My husband has one thing going for him - job security. We don't have to worry about unemployment, but we still have to worry about paying the bills.

Groceries for myself and my son while my husband is serving in Iraq are costing nearly 400 dollars a month. Unless I survive on ramen noodles and rice, it just is that expensive. No getting around that. There's no getting around the $70 it takes to fill up my 4-cylinder sedan, either. Or the fact that I just had a major surgery and have to stay and eat healthy. Healthy isn't cheap.

Or the $150 on formula. Or the $50 in diapers.

Now my paranoia and safety-mania has led to the addition of a new bill. Well, a would-be addition, if we could actually get a loan.

We want to purchase a new, safer SUV for our family. We've never paid a bill late, and we have no maxed-out credit lines. With my husband's income level, getting a loan for this car would have been too easy even just a year ago. Now we can't seem to find a lender. Not even our own bank, USAA.

Meanwhile, our 2000 model year SUV is falling apart and all we have is my sedan, which sadly doesn't actually fit both the car seat and two grown adults. And even though we'd be able to pay the loan payment each month for the new car, it would still mean sacrificing my car when the lease is up next year. Our money is going to things we never actually had to think about before, like bananas. Lettuce. Bread. Milk is now $5 a gallon.

Frankly, I'm a little hostile to the idea that I can be asked to sacrifice my family for this country and send my husband to a war zone, but I can't get a line of credit for a simple car purchase from a bank that "supports the troops." Since 2005, my husband has spent all or part of each year in Iraq. He won't be back until 2009. This is a major financial institution that in no way is in danger of collapse, and I'm trying to help the economy by making a purchase that history shows I'm good for. Only I can't, because the weeds are killing all the money trees.

I don't really care where the bailout comes from or how this crisis is solved, but we need our financial freedom back. Without that, we just don't have much else.