Oblonsky's affairs were in a bad state. Two-thirds of the money for the forest had already been spent…Oblonsky's whole salary went for household expenses and the liquidation of small pressing bills.  He had no money at all.  This was unpleasant, inconvenient, and, in Oblonsky's opinion, ought not to continue.  The cause, as he understood it, was that he received too small a salary.

-- Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina, Book 2, Part 7, Chapter 17.