This reminds me of the character of Mr. Micawber in "David Copperfield," by Charles Dickens.
Dickens, whose own father went to debtors prison, put in Mr. Micawber's mouth a very famous quote which I will translate into modern American money:
"Annual income, 20,000 dollars, Annual expenditure, 19,999 dollars, Result, Happiness.
Annual income, 20,000 dollars, Annual expenditure, 20,001 dollars, Result, Misery."
It makes sense. At into that fact that most Americans are heavily in debt and it's more like 200,000. I've always thought about getting around to reading David Copperfield.