Feeling held back by finances.

[Aussie.Girl]

I am in my late twenties and I feel like most of the freedoms of adulthood are behind a paywall I can't afford to remove. 

I would love to be able to travel, or try new experiences, or even buy my own house one day but I can't fathom how I would ever be able to afford any of these things given the rising cost of living. 

I know this is probably a common feeling in the current climate, but I still feel like I have somehow been cheated out of the life I was promised as a child - where I could have or do anything I wanted as long as I worked hard...

I feel like life is designed in a way where all I have time or energy for is work and chores, and it leaves nothing left for hobbies or friends. Or I can have hobbies and friends but no money to afford necessities.

I can't see any way around this, and I end up stressed and disappointed either way. I'm also worried that I'm simultaneously wasting my young and healthy years by working, and by not having the freedom to experience the world and all it has to offer.

Any advice? I'm just feeling really stuck and hopeless lately. 

I keep getting told to find a job I love, but being forced to to anything - even if I love it as a job makes it a stressful activity and I just end up burned out and upset. 

[white knight]

Hi, welcome

As a 17yo that joined the military, I made my own luck in some ways. A home loan after a qualifying time, friends I still have 50 years later and good pay for a new car or travel.

Yes, I'm a baby boomer however even though things were hard them days in some ways, today its a lot harder in terms of qualifying for a home loan for a reasonably priced house. So we wont compare as that is a common argument nowadays.

Nevertheless struggle street can come to people anytime and when 40yo married with 2 kids my life fell apart through separation. What followed was several years when I worked night/day shift 12 hours a shift 6 shifts a week and built my own home at the same time (even in the middle of the night). No time for friends or hobbies then. To buy a block of land in a regional area is all I could afford and my skills to build a kit home were there with some fast learning, but I succeeded, a home loan of $100,000 approx with a home worth $180,000 when finished. 

All well and good if you have the skills and yes equivalent to 2 incomes, but now you need two incomes to buy a house as well as saving ability. Then if you want a child one income vanishes and you cant keep your home. These are the struggles of modern society and being direct here- yes you are not alone there are many in this position but you wont hear from them, like bankruptcies or poor debt people have they wont tell you. I was a debt collector for a short time and it was very common people with problems financially, often returned to the same street within days.

So perhaps consider the AirForce, Navy, Army, police or any higher paid work away from your current environment to get that excitement in your life and the benefits. Clearly change wont happen without sacrifices and your friends will just have to understand.

I hope that gave you hope and it isnt your fault.

TonyWK

[One_More_Day]

Hi Aussie Girl,

Yes, a trick! The sad fact of life if you're born, your work, you die. Any fun and fivolity fills in the spaces between all that. Certainly not a journey for the faint hearted, it's a wonder we even have an aging population given the grin we all have to endure. Budgets make a difference...$50 per week puts $2500 a year in your savings. $200 is $10,000! That's a decent holiday. But yes, that's a long time to wait, three-years if you want a car, and that's a good income to be be able to save $200 per week. 

When there's no daddie's easy chair, financial stability and enjoying life needs planning. If you earn $60K a year, $20k of that's personal expenses...the rest bills and savings.That's a lot of money, you probably wouldn't even spend that...but yes, compound interest and putting aside a weekly amount will get you to an annual slush fun - or a quarterly amount you could have a week in Bali for or a staycation at a nice hotel...financial stress certainly puts the brakes on living that's for sure.

OMD.

[Aussie.Girl]

Thank you for your replies. I am feeling a little better after reading your responses.

Sometimes I forget how fortunate I am to have accommodation provided by my parents and money in my savings account. 

It just makes me sad and frustrated to realise that home ownership is simply not as attainable as it used to be. Not that it was ever easy, but even with a 'high' income a house in the middle of nowhere is a stretch now. 

Also, given I am not employed full time even if I can afford the repayments on a dirt block in the middle of nowhere no one will approve me for a loan.

I guess all I can do is keep trying to save as much as I can and hope that one day it will be enough. 

[One_More_Day]

By The Way...

I really do wish I took my own adivice!

OMD.