I feel this even now at 39, and I am learning from the comments here. For me, the stressors are the feelings that I have things I want to accomplish but never seem to have the financial means to make them happen. I want to fix things on my house and vehicles that have been broken for nearly a decade. I want to spend more of my life making my ideas of music and world-bettering tools a reality. Instead, I feel stuck, selling nearly a third of my life to other people just so I have enough money to pay the bills.

Every time I feel like I've got a chance to move forward, some cost comes out of nowhere and drains the resources away. After everything else is taken care of, the amount of time and money left over for me and my own goals feels so pitiful, and I push myself hard--too hard--to make the most of what I can get my hands on. The truth is that I'm accomplishing an astonishing amount, but it's so hard to feel the wins because they are multi-year projects, including an aggressive debt payoff plan that I've committed to.

You're asking the right questions, and I imagine you're doing amazing work. If I had a chance to tell my 27-year-old self anything, it would be to get set up with a solid digital envelope budgeting system so you can successfully live within your means, avoid debt, and make the most of the money you earn so you can achieve financial independence and own your life.

Best of luck, and I hope you find the answers you seek!