I worked at the university to obtain diplomas without debt

In 2007, I was in my Third year of college at the CRF in Miami, studying environmental sciences. I knew that I would not get my diploma with a well -paid job, so I did not want to obtain my diploma with a student loan debt.

I worked two part -time office jobs and went to school full time. I paid for tuition fees and was completely financially independentThis meant that I was responsible for my own rent, public services, grocery store and car expenses. Since I lived alone and I didn’t have a roommate, I had no one with whom to divide the expenses.

THE recession seemed to occur during the night, with the cost of my rent, my grocery store and my gas that goes up from day to day. Since I already lived from month to month, the increase in expenses led me to feel a massive quantity of stress.

I started to have episodes where I felt weak and experienced heart palpitations. I know now I was live panic.

I lived in Miami, where there was always a place to be

I loved Miami. It was my house all my life, and all my friends lived there, but even before the recession, I always felt as if I would never take it forward. There was always a party to go, an invitation to the last -minute dinner, or a concert I wanted to attend, so the minimum money I had stayed after my bills were paid seemed to be out as quickly as it was going to arrive. Even when I did my best to budget, something has always come, as needed to buy something to wear for an event or have to divide the bill with friends in a restaurant.

I started to think a lot about what my future would keep if I continued to live in Miami. Even after obtaining the diploma, I could not see many changes in terms of finances. I would probably rent forever, unable to save for a house.

But what bothered me the most was the amount of pressure I felt. Since I could never save money, I was worried about the speed with which things could go wrong if I fell ill even for a week and I could not go to work.

I made a dramatic change to reduce my expenses

Meanwhile, I visited a family who had moved a few hours north of Miami every two months. It was a dramatically different way of life in the small town in which they lived now, with less trafficking and less noise. I surprised myself calculating how cheaper and allowed me to imagine a different lifestyle.

I ended up moving during the summer with my partner at the time and finding a house to rent together. The fact that we could allow ourselves a house for less than what I paid for an apartment in a room had the impression that things were improving. We each obtained jobs that we appreciated, did not have to work as much and were able to spend more time together. We have even been able to afford more grocery store and started to save money again. It was the most important part of our plan, because we finally wanted to leave the state once we saved enough money to do so.

It worked well at first, but I finally questioned my decisions

At the time, it seemed to be a temporary change, but it changed the course of my life forever. I could not transfer to local college, so my diploma was suspended indefinitely. I went from the impression of finally moving in the right direction to feel stuck again. Once a few years passed, I started to miss the house and I wondered if I should have collar and I found a way to support my life as it was. Why, for example, had I not decided to get a roommate or simply take a semester to destroy yourself and save money before returning?

Related stories

Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know

Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know

Finally, I had my son, which changed everything for me. I did not want to leave the family I had nearby, and once again, I knew that I could never afford the life I wanted to have with my son somewhere with a higher cost of living. I started to do my best to get the most out of the situation, and I ended up never leaving the region.

The recession has resulted more for me than just higher prices

I always look at the recession as a turning point in my life. As I could already afford my life barely because it was when the higher prices reached, it led me to make dramatic changes that I would not have otherwise.

Although I am certainly not unhappy with the way my life has proven, I know that it would have been very different if the recession had not had such a delicate financial time for me.