The Formerly Homeless 26-Year-Old Making $75,000 and Starting Law School

When you think about money, what’s the first thing that comes to mind for you?

I would say opportunities. Money itself is just a number, but it affords you opportunities. For example, if a friend is going on a spontaneous vacation and you have that kind of financial security, you’re able to seize that and go with them. Or, maybe there’s a dream job that opens up in a career you never thought you’d enter, if you’re financially stable, you have the option to potentially pursue it. Or a dream house shows up in an ideal market. There are just so many ways that it buys you options and agency. So yeah, to me, money is being able to make choices and not have them made for me.

My view on money has definitely changed, though. I had a scarcity mindset growing up. I thought money was always very tight in our house, and I’d later find out that wasn’t at all the situation, but it stressed little-kid me out. I was always pinching pennies, skipping lunches, skipping field trips and not telling my parents about it cause I didn’t want to burden them. I was on free-and-reduced school lunches. When the money ran out, I just wouldn’t get lunch, sometimes for a month, telling friends I wasn’t hungry or had practice later. I’d eat a big breakfast and a ton of dinner. Looking back on it now I think no child should feel like they need to make those decisions, but that was the headspace I was in unfortunately.

I made these decisions because I had noticed we never ate out and only bought clothes from thrift stores. My parents were super frugal, and we didn’t take any vacations or leave the country, so at a young age I took this to mean we were poor. We definitely weren’t. They were just prioritizing our college and saving money.

What was your college experience like?

I was homeless at the start of college and worked full-time all through the rest of it since I had to pay my own way, and cover housing. I scrimped and saved and bought the cheapest version of things, even if they were flimsy and would break. It took time and working on myself to see that I had the capacity to earn and save and put money toward things that matter to me in the future. I leaned into delayed gratification, perhaps too hard, and I wasn’t a crazy impulse spender, so that helped.

I graduated early because I genuinely couldn’t afford to stay longer. This was, financially, a great move but came at a huge cost to my mental health and social life since I was so consumed by earning enough to live and that I didn’t have much time for anything outside of that. I was pretty much just surviving to be honest, it was very much the traditional beans-and-rice, zero indulgence lifestyle, and that scarcity mindset was something I had to unlearn.

How did you become homeless?

I had entered college while I was still in high school through a program that lets you take university classes early if your grades are good enough. When I finished high school I applied to my state school, but they admitted too many students and wait-listed me. I didn’t want to lose a whole year, so I chose to study abroad and spent what should have been my freshman fall in Taiwan learning Chinese. Three days after I flew home, still jet-lagged and with my suitcases basically untouched, my mom and I had a fight. She was not very stable and she threw me out of the house around midnight in late December. I had just turned eighteen and it was the middle of winter, so that wasn’t fun.

I couch surfed and used the campus library since during finals the library is open twenty-four seven, so I would just crash there and keep my things in lockers the graduate students rent, because undergrads can use them if they ask. School started in a month, so I scrambled and eventually reached out to some relatives who let me stay for a while. After that I saved enough to rent an apartment closer to campus.

How were you paying for everything while you took classes?

I picked up an online job teaching English, which matched my minor. I woke up at two in the morning, taught until nine, went to my college classes, studied, came home, finished homework, and tried to be asleep by 8:00pm. For a time I was still unhoused while keeping that schedule. Once I could afford the rent my routine stayed the same, just with a shorter commute. I did not have much of a social life causeI was either working or studying.

Money and time were really tight for me, cause I had loaded more than twenty credits each semester and decided I had to graduate in a year and a half. I only took courses that filled multiple liberal-education requirements. There was no room for electives in my plans.

What did you study and why?

I majored in Asian Language and Literature, focused on Mandarin Chinese, and added Global Communication. My minor was Teaching English as a Second Language. I have always loved languages. I took Spanish in middle and high school, German in a university program while still in high school, and then Chinese because I have extended family members in Taiwan and wanted to speak with them. I did not start Chinese thinking it would be my major, but I enjoyed it and it fit the life I wanted.

