The Stress of Being Young, Broke, and Confused About a Career Path
November 15, 2006 by Erik Folgate
Filed under Careers, College, Entrepreneurship and Business, Random, Spending and Saving
I have a great wife, a cool dog, plenty of deep friendships, and a supportive extended family. However, I am young, broke, and I don’t enjoy the work that I am currently involved with. My favorite hobby right now is managing and writing for this blog. My thoughts about money and finance changed dramatically during my last year of college. I found myself drowning in debt with no career path. Now, I am working to pay bills, and struggling to pay down debt. I have to be honest when I tell you that I don’t have it all together when it comes to my finances. When I write posts, it reflects my goals, aspirations, and convictions towards how to handle money. Please don’t mistake me for someone who has experienced a ton of financial success at a young age. Basically, I learned from my financial mistakes a young age, whereas some people don’t learn from them until the later years of their life.ÂÂ
The upside to all of this is that I have only made minor slip-ups when it comes to getting into consumer debt since my major transformation in college about personal finance. I got rid of all of my credit cards, and I stopped obsessing over buying new gadgets. I bought a condo that might not have been the best financial decision, but I think the blood, sweat, and toil involved with it will pay off when we sell it. We paid for all of the renovations with cash except the appliances. That is the one slip-up that I have had since I vowed to stop digging deeper into debt.ÂÂ
The average college graduate coming out of school makes $30,000 per year, and the average graduate starts life in the “real world” with $20,000 in college loans and $2,200 in credit card debt. I had a little less college loan debt and a little more credit card debt, and I started making exactly $30,000. Since then, my salary has gone up $6,000, which is nice, but my wife stopped working to go to Physician Assistant school, so now we are feeling the affects of one income supporting two people. That is where I stand on a rainy night at 11:40pm. I’m young, broke, and I could really use another job, but I am staying optimistic, because my focus has changed over the past year and a half. I am starting to focus on things that I love.ÂÂ
This blog is fun for me. I really don’t care if I make any money from it, but in the back of my mind I am really hoping and praying that it is a spring board for future opportunities with helping teens and twentysomethings manage their money better. The time is now to start standing up for our convictions. Don’t be shy to say that you don’t use credit cards. Don’t be afraid to drive a 1990 honda accord.  Most of all, don’t be afraid to pursue your passion. I think if we puruse our passions, live below our means, and constantly learn, we’ll stop being young, broke, and confused.ÂÂ
Thanks for sharing those very real sincere thoughts. Its nice to know we are not alone. And, I have a 1989 Honda Accord!
Wow ! you really opened up. Nothing wrong being young and broke. You do not want to be old and broke.
Pay yourself first and avoid debt and you will be well on your way to having wealth.
Man, I don’t know what to tell you; the last one who added a comment in here was back in 06, and that ought to tell you something, different people have different experiences and me being a 26 years old international student and also a business owner, I will tell you the bottom line of it all. If you want to succeed you have to be aggressive knowing that nobody really cares about you my man, 90 percent of the people and that includes women only want the best for themselves and are greedy, all of them. Know that if you were to go down no one will want to help you, no one, and expect to go down so if it even happens you are ready for it. Read what’s going on around the world, not just here in the states or your town to know what’s really going on around the world. I know you have a good heart, but it is a jungle out there, and you have to be strong. and about your career I don’t blame you I’m still undecided on my major and if I don’t find my true passion, I won’t truly succeed. I have been rejected many times before and have fallen off the ladder before, and because of that I told myself I either make it all the way or won’t make it at all. Screw being the door service guy who wishes he was the other guy with the ferrari, like they say it’s better to die on your feet than to live on your knees. Don’t waste time either. and I mean it and no matter how many times I tell you, you still would. if you wanna contact me sometimes email me at dbroadband@gmail.com.