How has the financial crisis affected you and your work-family balance? WSJ wants to know.

Below is a request from our friend at the Wall Street Journal, Sue Shellenbarger.  Please contact her directly if you are interested in commenting on this subject.  We're cutting back in our household.  Trader Joes is my new favorite market, creative "free" childcare allows me to work and vacations will be local.  What's your story?

How has the crisis in the financial markets affected you and your work-family balance? A national columnist for The Wall Street Journal is writing about how economic troubles force many families to defer dreams of a better work-life balance. Perhaps a mother (or father) who had been dreaming of cutting back to part-time hours to spend more time with the family loses that opportunity because a spouse is laid off. Or a breadwinner who¢s been saving to stay home with the kids for a while suddenly has to divert those savings to paying the mortgage. Or dreams of an extended family vacation are dashed. What dreams have you had to defer up in recent weeks? How has the Wall Street upheaval changed your life? And how has it altered the way your family manages time? Please contact sue.shellenbarger@wsj.com before the end of the day Friday, Oct. 10, with your stories, or call Sue at 503-524-8881. Thank you!

Catherine