(Asking for a friend, obviously.)
Scenario One:
Husband and Wife watch tv together in bed each evening. Wife wants to turn the tv off and fall asleep around 9:30 but husband wants to keep watching tv for awhile.
Should wife just try to fall asleep with tv on, which is difficult for her? Or should husband leave their comfy bed and watch tv in the family room, which may result in sleeping on the couch?
Scenario Two:
College boys report Honda Odyssey is being weird. They bring it to a mechanic who tells them it's unsafe to drive anymore and it needs a whole new engine. They now need a replacement.
Should parents buy a used car, though they were not financially ready, to have available for the boys at spring break, so that they have one for the rest of the semester? Or should college kids have to go without a car for the rest of the semester, and parents postpone buying one until the summer?
Scenario Three:
Husband and Wife work three jobs each in order to provide for all of the expenses of a family of nine with three in college this fall. Husband and wife now make enough income to barely cover said expenses, but also "too much income" when it comes to some of the benefits they used to get when they earned less. Financial aid packages are stingier, some scholarships are now non-eligible, tax deductions/credits are going away, and discounts we received in past for certain services are not available to us anymore.
Should we keep killing ourselves with work to provide to our best ability, even though it means we lose money in benefits? Or should we figure out the income necessary to qualify for all of the benefits we used to receive, and earn only that much?
(Yes, my friend is aware that these are first world problems.)