Chinese is growing in influence and it’s opened a lot of doors. I planned to join the Japanese Exchange and Teaching program, but COVID cancelled all the visas. Instead I took a job at an intellectual-property law firm that needed someone who could work with Chinese patents and translations. I liked many parts of the legal field, even if some parts were frustrating.

I definitely lived the no-days-off grind everyone posts about online. If I was awake, I was commuting, working, teaching, or studying. Bedtime at seven-thirty killed any social life. The routine burned me down to the bone. Once I had a steady paycheck I started unlearning scarcity.

How do you spend money now that you have more control?

As soon as I realized how bad my frugality had gotten, it felt silly. There are things I want to spend more money on, I’m not buying one-ply toilet paper; my comfort is worth more than that. I love my sleep, so I always have silk sheets. That’s just who I am: I’ll drop the money there so every night I’m the perfect temperature and cozy in bed. My brother points and laughs, he’s got his fifteen-buck Goodwill sheets and they work fine for him, so it’s truly a personal thing.

What was your very first job?

In high school I worked at a local Asian grocery store because I loved their Taiwanese beef noodles and wanted pocket money. The owner was Taiwanese and encouraged me to study abroad. I quit when I left for Taiwan the first time.

Do you currently support anyone financially or have financial obligations beyond yourself?

No. The early-college program covered tuition and I worked full-time to pay living costs, so I graduated debt-free. In 2023 my partner and I moved back to Taiwan for a year. I quit my paralegal job, studied Chinese, took the LSAT, and finished my law-school applications. Being financially independent let me do that, and now I am back in the United States working as a paralegal until classes start this fall.

Have you ever received passive income, inheritance, or large financial gifts?

I have not. I would have liked some help, but during undergrad I did not get a single scholarship. Law school was different: I earned a full ride. I studied hard for the LSAT because financial independence matters more to me than a name-brand diploma. I do not want to leave school owing three hundred thousand dollars and feel trapped in a job I hate just to pay it back. Two schools in my state offered full tuition, so I could pit their aid packages against each other and pick the better deal. I will not be earning much for the next few years, but I can breathe knowing tuition is covered and I already have savings for living costs.

What life events shaped the way you think about money?

Being homeless right after I turned eighteen changed everything. My first taste of adulthood was standing outside with two suitcases, no home, and classes starting in a month, so I had to figure things out fast. I worked, planned, and watched every dollar because one surprise bill could have ruined me, it was such a horrifying place to be in but the bright side was that since I started adulting on hard mode and things could only get easier. That trial by fire made me independent, frugal, and financially savvy, but it also piled on stress. I learned that money means little if your mental health is falling apart, so therapy and stability became part of the plan too.

I definitely lived the no-days-off grind everyone posts about online. If I was awake, I was commuting, working, teaching, or studying. Bedtime at seven-thirty killed any social life. The routine burned me down to the bone. Once I had a steady paycheck I started unlearning scarcity. I let myself eat out once a month, grab the occasional drink with friends, and buy small comforts without feeling guilty. The goal is to reach a place where I can treat people I care about without running the numbers in my head first.

Do you feel you missed out on a “normal” college experience?

Yes, and it still stings. Friends talk about parties, electives, or taking guitar lessons, and I realize I never had that freedom. Law school feels like a second chance. I have saved so I can focus on being a student, explore my interests, and enjoy the experience instead of juggling multiple jobs.

What has been the most difficult financial decision you have made?

Well, aside from all the decisions I made navigating homelessness it’s either leaving my big-law paralegal job to move abroad or choosing which law school to attend. After three or four years in the firm I was burnt out. I quit, packed up, and moved to Taiwan with my partner so I could start a biomedical master’s program that would pair well with patent work. It was a leap of faith: he did not speak the language, and we both went in job-less. A month after landing the program rejected me. I had left a solid paycheck for what turned out to be nothing, and my self-worth took a hit. That rejection pushed me to ask what I actually like doing. Research, writing, persuasion, helping people. All roads pointed back to law. I studied for the LSAT in Taiwan, coordinated letters of recommendation from abroad, and sent in my applications from across the world.

