Anonymous
05/12/2026 12:28
Subject: Anyone else feel like their idealistic parents didn't prepare them for adulthood?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I think it's interesting you blame your parents for being idealistic when you keep setting yourself up with sort of dreamy unrealistic plans now with the part time internship, fantasies about a loser professor... Maybe you need to start questioning YOUR decisions.
That's a good point.
Sorry to add to this, I understand that with things like poor choices in friends/boyfriends/creepy professor, that's all on me and it's time for me to take responsibility. Why would the part time internship be a dreamy or unrealistic plan? A part-time internship as an editorial assistant at a magazine is, what I thought, a good foray into journalism. I thought that this would be an effective way for me to get my foot in the door of the journalism world and work my way into something bigger. Why would that be a dreamy or unrealistic plan?
Not everything in life works out as planned. Plan for an emergency fund for at least 3 to 6 months of work and make sure its up to date at all times and your own account you don't share with a spouse. This will enable you to leave any dangerous situation or fall back on if you find yourself in one.
Anonymous
05/12/2026 12:24
Subject: Re:Anyone else feel like their idealistic parents didn't prepare them for adulthood?
To the OP - you are young - you still can learn from experts and learn good money habits - I would recommend that you read some books and listen to some podcasts about personal finance - I am sure DCUM has their preferences - you could try Suze Orman, Dave Ramsey, Ramit Sethi and others. Give yourself some grace - you are just starting out and you made some mistakes, everyone makes mistakes - learn from them and move forward. I don’t know your parents but it seems like most parents are trying their best too.
Anonymous
05/12/2026 12:08
Subject: Anyone else feel like their idealistic parents didn't prepare them for adulthood?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I think it's interesting you blame your parents for being idealistic when you keep setting yourself up with sort of dreamy unrealistic plans now with the part time internship, fantasies about a loser professor... Maybe you need to start questioning YOUR decisions.
That's a good point.
Sorry to add to this, I understand that with things like poor choices in friends/boyfriends/creepy professor, that's all on me and it's time for me to take responsibility. Why would the part time internship be a dreamy or unrealistic plan? A part-time internship as an editorial assistant at a magazine is, what I thought, a good foray into journalism. I thought that this would be an effective way for me to get my foot in the door of the journalism world and work my way into something bigger. Why would that be a dreamy or unrealistic plan?
"I cannot afford to pay for rent in my house by myself on a meager part-time journalism stipend" Your words. This sounds like a precarious living situation. How are you affording food, necessities, insurance, saving...?
Sorry, to clarify, my goal would be to have two roommates move in by the end of this month and get a second job (maybe as a server/barista) to help cut down on expenses.
Why do you not already have the barista job?
I kinda do -- I worked as a barista last summer and they said that they would hire me again after I graduate if I wanted to continue working there. So that's $3200/month in pay from the two part-time jobs combined, which should be enough to cover rent + living expenses if I were to get a few roommates (which might be hard).
I guess I don't understand why you do not do this year-round if you are currently in the city where you study and are going to stay for your internship. Isn't graduation basically right now? And this is what I mean by not being realistic. Once you are a young working adult, you have to really maximize your income/savings so you are not at the mercy of a roommate leaving, a high vet bill for your dog... You can only live a hustle/PT lifestyle if you really lean into it. Some people do and manage ery well. If not, you have to be honest with yourself about not wanting to get creative and hustling for income, and should consider something stable like teaching which would leave time for you to be creative on the side.
All good points. Thank you. I'll definitely be taking these into consideration. Yes, graduation is basically now. It freaks me out. I guess I'm just scared of adulthood after my last roommate abruptly moved out, throwing me into a financial crisis.
"Being scared" is totally fine, because it IS scary being a young adult. But what is not fine is doing nothing about it, concretely. You need to call the barista job today and get working.
Anonymous
05/12/2026 12:06
Subject: Re:Anyone else feel like their idealistic parents didn't prepare them for adulthood?
Parents cannot help is their kid is super horny and is guided by that.
Anonymous
05/12/2026 12:05
Subject: Anyone else feel like their idealistic parents didn't prepare them for adulthood?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I think it's interesting you blame your parents for being idealistic when you keep setting yourself up with sort of dreamy unrealistic plans now with the part time internship, fantasies about a loser professor... Maybe you need to start questioning YOUR decisions.
+1
And I find it awful that OP blames her parents all the while having her hand out with her mother helping financially.
I don't understand -- if my mom is offering me financial help, what's so bad about taking it? I definitely do need to stop with the parent blaming though; you're right about that.
Anonymous
05/12/2026 12:05
Subject: Anyone else feel like their idealistic parents didn't prepare them for adulthood?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I think it's interesting you blame your parents for being idealistic when you keep setting yourself up with sort of dreamy unrealistic plans now with the part time internship, fantasies about a loser professor... Maybe you need to start questioning YOUR decisions.
That's a good point.
