From Lower Middle Class to Financially Stable

Sometimes people see a personal finance blogger striving for financial independence and think that we must have grown up with well-off or financially savvy parents. 

That isn’t always the case. I’d classify my parents as lower middle class, and let’s just say I didn’t learn any positive financial skills from them! 

I honestly don’t know my household income when I was younger. My parents owned a home in the southern suburbs of Chicago. We always had food to eat, we got lovely Christmases, and we went on vacation (camping) a few times per year

Growing Up Lower Middle Class

However, we did live across the street from some pretty terrifying apartments that had cops patrolling more often than not.  I’m also pretty sure our neighbor across the alley got busted for dealing LSD.

Not Quite The Best

it was far from the worst. We could play outside without fear as long as we stayed away from the apartments, which is a luxury a lot of kids didn’t have.

But Not the Worst

Unfortunately, when I was still in grade school, my father lost his job with the insurance company. My parents turned to paper delivery to make a living.

Dad Losses His Job

My parents got divorced when I was in high school. My dad kept the business and was able to rent a home from his sister, while my mom had nothing.

A Divorce

My siblings and I learned very different things from this upbringing. My brother learned that he could get by with working until he dies. I went the opposite way. I saw that my parents were barely keeping their heads above water and decided that wasn’t what I wanted for my future.

15 Years Later

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