Living the American Dream?

ASHBURN, Va. (WUSA) - With the gas prices at an all-time high, is it any wonder that even two income families are struggling to make ends meet?

Especially in the suburbs where owning a car and a home are not as affordable as it used to be.

An Ashburn family says the sky-rocketing gas prices have them questioning are they living the American dream?

Deborah Parker says "at this stage in the game, I don't think I should be working as hard as I am. And I'm working harder now than I ever did."

Deborah works 7 days a week as a real estate agent, trying to stay afloat in a declining market. She spends most of her time on the road, in her car, gassing up as much as 4 times a week.

'At 60 to 70 dollars a fill-up, it hurts. It hits the pocketbook" she lamented.

The high gas prices have also fueled the cost of food, making it that much harder for the Parkers to feed their 3 kids.

"My grocery bill has tripled just about. Where 160 dollars of groceries would last us 4 or 5 days, I'm lucky if it lasts three days, these days" she says. Her husband, Danielle adds "it bleeds into other things."

With bills to pay, Daniel Parker says his family is learning what it means to go without.

"Family eating out on Friday night, that kind of thing. Some of those things we've had to cut back because of expenses. We've seen prices on the other side, at restaurants increase some."

Deborah has cut trips to the hair-dresser and going to the spa to get manicures or massages.

Deborah says the goal is to keep a roof over their head.

"Any little hiccup can throw this family into a complete tail-spin. With the foreclosure rate, it doesn't take much to miss a payment and then you got the rippling affect and then the next thing you know, the bank is trying to foreclose on you."

The Parkers say they have had to dip into their 401-K's to make ends meet in a home that's now worth 200-thousand dollars less than it was at peak price.