I didnt realize how long this was going to be until I started typing it out, so I apologize ahead of time.
...So I want to start off by saying that my financial situation is due to choices that I made consciously or either not being careful and I accept that. I don't really come to Reddit to vent but I feel like I need to just get this off my chest to an un-biased and presumably understanding party. I am also on mobile, so I apologize for any granmatical errors.
Me and my wife have three kids (9 y.o., 7 y.o., and 8 months); were both 28 and if you do the math, we started young; I love my wife, my children and I wouldnt trade them for the world. Being a young parent, I knew that I had a tough road ahead of me and I settled with a career in finance (I know, the irony) because thats kind of what plopped in my lap. After working in finance and learning quite a bit of valuable knowledge, I also woke up one day and realized that I hated my job. I couldn't imagine working the rest of my life in a career that didnt bring me satisfaction, despite doing fairly well for my family. My wife was working odd jobs here and there and wadls helping out quite a bit to our budget.
I sat down with her and told her that I wanted to go back to school and I thought she ought to get a degree as well and finally pursue something fulfilling in life; she was and still is unbelievably supportive of this decision. We knew this would change a lot of aspects in our lives. We saved up to around 20k, quit our jobs, moved out of state to be closer to family to assist with the kids, cut as much as we could from our expenses, downsized our living situation from a beautiful townhome to a cheap apartment and then shortly after applied for Financial Aid and VA benefits for school (were both veterans). I then applied for a part time job at a restaurant and with piecing all these things together, we believed it would at least get me through school, as I already had college credits and she we just starting brand new.
All this occured back in 2014; we came across unexpected expenses (as do we all) but one of those expenses was my youngest child. I swear we were careful but I'm pretty sure I have sperm similar to Michael Phelps. I graduated in December last year, after that my semester, my wife took a semester off to stay at home with the youngest and Ive been working a low-paying job that compliments my degree and resume as I have applied to more "big boy jobs". Weve ran our savings dry, used up all my educational benefits and have had to borrow a couple thousand from family. Anytime we get any type of lump sum of money, we would always throw into savings because either we were barely paying our expenses or falling behind our expenses and used savings to cover the difference.
For the last 3 years I have grown to fear logging into my bank account, setting bills to the side and not facing them until the last possible moment, having to tell friends that I cant go out because I can't afford my tab, feeling angry and hopeless. I feel like I have dug myself this hole and the more I scramble to get out, the deeper it becomes. I can't blame anyone but myself. I compare myself to my old finance buddies and see how they have grown in their careers and how financially stable they are. I envy them but at the same time, I don't regret pursuing a passion because...well its my passion. I just feel like I can't get ahead; the plight of the poor I suppose. I guess I fooled myself into thinking it wouldn't be this hard to uproot my family and completely change careers (sounds ignorant to think that, now that I am typing it out).
The good news is I have been going through the hiring process with a dream job and I feel confident about it but at the same time, its a very competitive position. I should hear back by the end of the month and if I am fortunate enough to get the job, it wont completely turn my situation around but it will be a huge step in the right direction with plenty of room to advance and grow. But for the time being, it feels like its a race between time and money and worried that if time loses, how will we get by this time. It's all worked out so far and I try and remind myself that I have my family and we have a roof over our heads, food in the fridge and our health. I just want to be in a situation where there is no more struggle, we can set aside something every month into savings and occasionally take the family out for a cheap dinner without worrying how much it will set us back.
I appreciate anyone who has taken time to read this and if anything, I feel better typing it all out and getting it off my chest.
tl;dr: Changing careers, going back to school and uprooting my family has sucked but I am hoping for a better future.
Submitted August 19, 2017 at 09:33AM by CuloMalo http://ift.tt/2v0NAw3
