On "Life In Your 30's In The Bay Area Is Confusing"
Shockingly, another good read from The Bold Italic.
The author of this little dilly, Robin, is pretty spot on when discussing the many new-found difficulties you reach once you exit your twenties and enter your thirties. Shit like having a solid career on lock, getting married (or getting close to it), having babies, buying a home- all of the things you thought you'd never have to deal with until much much much later in life. Well.. my little twenty-something bubble has finally burst and these new-found "issues" seem to be popping up out of nowhere and truly, unexpectedly.
For instance, buying a new car. Not mentioned in her article, but certainly somewhat of a "major" purchase to some, such as myself. I've owned my cute little Magnesium Metallic 2004 Honda Civic LX since 2004 and it's only now that she's beginning to give me a headache and have a huge impact on my wallet. Sadly, there are a handful of people in their mid to late twenties that have already purchased or maybe even leased one to two cars by now, but my frugal ass is sticking with my baby civic until she goes kaputt. After a mini-breakdown with the car a few weeks ago, I decided that it was about that time to start looking into, or at least start considering getting a new(er) vehicle. Generally, folks around my age have pristine (or at least good enough) credit scores and a savings in place to do what they want, but this soon-to-be thirty-one year old is still trying to pay off credit card debt, school loans and still working on bumping up that god-awful number we call a credit score. I can't help but find myself feeling a little helpless and scared as hell because I personally, do not feel like I'm up to par the rest of America's thirty year old crowd. Is is because I live in a city where everyone seems to be suffering from the Peter Pan Syndrome? Or is it because I'm subpar to the rest of my peers? Either way, it's a shitty feeling and it does tend to put a little damper on my otherwise, upbeat spirit.
Anyhow.. I thank you Robin for putting this honest article out. I can attest that there are LOTS of us out there who totally feel your pain (and me being one of them).