the royalties from dc 's first few novels amounted to hardly a drop and david was working the checkout counter at a supermarket in town as it was the only work he could find which was palatable to him for her part she was doing whatever she could to raise money working three part-time jobs every penny seemed a struggle and then it was all spent with hardly a protest from either of them money spilling through their hands it seemed they were always spending it on taxes on their mortgage on their old student loans on their car on food it just slipped away .