r/DadForAMinute • u/Unlucky-hobby-2046 • 8h ago
All Family advice welcome 25M in college, doing well academically but struggling to enjoy life after cutting expenses.
I’m 25, turning 26 next month, and currently attending university away from home.
Academically, I’m doing well. I have straight As, I’m working towards a career in federal law enforcement, and I’m trying to be responsible with my finances.
But I’ve accumulated credit card debt, and I’ve had to cut most of my entertainment subscriptions, including my cloud gaming service. My laptop can’t run most of the games I actually enjoy.
I know cutting expenses is the right decision. I can’t spend money I don’t have.
The problem is that my college experience has already been pretty lonely. I don’t have much of a social life here, and gaming was one of the things I genuinely looked forward to after studying.
Now my evenings and weekends feel empty. I can write, read, watch films, or play a couple of older games, but I’m struggling to find anything to look forward to.
I spent tonight getting angry about it, but eventually realised that being angry won’t change my bank balance.
I don’t want to abandon my education or make my debt worse. I just don’t want the next several months to consist entirely of studying, boredom, and sleeping.
Dads, how would you approach this? How do you build an enjoyable life when you’re young, broke, living alone, and trying to do the responsible thing?