I make $72k a year and I feel like I am drowning.

I remember being a kid and thinking making $70,000 a year meant you were "rich." Like, new car, house in the suburbs, vacation-every-year rich.

I hit that salary milestone this year. I should be happy. Instead, I sat in my car in the grocery store parking lot today and cried because I spent $12 on a stick of deodorant and a generic bag of coffee.

It’s not that I’m bad with money. I don’t have a flashy car (I drive a 2014 Honda). I don’t go on trips. I don’t buy $8 lattes. I meal prep chicken and rice.

But after taxes, insurance (which is useless because my deductible is insane), student loans, and rent ($1,850 for a 1-bedroom that hasn't been updated since the 90s), I have nothing left.

My parents keep asking when I’m going to buy a house. They bought their first home making barely above minimum wage in the 80s. I tried to explain to my dad that I can't save for a down payment when I can barely save $200 a month, and he just told me I need to "stop ordering UberEats." I haven't ordered delivery in six months.

I feel like I’m running on a treadmill that keeps speeding up, and I’m just waiting to faceplant. Is this it? Is this just what life is now?