I'm considered “well ahead in life” as I have my car paid off (although it's quite broken and in need of regular maintenance too) and I have a small home with a mortgage.
Even with that in mind, my wage job pays exactly enough for me to get by and my credit card debt only increase by a few dollars each month
But I'm struggling more elsewhere. I hate my job. Year after year we lose a supervisor (usually fired for violating a policy, or they leave for better pay/benefits elsewhere) and I train the replacement to be the perfect boss, (for me and my team) my leadership operationally has always been far and above budgeted output and we regularly support the rest of our warehouse.
I learned to code within our warehouse management software and automated quite a few departmental tasks, which increased productivity and reduced role complexity (it was so I could work less for the same pay and focus on writing on the clock but I've had so many responsibilities added I can't do that anymore)
I want to get free but I know I can't handle a gap in pay, along with 1 additional issue, I'm supporting my brother who lives with me by driving him to work, which is where I work as that works the best logistically. Which means if I change jobs and lose out on pay he likely will have to as well.