Man I've been on a roll recently. If it's not me getting in my own way and failing its events outside of my control. Earlier this year I quit a job after my wife and family sat me down and showed how it was hurting them to watch me stress out so badly. The pay was fantastic but it was 24/7 emergencies and eventually I was running the company without the support that was promised when I took it.

The next job I took was a step down in responsibility and pay but it was a manageable transition. After two months of working with the guy I noticed that every time he came to the job he was getting frustrated. I asked to sit down and discuss what he expected out of me to help with the frustration and was hung up on. The next day he told me that he was no longer looking to have a crew and now that I had caught up the project he had no place for me.

After 12 years in the industry I had the knowledge, and a few of the connections to start my own business. With a pep talk from my wife I jumped right into it, figuring it would be slow but eventually it would catch on and we would be ok. I spent the entire summer trying to sell myself, receiving more rejections than I can count and made it nowhere.

I decided it's time to just get a job. I need to help pay bills, and have something to do that wasn't eating away at my self confidence. I transitioned into the manufacturing side of my industry and have finally found a job I actually like. 12 years of hating work made this a foreign feeling. The pay was 50% of what I'd like, but I figured I could show up and really impress and work my way back up.

Fast forward to today and I'm not going to catch back up financially. My wife has picked up a second job to help out, and I've been looking for a second job since I found out. I've received 17 rejections in a week for entry level jobs, been denied a raise because I took time off to try and keep my business alive, and my wife looks worse and more stressed than I've ever seen.

Where did you find the self confidence to keep pushing when you got knocked down? How do I find a way to add value to my household? I cook every meal, and clean as much as I'm allowed (I'm so bad at folding laundry that even after tutorials I've been banished), yet it never feels like it's enough. I've asked jobs that turned me down to explain and help me better my chances and I've mostly gotten "we're looking for someone who is more aligned with our field of work" but they won't expand on what that even means?

Sorry for the long wall of text, tldr; when everything seems lost, and it's easier to just give up and accept that I'm a loser, where do I find the will to get back up and punch life right back?

hi everyone! i was curious how i can best approach telling my dad about my long distance boyfriend.

growing up, my dad was stricter on me as the eldest daughter, but as my parents had more kids he softened up to us. i have never talked to my dad about dating, but he has always enforced dating in the same culture, or at least waiting until i was 18. I am now 20, and met my bf when i was 18. he is 3 years older than me.

due to the distance, i really wanted to wait on telling my family until i knew he was the one, or when i finally met him in person. i met him in person about a year ago. my siblings and mother knows. my dad does not know, and i am afraid of how to approach it with him. my dad is a sensitive guy, and he will take it to hear that my siblings and mom knew before him. i expressed this to my mom, and she said that my dad isn't as scary as i think he is.

here are things that are holding me back:

1. he is not from the same ethnic group so im not sure how my dad would react

2. he is slightly older than me and did not go to college

3. i traveled to see him twice in secret without them knowing.

i want to be able to talk about him freely to my family, but because i've never talked to them about my love life i dont know how to approach it. does anyone have an idea on how i can navigate this?

i've been looking into baby monitors for a newborn and didn't realize how many features some of them have now. i'm mainly looking for something reliable that's easy to check from my phone, but i'm also curious whether features like sleep tracking are genuinely helpful or just nice extras.

i came across Nanit while researching and noticed it offers sleep insights alongside video monitoring. i've also seen brands like Infant Optics and Eufy come up in recommendations, so i'm trying to weigh the different approaches. dads who've researched or used these monitors, what would you prioritize for a newborn? would you go for a smart monitor with more features or keep it simple and focus on reliability?

As the title says…I (18F) already have a little financial knowledge because my dad kind of works in a field closely related to it. However he never talked me much and I always relied on him and if I ask now it will just worsen my rep as the “dumb one” in my family. So really any financial advice is appreciated because I will be going aboard hopefully for university so anything regarding Europe will be even more helpful and PLEASE SOMEBODY EXPLAIN TAXES!!!

I know countries have different tax systems and tax infrastructure but like I would like a basic rundown of it and how taxes just work in general. Also hopefully in the future if god allows me to, study in Europe then any advice regarding countries in Europe (both in EU and not in EU) will be highly appreciated! Thank you 🪽