It’s not uncommon for friendships to end because of finances – whether a sudden salary rise or fall. But with care and forethought it is often possible to prevent the rupture
When David Matcham and his wife adopted a baby boy in 2013, their financial situation promptly hit rock bottom. Matcham, 44, from Norfolk, had just completed a PhD, and was looking for work. They were broke; poorer than either of them had been at any point in their lives, even when they were students.
For more than a year, Matcham became a social recluse. In part, this was out of necessity – he had no money for socialising – but it was more than that. His sense of self-worth was in the red. “I felt as if I didn’t matter any more, I had made such a mess of things,” he remembers. The anxiety around his finances was all-consuming. Matcham didn’t feel he could confide in his friends because he was ashamed. “My main fear was that they would think I was asking them for money,” he says. “I was just too embarrassed.”
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