What was your life like at 23?

squirrelchops

I was 23 in the year 2000
- working to fund going out
- drinking, drug taking and sleeping about
- got a tattoo (1 and only)

No idea what I wanted to do permanently job wise.

Not yet moved out of home.

Took until I was 28 to buy my own home (did rent before) and until I was 30 to decide to go back to Uni full time.

Life is more settled but am just about to relocate so am job hunting. Relationship wise - all settled, been with same person nearly 8years.

Looking back I wouldnt change things. Glad I was young and irresponsible when I could be.

bylromarha

Very happy at 23.

Been married for 2 years to my wonderful hubby, just bought our first house for £72,000 (3 bed in nice area...) and was 3 years into my career.

I'm a glass half full person though, so most of my life has been very happy as I see life's blessings each day through grief, job loss and the down times of life.

bagpussbear

23 was one of the most happiest years of my life.

I had been married 1 year, we'd bought our first house, and I enjoyed my job and had good friends around me. Health was perfect, and I was a lovely size 10.

Both my mum and dad were alive at that point in my life.

But none of that lasted for very long :-(

Life tends to go in up and down periods, or at least my life it does! enjoy each different age for the blessings it gives you. And remember that any bad times always pass.

Jagraf

I am in my mid forties now so that was half my life ago.

My life was unrecognisable to what it is now. At 23 I had a lovely owned flat with my soon to be husband/childhood sweetheart, a high flying job, a huge income and a rental property. I could even deal with the 15% interest rates. My life was following the path of "normal and successful".

By 32, I had a daughter, my childhood sweetheart/husband was having an affair, we had no money as he overspent and also I left my job due to pressure of working full time and parenting, while he was 'busy working'. By 35 I was divorced, sold the house, moved into rented, built up more debt than I care to remember.

Now, I am remarried to my soul mate, who I like to think I went through all of this for and the time was right. I have a gorgeous DD, wonderful friends, no debt (so breaking even!) and my own business.

I struggle to make long term plans ..... But I'm happier than I've ever been.

mogwai

At 23 I was living at home working on my doctorate and just got two kittens. I really enjoyed life in a carefree way. I owned my own property but lived in my parents and enjoyed family life.

Now I'm in my mid 30s, married and a SAHM mum to a wonderful boisterous toddler. im happy but have worries I didn't have before, my parents health, working hard on my marriage and missing independence and work. I wouldn't change anything though and looking forward to my 40s for some reason!

balletshoes

GoldenShadow wrote: »

Prompted partly by the life at 40 thread, by sheer nosiness and the fact I am ill and need something interesting to keep looking at today to keep me sane!

What was your life like at 23? Did you feel young, old, happy, sad?

23 feels old to me at this moment in time (I have another four hours of being 22!) but I only came out of full time education last year so don't feel I've accomplished much. I do have a lovely boyfriend of three years, two gorgeous dogs and we're (slowly) saving for a house deposit. Career wise I got the grad job of my dreams so have been very lucky (and there was much stress on the way there...). I seem to have this (bad?!) habit of signing up for very difficult things, but I guess it's good to push myself whilst I am 'young' as everyone tells me.

Biggest goal is to buy our own home. I'd quite like my own horse again at some point but, alas, have learnt money doesn't grow on trees. Maybe that will be a pipe dream and I will stick with the dogs...

So how about you, what were you like at 23, and perhaps, what are you like now, too?

you sound responsible and level-headed .

At 23 I'd been out of school and working for 6 years, had a rented flat, a full-time job which paid the bills, and a part-time pub job which was more social life than work, and which paid for my numerous girlies holidays abroad. By 23 I'd been doing that for around 4 years, and I'd be doing pretty much the same thing for the next 5 or so :rotfl:.

pollypenny

Just moved from a flat to our first house: came with a gas fire in the living room, a sink unit in the kitchen and one bathroom. That was the norm, then.

The garden was a mess of mud, back and front.

We didn't have two ha'pennies to rub together after saving for the deposits, fees eye and paying the mortgage. We basically stayed in, read, watched TV etc.
We were trying for a baby, though.

balletshoes

lazer wrote: »

Dating wise - was out kissing frogs,

yep, I was also doing quite a lot of this at 23 .

Lunar_Eclipse

I graduated when I was 23! So took finals, travelled for 3 months over the Summer with boyfriend, started graduate job, boyfriend and I got a rental flat.

Twenty years later we are married with 2 teenagers. We still live in the Home Counties, but Hampshire as opposed to Berkshire, via 13 years in Surrey. I am fortunate to be a SAHM. Life is good.

Domayne

166million wrote: »

You mean not everyone was like this at 23?
Hope your life is happier now

From reading a lot of posts on here...not really :rotfl:
Most people sound quite 'normal' here. ...uni, got jobs, got married, had families etc...
I've always been quite self destructive, but these days I'm really boring - hardly ever drink, don't take anything else, get along much better with my parents, have no debt and watching the pennies pile up...but I don't know if I'm any happier tbh, I still have no sense of direction and no real ambition in life and the older I get, the more anti social I become and just want to be a hermit forever :rotfl: