.  Love the guy, but I sure wish he could get the career thing going.

Fortunately, I have my career and keep the bills paid. But we ran into a bump in the road last year with some damage to my car, which was hard because I only carried liability, not collision insurance.  So I was looking at a $700 in damage to a car with a book value of $5000.  Worth it to fix?  Well, yeah, it was mostly cosmetic damage –the car works fine. I didn’t have a decent down payment for a new car, and credit on car loans is tight as it is.

So I looked into getting a car title loan. My mother in law thinks they’re a bad idea. I think driving a junker in the south suburbs is a bad idea. And when I thought about it, it really was a responsible idea — fix up the car that’s paid for instead of taking on a whole lot more new debt with a newer car.  So I went to Olympia Fields Title Loans, found a loan I liked and a repayment schedule I could manage.  I got the car fixed and paid it off in no time.

I’m part of the above average group, I think.

By the way, Olympia fields in near Flossmoor, Homewood, Glenwood, Hazel Crest, and Lynwood.

Because I am a man, I can be relied upon to purchase basic groceries at the store, like milk or bread. I cannot be expected to find exotic items like “Cumin” or “Tofu”. For all I know these are the same thing. And never, under any circumstances, should anyone expect me to pick up anything for which “feminine hygiene product” is a euphemism.

Sheesh. In my house, we really need to stick to our division of responsibilities. My wife, she’s good at her job, with the kids, with cooking and shopping. I’m in charge of the cars, household finances, the house and yard, the dog, and which brand of beer we keep on hand. All that and I work full time as well. We worked this arrangement out years ago.

So when we ran into a bad patch with money last year – medical emergencies, need I say more? – it was up to me to figure out what to do. Our credit cards were maxed, my commissions were down, we don’t have home equity because we bought the house in 2005, at the height of the market. And here in Homewood, it’s not like people talk much about what to do when the piggy bank is empty. I went on the Internet, searching for car title loans. But I didn’t want to have to go to one of those stores converted from a burger restaurant. What I found was online, Homewood Title Loans. They give you a car title loan based on the value of your paid-for car, and that was exactly our situation.

I got the money in a day, just beating the payment-due date by hours – and no shopping for tofu or tampons required.

By the way, Homewood is near Matteson, Olympia Fields, Hazel Crest, Markham, and Glenwood.

I like to golf, and here in Crete we have a couple of decent courses at Lincoln Oaks, Deer Creek and Lincolnshire Country Club. I used to golf a lot with my boss, who has four private club memberships, but that dried up when I got laid off last year. It was a downsizing, but I think it had more to do with that night we were on a trip to a convention in Atlanta and I went on my blonde jokes riff:

Q: What’s the difference between blondes and McDonald’s?
A: A blonde serves more people in a night.

Q: What happens when a blonde developes Alzheimers?
A: Her IQ goes up.

Q: Why are there no dumb brunettes?
A: Peroxide.

Q: What’s the guaranteed method to totally confuse a blonde ?
A: Ask her to alphabetize a King-size bag of M&Ms.

Q: Why did the blonde drive into the ditch?
A: To turn the blinker off.

I was unaware he was dumping his wife for this trophy chic he met at the Olympia Fields Country Club. Total blonde. Girls Next Door level blonde. Apparently everyone knew about this but me. Words to the wise: keep up on office gossip. It matters.

More words to the wise: know your financial options. I was coming up on some major dental work just when I got laid off. I needed about $3200, so I took out a car title loan at Crete Title Loans. My car is already paid for, I need it to job hunt AND I need a decent set of teeth if I’m going to be employable.

And in the future, I will let my boss tell all the jokes.

By the way Crete is near Tinley Park, Olympia Fields, Glenwood, Munster, and Matteson.