Just a side note, it's wrong to believe that just because you don't have any money problem, your problems are not real or serious ("first world problem"). "Mone

Just a side note, it's wrong to believe that just because you don't have any money problem, your problems are not real or serious ("first world problem"). "Money doesn't buy happiness" might sound like an overused stereotype but it's very true. Especially when you don't have time to spend your money. "You basically just can't come in, bro up, stack up and get the f* out." Actually yes, you can. Just go easy on the $6 coffees, fancy restaurants (with pricey wine and lyft) and with a software engineer salary you should be able to save a few thousands a month. The problem is that you'll want to live the life that your friends/coworkers live, and they can be big spenders. So you restrain yourself, and after that you move to a place where housing is cheaper, and that's a nice downpayment for a house. You just need to figure out what you want to do. Stay in Silicon Valley? Move to some cheaper/quieter place? For your job, get a salaried position or go independant? Create your company? You're free to live the life you want, where you want, especially if you're a programmer (as I assume) because there's pretty much no unemployment in most countries. People here will often recommend you to go for the most ambitious path, create a startup, etc, but that's not the best path for everyone.