Sorry to add to this, I understand that with things like poor choices in friends/boyfriends/creepy professor, that's all on me and it's time for me to take responsibility. Why would the part time internship be a dreamy or unrealistic plan? A part-time internship as an editorial assistant at a magazine is, what I thought, a good foray into journalism. I thought that this would be an effective way for me to get my foot in the door of the journalism world and work my way into something bigger. Why would that be a dreamy or unrealistic plan?
"I cannot afford to pay for rent in my house by myself on a meager part-time journalism stipend" Your words. This sounds like a precarious living situation. How are you affording food, necessities, insurance, saving...?
Sorry, to clarify, my goal would be to have two roommates move in by the end of this month and get a second job (maybe as a server/barista) to help cut down on expenses.
Why do you not already have the barista job?
I kinda do -- I worked as a barista last summer and they said that they would hire me again after I graduate if I wanted to continue working there. So that's $3200/month in pay from the two part-time jobs combined, which should be enough to cover rent + living expenses if I were to get a few roommates (which might be hard).
I guess I don't understand why you do not do this year-round if you are currently in the city where you study and are going to stay for your internship. Isn't graduation basically right now? And this is what I mean by not being realistic. Once you are a young working adult, you have to really maximize your income/savings so you are not at the mercy of a roommate leaving, a high vet bill for your dog... You can only live a hustle/PT lifestyle if you really lean into it. Some people do and manage ery well. If not, you have to be honest with yourself about not wanting to get creative and hustling for income, and should consider something stable like teaching which would leave time for you to be creative on the side.
All good points. Thank you. I'll definitely be taking these into consideration. Yes, graduation is basically now. It freaks me out. I guess I'm just scared of adulthood after my last roommate abruptly moved out, throwing me into a financial crisis.
Anonymous
05/12/2026 12:00
Subject: Anyone else feel like their idealistic parents didn't prepare them for adulthood?
Anonymous wrote:I think it's interesting you blame your parents for being idealistic when you keep setting yourself up with sort of dreamy unrealistic plans now with the part time internship, fantasies about a loser professor... Maybe you need to start questioning YOUR decisions.
+1
And I find it awful that OP blames her parents all the while having her hand out with her mother helping financially.
Anonymous
05/12/2026 11:55
Subject: Anyone else feel like their idealistic parents didn't prepare them for adulthood?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I think it's interesting you blame your parents for being idealistic when you keep setting yourself up with sort of dreamy unrealistic plans now with the part time internship, fantasies about a loser professor... Maybe you need to start questioning YOUR decisions.
That's a good point.
Sorry to add to this, I understand that with things like poor choices in friends/boyfriends/creepy professor, that's all on me and it's time for me to take responsibility. Why would the part time internship be a dreamy or unrealistic plan? A part-time internship as an editorial assistant at a magazine is, what I thought, a good foray into journalism. I thought that this would be an effective way for me to get my foot in the door of the journalism world and work my way into something bigger. Why would that be a dreamy or unrealistic plan?
"I cannot afford to pay for rent in my house by myself on a meager part-time journalism stipend" Your words. This sounds like a precarious living situation. How are you affording food, necessities, insurance, saving...?
Sorry, to clarify, my goal would be to have two roommates move in by the end of this month and get a second job (maybe as a server/barista) to help cut down on expenses.
Why do you not already have the barista job?
I kinda do -- I worked as a barista last summer and they said that they would hire me again after I graduate if I wanted to continue working there. So that's $3200/month in pay from the two part-time jobs combined, which should be enough to cover rent + living expenses if I were to get a few roommates (which might be hard).
I guess I don't understand why you do not do this year-round if you are currently in the city where you study and are going to stay for your internship. Isn't graduation basically right now? And this is what I mean by not being realistic. Once you are a young working adult, you have to really maximize your income/savings so you are not at the mercy of a roommate leaving, a high vet bill for your dog... You can only live a hustle/PT lifestyle if you really lean into it. Some people do and manage ery well. If not, you have to be honest with yourself about not wanting to get creative and hustling for income, and should consider something stable like teaching which would leave time for you to be creative on the side.
Anonymous
05/12/2026 11:50
Subject: Anyone else feel like their idealistic parents didn't prepare them for adulthood?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I think it's interesting you blame your parents for being idealistic when you keep setting yourself up with sort of dreamy unrealistic plans now with the part time internship, fantasies about a loser professor... Maybe you need to start questioning YOUR decisions.
That's a good point.
Sorry to add to this, I understand that with things like poor choices in friends/boyfriends/creepy professor, that's all on me and it's time for me to take responsibility. Why would the part time internship be a dreamy or unrealistic plan? A part-time internship as an editorial assistant at a magazine is, what I thought, a good foray into journalism. I thought that this would be an effective way for me to get my foot in the door of the journalism world and work my way into something bigger. Why would that be a dreamy or unrealistic plan?
"I cannot afford to pay for rent in my house by myself on a meager part-time journalism stipend" Your words. This sounds like a precarious living situation. How are you affording food, necessities, insurance, saving...?
