Before Everything Cost Too Much - Matthew Petchinsky

In Eagle Pass, Texas, in the year 2000, George and Jennifer Salazar bring newborn twins Gabriel and Sofia home to a world that still seems financially manageable. Gasoline is affordable, grocery totals remain relatively small, used cars can still be found without a crushing payment, and an ordinary paycheck appears capable of supporting an ordinary American life.

George, however, cannot stop watching the numbers.

As diapers, formula, utilities, rent, repairs, and everyday purchases reshape the young couple’s budget, George begins recording prices, saving receipts, tracking debts, and building an emergency fund long before anyone around him believes such preparation is necessary. Jennifer lovingly teases his obsession, unaware that those ordinary receipts will eventually become evidence of an America neither of them realizes is disappearing.

Before Everything Cost Too Much is a character-driven family novel about money, marriage, parenthood, ambition, and the strange way yesterday’s expensive prices become tomorrow’s unbelievable bargains. Through humor, financial anxiety, and the everyday life of a young Texas family, George begins learning that security is not simply how much money comes in-it is how much freedom remains after everything else is paid.