Money Lessons and Little House on the Prairie

I was watching an episode of Little House today on TV. It seems that history does repeat itself over and over. Pa Ingalls had charged up a tidy bill at Olesons Mercantile over the course of 2 months. He was expecting to get paid from a job and would then take care of the debt. The company went bankrupt and couldn't pay the employees, so Pa didn't get his money. You can imagine the twist Mrs Oleson was in upon hearing the bill would not be paid in a timely manner. Long story short the whole family pulled together, did without, worked long hard hours and the bill was paid. Fast forward 120 years, we are still charging up bills we hope to pay, plan to pay and then something unforeseen happens. Loss of a job, loss of a loved one, illness or some other disaster that prevents us from taking care of our obligations. Most people, buckle down, work longer hours, stop purchasing things they don't need and things eventually work out. But, do we learn anything??? Do we have an emergency plan? DO we stop charging those things we do not need? There is an old saying that I love and repeat to myself often. It goes like this: Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.
This week at work, we were told that our hours would be cut starting next week. Considering that 36 hours is considered full time, this was not happy news. We must maintain 32 hours to keep health insurance. Fortunately, I do not have much debt. Our home is paid for, my car is 7 years old, runs well and is also paid off. But all of the little things we grow accustomed to having, will probably be the first thing I cut out. However this time is a little different. I have always lived close, always tried to save, done without things others would not. My new husband has never lived this way. He see something he wants he buys it. So, not really sure how this will work. I will do the things I have always done. Eat simply, conserve as much as I can, pray, tithe and try to find a part-time job to make up for the lost hours. Husband, may think this is extreme, considering it hasn't happened yet. It is not like we are in NEED of anything. I just don't want to go through those hard times of my youth again. So my inner self will be on automatic pilot and try not to spend on anything that is not important to survival. I tend to go to extremes, and cut until it really hurts. This should be interesting!