"We have a fixation with money because most of us are one medical emergency away from being bankrupt."

"One of my buddies is a new father, and he's trying to get some anime podcast off the ground as a side hustle on top of his full-time maintenance job."

"Same. I make more money than ever and still feel underwater. I wonder how people with kids even get by these days."

"It's wild how immediately after getting a raise I have no idea how I survived before it."

"Yup. I’m in my 40s and female, but have so much trauma from how things were when I was younger. Grew up pretty poor and always working. Then graduating college right into a recession was hard. Feels like I’ve never had stability or even know what that’s like. Lived paycheck to paycheck until about three years ago. I still watch money and have panic attacks about it though, especially in this economy. Always worried about the future. My husband and I are not rich either. We just live well within our means, and having only one child, that is now 20, makes it easier."

"Four years ago, we pocketed an ass load of cash from our house sale, and moved across the country. The money was gone within months.

This is our culture. Our American consumption culture. This is what we're taught from day one, and beat into our heads throughout our life. What is your value? What's your cost per hour?

You don't have kids, cause they cost money. Money drives our culture. If it didn't, we would have healthcare. Unfortunately, our culture demands that someone should make a dollar from your illness."

Happy smiling children laughing together using a tablet device

"I think it's overblown how many people are living outside their means but that doesn't mean millions of folks have money problems that are largely self-induced either.

Lots of us millennials were raised pretty comfortably and don't want to or even know how to go backwards from that with our own families, and I don't blame anyone. Lowering standards is hard to wrap your mind around."

Please note: some comments have been edited for length and/or clarity.