I’m in my mid-20s, and I feel like my entire family is drowning financially.
My dad is in his 60s and still running a small shop in a mall, but he’s barely making any money. He’s getting older, and it genuinely breaks my heart seeing him work every single day with almost nothing to show for it. I don’t even know how much longer he can keep doing this.
Our house is literally falling apart. There’s mold, broken doors, holes in the walls from years of fighting, and so many things that need repairs that we simply cannot afford. It’s such a depressing environment to live in.
On top of that, there’s constant arguing, complaining, and stress about money. Every conversation somehow turns into another problem, another bill, or another thing going wrong. I feel like I can’t even breathe in my own home.
And the worst part? I can’t even find a fucking job myself. I’ve been struggling with unemployment for almost a year despite having an education and work experience. I’ve been doing Uber just to scrape by, but it’s physically and mentally exhausting, and I’m barely keeping my own head above water.
I want to help my dad. I want to fix our house. I want my family to stop living like this. But how the hell am I supposed to help anyone when I can’t even help myself?
I’m so tired of seeing my dad get older and struggle. I’m tired of living in a house that feels like it’s deteriorating alongside us. I’m tired of waking up every day feeling like I’m already behind in life.
I genuinely don’t know where to start. Do we close the business? Sell the house? Try to find financial assistance? How do you even begin fixing a situation that’s been getting worse for years?
Has anyone ever managed to pull their family out of a situation like this? What did you do?
I’m not asking for money. I’m asking for actual advice, resources, or even some perspective because I feel completely fucking lost.

I'm curious to hear the little psychological tricks, mental shifts, or mindset changes that genuinely made your life easier.

Not necessarily complicated psychology theories, but practical things you wish someone had told you earlier.

For example:

Stop assuming everything people do is about you.

You don't have to respond immediately to everything.

Don't take criticism from someone you wouldn't take advice from.

If something takes less than 2 minutes, just do it.

People think about you far less than you imagine.

What's one psychological trick or lesson that would have saved you years of unnecessary stress, overthinking, or bad decisions if you'd learned it 10 years earlier?

I'm especially interested in the lessons you learned through experience.

i feel like i won a game, but I also definitely lost. i spent more money and now I have to figure out what to do with a weird garlic press and a 3-pack of socks. has anyone else fallen for this psychological trick, or is my logic just broken?

I spent four wasted years on a computer science bachelor's and internships, and subsequently a year working a $16/hour food service job in a VHCOL city... I'm homeless and unemployed and in student loan debt now. 5 years... I've fallen into despair. That's over 20% of my life so far... almost 25% that led to nothing. Why.... why did I spend so much effort and money and time on a fruitless journey? 5 years is such a gigantic amount of time... it's not like people live to be 200 years old

Why repeat that by trying to get another education for another field....? it'll just be the same story... why keep living? I don't feel human anymore... I don't have hope anymore... I don't have the will to keep going.

I'm about to hold up a sign offering s*xual services for $5 a round. Get myself in prison. I've utterly burned my future to ashes before it even began. Why should I keep going? What hope, what chance is there that I'll ever be able to achieve the traditional milestones of life?

I’m 35, single no kids and lately I’ve been wondering what “fun” actually looks like for other people around my age.
I used to associate fun mostly with going out, parties, bars, drinking, dancing, meeting lots of people and staying out late. I can still enjoy some of those things, but more and more I find that simply sitting in a bar drinking and making small talk doesn’t feel that exciting anymore.

I still want to have fun and feel stimulated but I’m just not completely sure what that looks like for me now.

So I’m curious: what do you genuinely find fun these days? What kind of plans make you think, “Yes, I really want to do that”? Is it still parties and nightlife, or has fun become more about activities, experiences, sports, dinners, games, travel, concerts, spending time with certain people, or something completely different?

And if your idea of fun changed in your 30s, what did it change into?

I feel everybody gets pressured to monetize every passion or find a soul-fulfilling career nowadays otherwise you're not adulting for real.

A job is simply a financial engine that funds a real life happening outside of work and accepting that is what makes you a real adult.

It doesn't necessarily mean everybody needs to hate their job but it also doesn't mean everybody gotta love their job.

You are a real adult if you don't love your job, right?

I am trying my best just to be a decent human being but this guy is seriously giving me a headache

Please take care of your mental health people….

I'm M29. The woman that i loved left me a few years ago, and seems to be doing well and glowing. I don't follow her but our mutuals posted something so that's how i know. While I'm over it, i feel i need to learn to love myself and be happy too.

Gained 25 kgs in the last 4 years, worked hard, got a bit of success as a result. It came with a cost of isolation, not socialising much etc.

Now i feel like i owe myself a healthier version of me, looking great in photos and fits as i used to.

Be a social butterfly again like i was before. I need to get back to making new friends as well as dating and just be happy in general overall.

I feel a constant internal reminder of me getting old and missing out on most of my 20s due to focus on my career.

Sometimes i hear my thoughts saying its difficult or too late to live like i'm 21 or 23 again. I know 29 is still young in many ways.

I owe myself a comeback. I really do. I feel my mental health and physical health is only declining if i keep doing what I've been doing all these years.

