Thank you everyone for the kind words. James, I really appreciate all you do here. If I don't get this figured out in 10 years, it is what it is, but thank you so much for all that you do to help all of us looking for a way out of the rut that life brings us.
Maybe I can offer something back. As a young guy (if you consider 30 young) to the older guys. Maybe make you thankful for what you have.
I graduated college 8 years ago, and had I known life would be as miserable as it has been, I don't know if I would have ever gone. I don't need money to have fun, I grew up poor and in a small town. I can have a blast without money, I always have. It is about putting a roof over my head and food on the table.
I can't do the things in life I would like to do (travel, meet women, start a family some day, etc, etc.) due to money. 8 years of eating the cheapest food I can find, cutting every corner imaginable, and I am still way behind the game. My field has lay offs right and left, and I am not even good at what I do. I would never find another job in this field.
It isn't just me the 30 year old, my parents are in the same boat. They have lived well under their means all their lives. They have saved, lived cheap, got college degrees at 22 and all that. And now they are both probably going to be forced into early retirement and soon working for $8 an hour while some 26 year old manager tells them to pick up the pace until they finally reach their late 60's.
Money is king. Not because it can buy you a big house or a new boat. But because it can put food in your stomach and a roof over your head. Young guys, start saving now, things are getting tougher.
Thank you for all your help here. The only joy I have in life is looking over this forum and the intelligence shared here. I mean it.
Maybe I can offer something back. As a young guy (if you consider 30 young) to the older guys. Maybe make you thankful for what you have.
I graduated college 8 years ago, and had I known life would be as miserable as it has been, I don't know if I would have ever gone. I don't need money to have fun, I grew up poor and in a small town. I can have a blast without money, I always have. It is about putting a roof over my head and food on the table.
I can't do the things in life I would like to do (travel, meet women, start a family some day, etc, etc.) due to money. 8 years of eating the cheapest food I can find, cutting every corner imaginable, and I am still way behind the game. My field has lay offs right and left, and I am not even good at what I do. I would never find another job in this field.
It isn't just me the 30 year old, my parents are in the same boat. They have lived well under their means all their lives. They have saved, lived cheap, got college degrees at 22 and all that. And now they are both probably going to be forced into early retirement and soon working for $8 an hour while some 26 year old manager tells them to pick up the pace until they finally reach their late 60's.
Money is king. Not because it can buy you a big house or a new boat. But because it can put food in your stomach and a roof over your head. Young guys, start saving now, things are getting tougher.
Thank you for all your help here. The only joy I have in life is looking over this forum and the intelligence shared here. I mean it.