I got my first apartment at nineteen.

First real job.

First taste of freedom.

And I said yes to everything.

The apartment. The nights out. The spontaneous trips.

The things I had never been able to do before.

Not because I was reckless.

Because I finally could.

But nobody ever told me what that life was actually going to cost.

Nobody warned me about the hidden expenses.

Nobody showed me how to prepare before my lifestyle grew.

So I just kept betting on my future self to figure it out.

And every month the money disappeared.