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One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. And sixty cents of it was in pennies. Pennies saved one and two at a time by bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable man and the butcher until one’s cheeks burned with the silent imputation of parsimony that such close dealing implied.

The narrator reveals the couple’s financial problems in the very first lines of the story. The toll it takes on Della’s pride is apparent as she describes her cheeks burning from embarrassment as she haggles with shopkeepers. The word “bulldozing” indicates that she is very aggressive with her haggling because she has no other choice. The fact that a good chunk of her savings is in pennies indicates it took her a long time to save up. The narrator also implies that paying with a bag of pennies is an added factor to her shame because it is a public indicator of her financial situation. 

In the vestibule below was a letter-box into which no letter would go, and an electric button from which no mortal finger could coax a ring. Also appertaining thereunto was a card bearing the name “Mr. James Dillingham Young.” The “Dillingham” had been flung to the breeze during a former period of prosperity when its possessor was being paid $30 per week. Now, when the income was shrunk to $20, though, they were thinking seriously of contracting to a modest and unassuming D.

The narrator’s description of the couple’s letterbox early in the story illustrates their shame about their financial circumstances. Both the broken letter box and doorbell are indicators of the couple has fallen on hard times. This quote also reveals Jim’s salary has been cut by about a third. Jim’s full name, James Dillingham Young, has a refined, almost aristocratic connotation. The narrator suggests the couple is considering replacing Dillingham with the initial ‘D’ because Jim’s full name gives the impression the couple is higher class than they actually are. The daily sight of Jim’s full name increases their shame and self-consciousness about their poverty.

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