She always knew her salary wouldn’t be high but didn’t aspire to be rich. What she didn’t realize was that she would struggle to afford basic things like shelter and food

“It feels like I’ve been working harder and harder and sliding backwards down the scale,” she says.

Making $50k in a small town and still “scraping by” is scary. Maybe I’m just old, but I’d hoped that kind of income would be enough for some kind of comfort.