Once I Can Make Ends Meet, the Ends Move.

I am 20 years old, and not by much either. For the past 2 years I have been a student, attending an institution of higher learning, in hopes of obtaining a career to fill my life with. For the past month and a half, I have been working my first ever full time job, and planning on taking the next semester off for financial reasons. When I first began this newest job of mine, I ended up in a conversation discussing the purchase of a home. Due to my ignorance in the financial world, I was under the impression that I was making enough money for myself and with the help of another (aka, buying a home after getting married) I could easily make payments for a small home with the jobs I am currently working. Unfortunately, when you see your paycheck, you realize that you are not making as much as you believed you were. Payments on paper are one thing, but once you actually obtain the money, not only did you think it would be more, but you realize that things work differently in the real world. Working things out on paper gives you a relatively false sense of reality. Once you have money, it is not as easy to follow a strict financial plan. You have money so a candy bar here, or dinner for the two of you there does not seem to cause any harm. After all expenses are paid and you look at you account balances, you wonder where so much of that 'large paycheck' went. Following a life pattern of such shows me that first, I need to get back on the right track financially. Second, I am in no position to make life changing purchases. I am passing through the phase we all do, thinking that I am old enough, I am an adult, and there are 'adult things' I can accomplish on my own. False. There is a reason we are taught to extend our learning beyond the walls of our high schools. The best idea I can think of is to keep our minds on the fact we are adults now, the fact that we are very quickly on our way to becoming 'true' adults with careers and families and financial responsibilities, with more accountability that we have ever had before. It is somewhat true that paying rent is wasting money. Why pay money to someone when you get no return on the investment. Think of how long you have been renting, all the money you have given to the landlord, and think of how much money that could have been towards purchasing a home, something that will be yours and, once paid off, gives you a real sense of security. It's a bit sad, really. But life just works that way sometimes, and all we can do is go with the flow, and get a grip when we can. (Wish me luck in life changes.)