When acceptance letters arrived the choice was crystal clear. Sticker price at a top-tier school would have meant around three hundred thousand dollars in loans. Two state schools offered me full tuition. I am debt-averse to the point of phobia. I would rather graduate from a lower-ranked program owing nothing than wear golden handcuffs for fifteen years. I believe having no debt keeps doors open: if I end up hating legal practice I can pivot without a six-figure chain around my ankle.

I am not on social media, I block ads at the router with a Raspberry Pi, and I do not watch television. If I do not see the things people want to sell me, I do not feel like I am missing out.

Moving abroad was a gamble. What did you learn from it?

The gamble did not pay off in the way I expected, but it paid off in self-knowledge. Being unemployed in a foreign country forced me to strip away titles and ask, “What skills do I have? What do I enjoy?” That clarity led me to law school with more purpose than I ever had before.

How do you balance pragmatism with living fully?

I make detailed pro-and-con lists and then listen to my gut. Soren Kierkegaard said life can only be understood backward but must be lived forward. I keep that in mind. Logic gets me partway, then heart makes the call so I do not look back wondering what might have been. I also recognize my perfectionism. I dream big and overcommit, so I check whether a plan fits into twenty-four hours. Once a decision is made I own the trade-offs. Choosing school means no full-time paycheck and no international trips for a few years, but I know why I am doing it. Remembering that daily life is mostly small repetitive tasks—dishes, groceries, studying—helps me stay grounded. When the grind feels heavy I let myself have the occasional wild night so the pendulum does not swing back into scarcity mode.

How do you decide whether something is worth the money?

I translate the price into hours of work. If a pair of shoes costs a thousand dollars and I earn twenty-eight an hour, I ask whether those hours of my life equal the joy I will get. Sometimes the answer is yes. I will happily eat beans and rice all week so I can have a great dinner with friends, then come home and try to recreate the best part of the meal, like those perfect bean sprouts. Other times I cook at home because a mid-tier burger is not worth the hours it costs. The rule is simple: be cheap when you can and know when something is genuinely worth it.

Is there anything you never hesitate to spend on?

Tea and travel. In Japan I once spent three hundred US dollars on high-grade tea and filled a suitcase with it. When I travel I stay in hostels for fifteen to thirty dollars a night, then splurge on one or two nights someplace special. On my graduation trip I paid for a two-hundred-dollar room in Hakone with a private hot-spring bath and a kaiseki dinner of whatever the chef thought was best that day. Knowing when to drop money and when to hold back lets me enjoy both the frugal moments and the blow-out experiences.

What role does money play in your life right now?

Money is a means to an end. I like the idea of being financially independent and maybe retiring early, but I do not want my personality tied to a number. I know I could gamify the chase for the first million and get obsessive, so I keep a healthy distance. I spend when an opportunity is worthwhile and tap out of the hyper-consumer culture most of the time. I am not on social media, I block ads at the router with a Raspberry Pi, and I do not watch television. If I do not see the things people want to sell me, I do not feel like I am missing out.

It is your money or your life. Either your life serves money or money serves your life. Greed has no finish line, so treat money as a tool and figure out what actually matters to you first.

How has social media influenced the way you think about money?

When I used Twitter, Tumblr, and Vine I felt pulled in every direction. One post would hype the grind-set, no-days-off mentality, and the next would romanticize a tiny house in the woods. I realized I was becoming malleable. Deleting social media helped me figure out what I actually value. Now I call a friend instead of scrolling. If a full ban feels extreme, try writing down what you want to buy and wait a month. Most of the time you forget about half the list and keep the money instead.

What is something you wish more people understood about money?

It is your money or your life. Either your life serves money or money serves your life. Greed has no finish line, so treat money as a tool and figure out what actually matters to you first. Get your home life squared away, then use money in service of the goals, experiences, and relationships that last.