Sorry, to clarify, my goal would be to have two roommates move in by the end of this month and get a second job (maybe as a server/barista) to help cut down on expenses.
Why do you not already have the barista job?
I kinda do -- I worked as a barista last summer and they said that they would hire me again after I graduate if I wanted to continue working there. So that's $3200/month in pay from the two part-time jobs combined, which should be enough to cover rent + living expenses if I were to get a few roommates (which might be hard).
Anonymous
05/12/2026 11:46
Subject: Anyone else feel like their idealistic parents didn't prepare them for adulthood?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I think it's interesting you blame your parents for being idealistic when you keep setting yourself up with sort of dreamy unrealistic plans now with the part time internship, fantasies about a loser professor... Maybe you need to start questioning YOUR decisions.
That's a good point.
Sorry to add to this, I understand that with things like poor choices in friends/boyfriends/creepy professor, that's all on me and it's time for me to take responsibility. Why would the part time internship be a dreamy or unrealistic plan? A part-time internship as an editorial assistant at a magazine is, what I thought, a good foray into journalism. I thought that this would be an effective way for me to get my foot in the door of the journalism world and work my way into something bigger. Why would that be a dreamy or unrealistic plan?
"I cannot afford to pay for rent in my house by myself on a meager part-time journalism stipend" Your words. This sounds like a precarious living situation. How are you affording food, necessities, insurance, saving...?
Sorry, to clarify, my goal would be to have two roommates move in by the end of this month and get a second job (maybe as a server/barista) to help cut down on expenses.
Why do you not already have the barista job?
Anonymous
05/12/2026 11:45
Subject: Anyone else feel like their idealistic parents didn't prepare them for adulthood?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I think it's interesting you blame your parents for being idealistic when you keep setting yourself up with sort of dreamy unrealistic plans now with the part time internship, fantasies about a loser professor... Maybe you need to start questioning YOUR decisions.
That's a good point.
Sorry to add to this, I understand that with things like poor choices in friends/boyfriends/creepy professor, that's all on me and it's time for me to take responsibility. Why would the part time internship be a dreamy or unrealistic plan? A part-time internship as an editorial assistant at a magazine is, what I thought, a good foray into journalism. I thought that this would be an effective way for me to get my foot in the door of the journalism world and work my way into something bigger. Why would that be a dreamy or unrealistic plan?
"I cannot afford to pay for rent in my house by myself on a meager part-time journalism stipend" Your words. This sounds like a precarious living situation. How are you affording food, necessities, insurance, saving...?
Sorry, to clarify, my goal would be to have two roommates move in by the end of this month and get a second job (maybe as a server/barista) to help cut down on expenses.
Anonymous
05/12/2026 11:41
Subject: Anyone else feel like their idealistic parents didn't prepare them for adulthood?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I think it's interesting you blame your parents for being idealistic when you keep setting yourself up with sort of dreamy unrealistic plans now with the part time internship, fantasies about a loser professor... Maybe you need to start questioning YOUR decisions.
That's a good point.
Sorry to add to this, I understand that with things like poor choices in friends/boyfriends/creepy professor, that's all on me and it's time for me to take responsibility. Why would the part time internship be a dreamy or unrealistic plan? A part-time internship as an editorial assistant at a magazine is, what I thought, a good foray into journalism. I thought that this would be an effective way for me to get my foot in the door of the journalism world and work my way into something bigger. Why would that be a dreamy or unrealistic plan?
"I cannot afford to pay for rent in my house by myself on a meager part-time journalism stipend" Your words. This sounds like a precarious living situation. How are you affording food, necessities, insurance, saving...?
Anonymous
05/12/2026 11:39
Subject: Anyone else feel like their idealistic parents didn't prepare them for adulthood?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I think it's interesting you blame your parents for being idealistic when you keep setting yourself up with sort of dreamy unrealistic plans now with the part time internship, fantasies about a loser professor... Maybe you need to start questioning YOUR decisions.
That's a good point.
Sorry to add to this, I understand that with things like poor choices in friends/boyfriends/creepy professor, that's all on me and it's time for me to take responsibility. Why would the part time internship be a dreamy or unrealistic plan? A part-time internship as an editorial assistant at a magazine is, what I thought, a good foray into journalism. I thought that this would be an effective way for me to get my foot in the door of the journalism world and work my way into something bigger. Why would that be a dreamy or unrealistic plan?
Anonymous
05/12/2026 11:08
Subject: Anyone else feel like their idealistic parents didn't prepare them for adulthood?
Time to grow up buttercup.
Anonymous
05/12/2026 10:59
Subject: Anyone else feel like their idealistic parents didn't prepare them for adulthood?
Anonymous wrote:I think it's interesting you blame your parents for being idealistic when you keep setting yourself up with sort of dreamy unrealistic plans now with the part time internship, fantasies about a loser professor... Maybe you need to start questioning YOUR decisions.
That's a good point.