Chapter 13 - ASHLEY’S DEBT
Ashley’s finances were worse than I knew.
Not catastrophic.
Unsustainable.
Credit cards:
$46,000.
Personal loan:
$28,000.
Car balance.
Private elementary tuition.
Emma’s activities.
Rent in a neighborhood chosen partly because my parents liked the school district.
Child support from Tyler:
Inconsistent but not absent.
Ashley worked as an event coordinator.
Income fluctuated.
She could live within it.
She did not.
Why?
Status.
Fear.
Comparison.
Mom constantly told her:
“Emma shouldn’t lose opportunities because your marriage failed.”
Ashley believed her.
So every opportunity became mandatory.
Camp.
Riding.
Coding.
iPad.
Private school.
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She was raising Emma inside a life she could not finance because admitting limits felt like admitting divorce had beaten her.
I understood that without excusing it.
