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I froze. My phone screen showed $62.78.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere must be a mistake,\u201d I said, already feeling anxious. \u201cCould you check again?\u201d<\/p>\n
But somehow, I kept going.<\/p>\n
I started working from home, writing educational content for websites. It didn\u2019t pay much, but it helped. My days were a blur of diapers, bottles, typing, and tears. There were weeks I barely slept. I sold anything nonessential, skipped meals, and stretched every dollar.<\/p>\n
One Tuesday afternoon, I loaded the kids into the minivan for a grocery run. I had calculated everything\u2014down to the last dollar. Milk, bread, rice, a few fruits. Nothing extra. Nothing unnecessary.<\/p>\n
But when I got to the checkout, something was wrong.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019ll be $72.89,\u201d the cashier said, bored and chewing gum.<\/p>\n I froze. My phone screen showed $62.78.<\/p>\n \u201cThere must be a mistake,\u201d I said, already feeling anxious. \u201cCould you check again?\u201d<\/p>\n
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