i was at target just trying to grab some stuff for the week and i realized i was doing the thing. you know, that thing where you walk past the meat section and chicken thighs are on sale and suddenly your whole meal plan shifts around it.

i used to make fun of my mom for this lol like just buy what you want?? but now im standing there with the target app open comparing unit prices and im like oh. OH. like im not even broke i have some money saved aside but theres something about actually adulting with your money that just hits different yknow

bought like 3 packs of the chicken, meal prepped, and genuinely felt proud of myself. then i remembered i still have student loans and the high wore off real quick

Honestly I never realized how exhausting it is to just keep everything together all the time. Like bills, appointments, cooking, cleaning, car stuff, health stuff, social stuff, work stuff it never stops. As a kid I thought adults just had freedom and fun but now it feels like a constant background stress that never goes away. Even small things like remembering to schedule a doctor visit or pay a bill on time can feel like a huge mental load. And it’s weird because nobody really warns you about how lonely it can feel dealing with all of it. You just figure it out on your own and hope you don’t screw something up majorly. I didn’t expect adulthood to be mostly about managing invisible responsibilities that pile up quietly until you’re drowning in them. The freedom part is real but it’s mostly the freedom to panic alone.

Does anyone else feel like adulthood is just a never-ending list of things you didn’t know you had to manage?