<prompt> Human: Dont get me wrong, I grew up poor. But when youre young, you dont know enough about the world, and your place in it, to truly feel the weight of your own situation. You dont understand, havent experienced, the abundance in the world, therefore you cant connect your own lacking to any particular feeling. It just was. My step father committed suicide when I was twelve. Different story. My mother received his life insurancepension, and since he had dual citizenship CanadianAmerican she received compensation from both countries. We were rich. My mom bought a house, a truck, pets, vacations to Disney World, Hawaii, jewelry, expensive paintings, extra curriculars. She worked a good job with the state, worked hard, but was a single parent to two demanding kids who had a taste of a lifestyle they wanted and who didnt understand the ramifications of maintaining it. And my mother, my sweet, sweet mama, didnt know how to manage a households finances. She had never had to. I didnt know then, but I know now, we werent living in a financially sustainable way. When I turned 18, a lot of that cash flow from the government stopped. I went to college, and took out loans to attend. I had no money saved to go to school, was an average student so didnt qualify for any academic scholarships, and my mother made too much money for me to qualify for any grants, need based scholarships, or even basic government funding. I took out private loans, and I took out the maximum amount every term. I graduated with 100,000 in student loan debt for my BS. I also graduated with spending habits that rivaled my mothers, and no frame of reference to understand how difficult I was making my future.I started my first job, working for a mission based organization I am passionate about. I make 31,250 a year. I love my job. My student loan payments are about half of my monthly income, with no option to defer or reduce payments. I have a budget, I stick to it religiously now, but I learned the long and difficult way to pay all my bills, all on time. I trialed and errored until I figured it out, but at the end of the month my bank account will read zero for at least three days. No savings. But getting by.Im living at home, with my mother again. And she told me she is filing bankruptcy. She is upside down on her mortgage, and her car. She cant pay her water bill anymore. And then it hit me. Im poor. Im poor. Im poor. Abject, sure. But still poor. And all of a sudden, I am responsible for myself. If I dont go to work, I dont get to eat. If I get sick, I cant go to the doctor. If my car breaks, I cant fix it. If I make another late payment to this loan, theyre sending it to collections. If my mom needs help paying her water bill, I cant. If I want to go to graduate school, I just cant. One thing they dont tell you when your young is that its okay to have dreams, but they cost money, so have that first.Im struggling to get out of this victim mindset. Nothing was done to me, the world does not owe me anything, and yet I cant help but feel helpless. To feel like I have no options. To feel as if any tiny slip will bring everything down around me. Im so overwhelmed and so isolated. And im poor.Its such a relief to say.  <response>: I think your story may be true for a lot of people ages 21-35. I am 25 and have a job working for the state with great benefits. However, with rent, car payments, student loans, utilities, gas for commuting, credit card debt and other bills -- i live nearly check to check. The crazy thing is I dont see this as a disadvantage. I dont feel helpless or even see myself as poor. Im just like everyone else. Living. Continue to cut back and budget, youd be surprised at what you can live without. This has helped me build my savings despite not having much extra money. With each check I pay myself first savings, then all of my bills, and live off of whats left. I also have 5-25 that automatically goes into a separate bank account maybe every two weeks. I call it my fun money. Its what I use to treat myself to something special every now and then -- movies, a new book, art supplies. It just reminds me that Im going to be ok. Try to stay positive. The way you see the world can greatly affect the choices you make. All you can do is take one day at a time. Set small financial goals for yourself and take your time meeting them. The world isnt over until its over so you gotta keep living until then. I hope youre able to take control of your situation. 