[marjorie]

This question hs been brought up at a great time for me. I'm going to visit a friend next month. She and her husband bought a new-to-them house last month. She saw it, she wanted it. The only way they had anything to put down on the house was because she sold her old house to her brother. His downpayment became her downpayment. They live outside of Chicago, and he makes $100k + annually. No house payment for years. I can't imagine! It will be a trying time for me... Most of my other friends are less spendthrift driven, but I couldn't call them frugal. Most I rarely see anymore because we have so little in common.