Hmmm. This was a Library Big Read and it sounded interesting, so I gave it a go. Parts of it were interesting, but most of it was just astonishing.

Astonishing how two supposedly educated people can not file their tax returns for years and expect it to be OK. How people can be so far into debt but be OK with paying school fees, eating out, drinking beer, and then buying chickens and goats. How they can have the lives of chickens and goats in their hands and not have a clue what they are doing. How they can screw over friends and not apologise.

I've had times when I've been short of money and you cut back. You don't keep spending. You cut back on everything - you don't go out for a meal with your book club because not only can you not afford the meal, you can't afford the fuel for the journey either. You don't drink craft beer regularly because you can't even afford tea and coffee, let alone alcohol. Poverty is lonely, not about making craft soap (how would you afford the oil and lye?)

If it had been written with more humour if could have been good, but it was far too whiny about things that were the couple's own fault (it seems there was plenty of evidence that they were living above their income but they chose to ignore it), and I never got the impression that they were actually making a real effort not to spend money.