America's Money: In their own words

Attendance and leave processor, 31, Fort Worth, Texas

With huge energy bills in our house that almost equaled our monthly mortgage payment, my fiance and I had to let our house go last year. We've lost our house and canceled our vehicle insurance.

We don't make horrible money, but every penny is allocated. Life is pretty miserable when you have to constantly tell your children "NO" when they ask for something - when you can no longer just go grocery shopping, you have to now only buy what is on your list and hope there is enough in the account to cover the cost.

Our bank account is always insufficient. We get harassing phone calls at our respective places of employment. We haven't even been able to go to the doctor when needed. I see no hope in sight, but I know that we are not alone. That's pretty much the only thing that gets us through all of this.

NEXT: Shannon McCauley: Burned by fuel costs