An Easy Matter by H.M.Perley

Owning your own home is sometimes a problem. When I was married my salary was thirty dollars a month. My mother-in-law, who lived with us, decided to save enough money out of my salary to build us a home.

So the building started and soon the cellar was finished. But then I became ill and lost my job. I had to mortgage the cellar to make my first payment.

We had almost nothing to eat for thirty days the first year. Fortunately, I soon got another job, which was not paid so well, but we never missed a monthly payment.

The taxes, interest on mortgage, and monthly payment on house were now three times higher than my salary.

However, we didn't go to see the doctor so much. Probably as a result of that, we lost our father and mother-in-law. But this reduced our expenses so much that we were able to pay for the doors and windows.

In ten years seven of our nine children died, possibly because of our diet - we just ate prunes and animal skins.

I wore the same overcoat for fifteen years, and then I could build the verandah. Now, at the age of eighty-seven, my wife and I feel sure we can own our comfortable little home in about ten years and then we can live a few weeks to enjoy it.