<prompt> Human: Im not trying to toot my horn but this subreddit has been for a while now somewhat depressing with help, im losing everything threads so i thought we could maybe brighten up the place with our success stories or just stories of average joes making ends meet with what theyre doing in life. ill start.24 yr old healthcare professional here. Out of most people I know from highschool, im doing the best out of them so far in the means of financial stability. I work...a lot! I have countless opportunities to work overtime at the hospital and if I know an expense is coming up ill gladly work overtime. My car is paid off, I have zero student loans by working full-time while going to school full-time it killed me, but i made it and I live well within my means. I also have a side business with my wood working hobby and all of my tools and supplies are paid through the profits i make though it. I have a 401k and i put away 6 and the hospital matches my 6. Its nothing special, but at least its a start. I put the rest aside for small investments and give some for my aunt to play with shes a successful investor and has lived off her investments for a long time Most people my age are nowhere near to saving anything at all. So its nice to see my bank account with numbers in front of the zeros. Ive worked hard to have a happy lifestyle and financial situation and Ive learned a lot from this subreddit long-time lurkerI think the best thing Ive learned is to not be egregious with my funds and only buy things i absolutely need and live within my means and not step out of bounds. I drive a decent car and live in a decent house and thats all I need for now. As the farmer from the movie Babe says, Thatll do, pig. Thatll do.I would love to hear other peoples stories of success as well.Edit Thanks everyone for the awesome stories. Keep them coming!!! Edit 2 holy wow. Thanks for all the replies so far. I wish I could respond to them all  <response>: Been unemployed since September. Wife still works, makes about 60k. Have always lived well below our means. Havent touched the emergency fund. Bought a new used car last week for the growing family. Have a job lined up to start in January, 100k. No worries, has been a great experience! Not looking forward to going back to work... 