No Money in the Budget for That

After reading a thought-provoking blog post from Seth Godin, I thought of what I generally mean when I say "we can't afford that."  As a one-income family of nine, trying to succeed on my husband's middle-management income, with three kids in college and the other six being home schooled, I can honestly say to much of America's excess of product:

"We have no money in the budget for that."

I agree with Seth that this statement somtimes means that it's too expensive, in my opinion, to re-budget for that item.  More times than not, however, it means we simply do not have any money to put toward that. . .unless we want to eat fewer meals a day, turn off our heat/air conditioning, use less electricity, stop driving completely (since we do so little driving), etc.

What do you mean when you say, "I can't afford that"?  What do you say instead, if you don't use that phrase? 


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