Fed Up

What’s up world. Let me introduce myself. My name is Justin. I am 27 years old, am recently married, and most days I feel like I don’t know what the hell to do about my financial situation. Glad we could get that intro out of the way.

I qualify as one of “those millennials” that so many people like to talk about, good or bad. We get a bad rap for a lot of reasons. We don’t know how to save. Employers don’t know how to deal with us. Most of us have side hustles. We can be insanely irresponsible and cleverly cunning all in the same day. One thing that I have found to be a common thread among us is the feeling of being overwhelmed by our financial situations.

Our generation is facing a huge student loan “crisis”. I think I read that the total student debt in the US is now at $1.4 trillion. Honestly, that’s pretty insane.

One of my buddies, who I graduated college with, made a long post on Facebook the other day. He was really upset about where he found himself financially. The job doesn’t pay enough even when I work my butt off. Cost of living is too high. My bills always eat up anything I make. I have crushing student loan debt. How the hell am I ever going to pay this off? The feeling can be summed up in a word: hopeless.

This guy made the post that I have wanted to make, but I’ve always felt such things should be kept to one’s self. After all, finances should be kept quiet, right? I think this is another shift that millennials are making. We are more transparent than our parents or grandparents when it comes to more taboo subjects like income and finances.

What is my purpose in writing? A few things I suppose.

1. I owe a bunch of money, and I hate the feeling.
2. Some days I feel like I will never achieve my financial goals.
3. My wife is sick of hearing me talk about budgeting/making money/finances in general. I don’t blame her.
4. I want to help others out there that are like me.
5. I am a lifelong learner, and I know I have a ton to learn.

Posts here will vary a lot, from rants to budgeting ideas; saving suggestions to real-life struggles. I just want to take the “scary” out of finances for myself and others. Fear often comes from ignorance. The best way I figure I can overcome that fear is to grow in knowledge and experience. Thanks for joining me along this journey!