‘I Felt Staying In Debt And Earning Low Wages Was The Norm’

By: Chonce Maddox

Have you ever dated someone who was no good for you, but you just couldn’t seem to end the relationship, so it dragged on forever? Or maybe you have a friend who insisted on staying with a loser simply because it was “comfortable,” even though both parties knew the relationship was going nowhere.

Just as we do in our relationships with other people, we may sometimes settle for less in our relationship with our finances.

There are a few reasons why this happens:

Not Feeling Worthy

Growing up, finances were rocky in my family. Almost everyone I knew was struggling with money or faking as if they weren’t. My parents did the best they could when it came to raising us, but I knew there was nothing left for college if I had wanted to further my education.

I expected to take out student loans, which wasn’t the issue, but I accepted being in debt for a while and never even considered trying to achieve debt freedom.

It may sound silly, but at that time in my life, I felt that my fate was sealed, and that staying in debt and earning low wages was the norm. I settled because I didn’t believe I was worthy of anything better.

Lack of Confidence

Lack of confidence not only lowers your self-esteem, but it can cause you to settle for your current unhappy situation when you don’t have to. You may be afraid to stand up for yourself and ask for a raise or seek out better paying jobs because you don’t believe in yourself or your abilities to begin with.

Kayla Sloan, a freelancer and the owner of the personal finance blog Shoeaholic No More, has dealt with lack of confidence before in her career.

“In the past, I’ve settled for less than my ideal rate when working with new freelance clients,” Kayla says.

Being Too Anxious

Sometimes good things in your life may not appear on your own terms. If you are too anxious, you may end up cutting yourself short.

“I settled for a lower-paying job because I was unemployed at the time due to the recession,” says Kristin, a business owner and Pinterest marketing expert who runs the website Believe In a Budget. “I was desperate to earn any kind of income, so I totally agreed to a job that had low wages and no benefits. I was also lacking in self-confidence and had convinced myself that my self-worth value was low.”

Jason, a freelancer and owner of the personal finance blog The Butler Journal, had a similar experience.

“A few years ago, when I was deciding if I wanted to work full-time again, I took a part-time job paying barely above minimum wage,” Jason says.

“My savings account was getting very low and I didn’t even know what I wanted to do at that time. I just knew I needed money and fast.”

It’s Easier

I admit that sometimes settling for less financially is the easier option. It’s much less stressful to settle for lower wages and get comfortable with your situation than to push for a raise.

“After a year and a half at a stressful job, I decided to take a pay cut to move to a much calmer work environment where there was less pressure,” says Erin, a freelancer who created the website Journey to Saving. “At first, it was worth the decrease in pay, as I was getting close to burning out at my previous job. Ironically, though, the new job wasn’t fulfilling and challenging, and I knew I needed to make more money to get ahead, so I made the jump to self-employment, where I could set my own rates.”

After realizing that settling for less wasn’t so easy to deal with long-term, Erin worked her way up in the freelancing world and now enjoys work that is flexible, pays well, and is challenging.

Settling Holds You Back

Like Erin, the other people I interviewed agree that settling for less with our finances holds us back.

While it may provide a brief sense of comfort at first, settling for less denies us what we deserve.

Check out CentSai.com to finish reading this article and to read other personal stories about finance.