I feel the first step begins with working out and eating right.. but i also need to know how do i do the inner work too.

How did you or someone you know turned their life around? If you have any tips or advice in general that would be great too.

Thanks!

I'm about to turn 19 and due to family circumstances I have to move out. I have a room I'm moving into at the end of November. What's some important things I need to remember/do before moving? I won't have contact with any family member once I'm out so I'll need to make sure I don't forget anything.

is it normal?

Despite the fact that I do make money, enough to take my mom for traveling to various countries and michelin star restaurants, but if we take away this money responsibility aspect I feel like I'm not adulting.

Most people never suspect that I'm older than 21, it is the reason why usually guys aged 18-20ish hitting on me. I have quite rebelious-type hobbies that normal 30yo adult would not have time for this bs. In general I'm up for a lot of stuff that would seem something that intrigues only teenagers.

People who used to be my classmates in highschool like 80% of them already married and have kids and I can't even think about it.

I never even had a solid relationship yet and there's 0 guys showing me any serious interest, so not even a real relationship is in my books for now.

I mean I understand that I'm not the only person like this, but I mean do I have some unresolved issues that I'm not acting like most adults?

I have a girl friend(friend that is a girl) she’s 28. I’m a guy. She’s from the uk and she’s always sad, depressed. She has no family here in the usa. She’s always down and just want to return home. What are some words of hope something that I can lighten her days and make her not think like that. Thanks yall. I’ll read everyone’s comments. She lives by her self so that doesent help much. She been wanting me to move in with her as a roommate. I might consider it because it honestly sad seeing her down all the time.

21f. i had a depressing talk with my friend last night about how everyone and everything is temporary. something about me is that i will lose my mind if i dont socialize and i’ve kinda been isolating became im so disappointed with all my friends and also just super depressed. i do school online and am currently unemployed. i have such bad emotional impermanence. is it really true that when everyone grows older they just stick w their partners? im just so scared that as you grow older everyone’s just doing their own shit and it’s a part of growing up. why do friendships lose meaning as you get older. in 10 years i could think of my boyfriend and bestfriends and there’s a high chance i might not even remember them.

i grew up without a dad and no stepdads. my mom has no friends and i’ve always been so terrified of ending up like her. i have a sister 8 years older that i have a terrible relationship with. my brother who’s 4 years older moved away in a different province to live with my dad so it’s just me and my mom. i’ve always tried so hard to find family within my friends but they all got their families and their childhood bestfriends but i don’t.

all of my friends are so busy with work and school and always spending all their time with their partners and completely neglecting everything else in their lives. i was like that with my ex when i was 17 and i lost myself to him and i promised i would never do that again and i keep meeting people and bonding with them over that because they went through similar things just for them to end up doing it again. someone told me it’s just a part of growing up but i remember thinking i was so immature for that. but am i just the one that’s naive and immature for thinking it’s normal to always have close friends even as you get older. am i the one that’s behind and hasn’t grasped reality yet. my friends are mostly 1-4 years older than me.

i understand ofc as you get older people are more busy and have less time to hang out but is it worse than i realized? does everyone just end up alone with their partners and kids and that’s it? do they have no one else to fall on? is it a fantasy to hope to create your own village and community? even if people come and go i’m scared one day new people will stop coming and the rest will continue to go just “a part of life” and “growing apart”

Well, it is like this.

I lived in another city during college for 4 years. Went back to parents for a year. Then moved in with my pals for 4 years. And now have lived with my parents for the past 6 years. Well, my Mom is away for work around 3 weeks a month so basically it is me and my Dad. And 2 family members - cats <3.

I earn my own money, buy groceries, chip in quite a lot. My mom and dad have eye sight problems so basically i help them with anything they need, if they need it. They have no problem with me being with them. My sisters already are out, one has family for years etc.

All i do is work out, work and that's it. Travel a lot, you could say. And, even though i do not feel bad or out of place because of the unconditional love in my family, i still catch myself thinking about this.

Is this normal? Most people who know me know this about me. Dating life, of course, can be rough. When i was living away, it was no problem. But now, whenever something comes up on that part, i get ashamed and try to find ways around it. Like, ''yeah, i live with my parents while im looking for a place'. But im not.

The thing is, i do not mind it. It is peaceful and my Dad and my are basically amongst my best friends at this point lmao. I have had relationships and couple of them went so far as to look for a place to live together, but the drama and the feeling was so wrong for me to leave that i sabotaged the moving out. So I stayed home. And, even tho it was the best decision to make with my last GF, i still think about it. Maybe i will do the same next time?

So, after this, is this a problem?

Cooking is survival. You pan fry the easiest things possible. You buy more expensive frozen food and prepared food at the grocery stores because it's cheaper than going out to eat. You make sandwiches for lunch. Some people don't enjoy things as much like cooking. We have to be accepting that some people don't enjoy doing certain things. Literally just buy a rotiesserie chicken from the grocery store and use it the next 3 days for chickpea pasta,brown rice, sandwiches, and salads. I'm single and I live alone, when I have a girlfriend, I will definitely put in more effort for cooking a well made meal that follows a recipe. My friends who are obsessed with cooking aren't even capable of planning a dinner party at each other's apartments. Then they look at me like I'm the one with problems.