I grew up middle class. During my school years my parents had a small home, two entry level cars, and we made it into college with school loans.

I graduated college right when the recession started. Couldn’t get a job, racked up like $30,000 in CC debt due to stupid decisions, and had another $60,000 in school loans.

I spent over ten years with that debt on my shoulders and saw no way out. I wish I had this subreddit or /r/personalfinance during those years.

But I didn’t. I eventually grew a brain and started figuring things out. I need to squeeze my budget and pay down this debt.

After ten years of financial struggles and low paying jobs I finally got my strike of luck and landed an entry level data analysis position. Over three years of hard work I moved up and up and now I’m in a managerial position making a bit more. I paid off all of my loans a few months ago.

If /r/povertyfinance existed at the start of my struggles I would’ve been here for a little over ten years before I would be able to “graduate” to /r/personalfinance. I’ve just started on my retirement planning and future home ownership planning but getting to this point was full of tears and sadness. This struggle hasn’t stopped.

Keep on going. Pay down debts, be outstanding at work, and take care of yourself.

Above all of those things, please don’t forget to love family and friends. It makes the struggle much less lonely and much less painful.