The discussion on the simple level would be that there are some difficulties with the budget. The hope that the cash balance not drop below $600 is problematic in that there is a large insurance payment due in January. In this month alone the couple is $792 to the negative for their ending balance. There is another time in May when the balance drops to $1,480 to the negative. The income and expenses will require some adjustment to be workable.

The more complex answer is as follows. It is broken own by month for simplicity:

January
Donna and Sherman have to write a bad check for the car insurance. The check bounces and there are $35 in returned fees from the insurance company, and $25 dollars in charges from the bank. Donna is busy at work, so Sherman has to deal with the insurance. He manages to get the insurance reinstated, and by paying on the last day of January, the check floats in the system until February 1st when Donnas next pay check comes in. Unfortunately Sherman’s big paper due at the end of January suffers, and he does not do so well on it. Donna is mad about the whole thing, and Sherman is a bit ticked off too. Donna goes to lunch with Ann, Debbie, and Sara...Chuck, the married guy from accounting tags along. They all have a nice lunch, Donna talks a little about the financial problems they had that month, the other girls are really sympathetic and talk about problems they all had with their first husbands, everything seems OK, she pays for her meal on the credit card Sherman does not know about. Chuck didn’t say much during the lunch, but he thinks Donna looked really nice that day. Sherman is a little depressed by his paper, and feels a bit bad about himself. To make up for the paper, Sherman throws himself into his schoolwork. Donna and Sherman don’t have sex the rest of January. Donna sometimes thinks about Chuck from accounting.

February and March
Things go well. There is money in the bank. And Donna and Sherman are even having sex again and talking. Donna has a great new friend from accounting named Chuck who comes by almost everyday to chat, and he tells her how nice and pretty she is all of the time. They go to lunch all of the time, and Donna pays with that secret credit card, because Chuck keeps forgetting his wallet all of the time. He is so silly! Chuck really likes Donna, just like he really likes the girl in the legal department, the receptionist, and that sexy Puerto Rican chick with the big brown eyes and long hair. Yes….Chuck likes all of his “bitches†as he calls them when he is at the bar with his buddies, they are nothing like his chubby wife at home who has born him three children, cooks for him, cleans his house, and works just as many hours as him at a job with more responsibility and less pay. Sherman sure fixed things with the insurance in January…three other checks bounced in February because of bank fees associated with the January insurance check problem, but it all worked out. Donna’s secret credit card balance is getting to be several hundred dollars, but it’s not a big deal, she will just take a little money here, and take a little money there, and it will all work out.

April
Sherman gets more work in April, and while the money he will get paid in June for this work is going to be great, he has figured out that there is really no way they can afford the vacation in May. And Sherman is not sure what happened with their budget, but Donna has started taking $65 out of the account each month. He talks to Donna about this and she is pissed! Sherman is always doing schoolwork! Sherman is always coming home from work smelling like paint and sawdust! Sherman is sweaty! Why can’t Sherman be more like Chuck from accounting! Sherman does not like his job very much, it’s hard work, but when he is there he always tells his friends about the plans he and Donna have for the future. Sherman wonders who the hell Chuck is. Sherman thinks he may have to take out a student loan to make ends meet.

May, June, July
Sherman is working from dawn until dusk to earn during the time of year he has available to him. After all, this was the plan, go to school, work like hell during the summer, and get the degree so that he and Donna could have a bright future. Sherman has not seen his wife naked in three months. Donna is sick of that “useless bastard†who stinks all of the time, and won’t get a real job like Chuck. Chuck has a real job, Chuck has a nice car, Chuck got to go on vacation. Chuck smells nice all of the time. Chuck has time for her. Chuck always takes time out of his day to eat lunch with her. Donna makes a mental note to herself that she needs to try and get the credit line increased on her card, as the balance has soared to over $3,000 now buying lunch and paying her and Chuck’s happy hour bill. Sherman eats hot sandwiches, on the job site. Chuck tells Donna all the time how she deserves better, how she should expect things in life. Chuck finally makes his move in July, and Donna allows it. Donna pays for their hotel room on the secret credit card.

August
Things are financially OK now. After a hard summer of work, there is over $6,000 in the bank. Sherman thinks things are really tense between Donna and himself, and he does everything he can to try and smooth things out. One night, almost like a miracle, they actually have sex. It’s different, distant, but Sherman thinks at least it is a start on the road back to their happy life. Donna Closes her eyes and thinks of Chuck. Donna knows it’s Chuck who she was meant to be with, and after all he told her he was going to leave his wife.

September
Sherman has developed a horrible burning when he pees. His tuition check bounces, and he will not be allowed to attend school that semester. Sherman does not have his account information so he goes home to get it. He checks the mail on the way in and there are all sorts of bounced check notices in the mail. He runs to the apartment, pulls the “Rent Not Paid†notice off of the front door, and enters the apartment. Almost everything is gone. All the furniture made of solid wood is missing, and there is nothing left but the particleboard furniture from Wal-Mart, a few sheets, and the singlewide mattress on the floor from the second bedroom. At least his checkbook is there. He goes to the bank, and finds that all of the money has been cleared out, the bank notifies Sherman that last night 3 more checks have bounced, and there are another $105 in service fees due.

October
Sherman is back living with his parents. They lent him the money for the doctor visit and medicine...the burning turned out to be Chlamydia. Donna moved in with some girlfriends. Chuck assured Donna she must have picked up something from a toilet seat because he would never be unfaithful to her. She buys it, and continues to see him.

November
Sherman works part time at Wal-Mart, as it was too late to get a full time position at a school district, and who would hire him with his crappy grades, and failed attempt to earn his masters degree. Donna finally got a visit from Chuck’s wife, who explained that this was a fairly common thing, and that while she might be a fun diversion for Chuck, Donna should not expect Chuck to be leaving anytime soon. Donna lost all of the furniture she took from her and Sherman’s apartment to storage fees, and the credit card company keeps calling non-stop about the $8,000 she owes them. Donna and Sherman’s divorce was final on the 27th.

December
Chuck got pretty ticked at Donna bugging him all the time, so he had a friend in HR fire her. Donna still lives with her three divorced friends. Sometimes they sit around and talk about what a piece of shit Sherman is.

???

Guess I missed the humor here....

The bitch is, I've seen this story too many times when I was in the military!

Yeah - more of the "sad but true" category rather than "funny".

it hits close to home from my ex from 15 yrs ago....... plus she took my dog!!!!!!

That was almost my story many years ago.... I want to be Chuck just once