How do people stay above water, financially? How hard was it for you, is it still hard?

This is a question that has a lot of other questions. This is for younger people, or I guess older too, who don’t have any college degrees and are just working. How do you find it possible to stay “above water” ?

I live in Los Angeles, so everything is very expensive. I can only imagine how more it must be in great old New York.

Anyway, how do you survive? How do you stay motivated and positive, when it seems each month you are barely getting by, and living from “paycheck to paycheck”? I guess I’d like to know what other young adults my age are doing, who don’t have kids, or don’t have advanced degrees yet.

Do you live with your family to save money? Do you need to ask or borrow money from parents? Do you save as much as possible?

I did the math and with minimum wage in California, even if you were working 8 Hour-Days, for 6 days a week, for a month, you’d make 1,536—- which would be barely getting by if you were renting a room (which is about 800$ for renting JUST a room), and spending 300$ on food a month, 200$ for gas, and 200$ for “fun or outings”... I know people can live this way, but it seems really hard.

How do people make it ? Sometimes I get really stressed out just worrying “What if I can’t pay rent on time?”. What do people do to bring in more income, and is it just all about saving?

Do you find it easier to just live at home with family, rent free and save (or pay some rent and/or help/groceries) than to live on your own?