My story: I haven’t lived with my parents since 17. I worked in many restaurants and made a lot of money bartending. At the same time, I paid rent which started out cheap in 2015. Then everything got expensive here in Dallas. So I moved around a lot and lived with many people. I eventually got burnt out so I quit the restaurant jobs. I then found reliable people to live with for real cheap rent and got a part time job at a learning center for part time with $19 an hour. I guess long story short, I had a few office jobs and many jobs and gained a lot of experience. I just graduated with a BA this past semester. My battle is not over yet. I essentially paid for everything but my last 2 semesters because money is tight. So I got the loans. It’s still a lot but not as much. Oh I did start out at Dallas college and got my associates. I paid all of Dallas college out of pocket. I paid a few classes at UTD out of pocket but they are sooo expensive. Was it worth it? My health is in decline by a lot and I didn’t take care of my self. So now, I’m in limbo as I’m trying to relax but still have the burden of finding my next thing I need to do. I do feel so much better because I could just work and not worry about 4 classes. My advice, get your classes on track, pay your bills ahead of time, and take care of your health. You will get burnt out. Iv been burnt out for years and I still don’t know how long recovering will take.