But then, that embarrassment over privilege quickly turns to anger, because I still worked very hard in order to graduate completely debt-free. Before I started my freshman year, I got a scholarship for $2,500 — and picked up another $2,500 per year thanks to a staff writing gig at the school paper. For the last three years of school, those two scholarships paid $5,000 per year toward my tuition.I opted to move out of the dorms my junior year to save my parents some additional money on room and board. In order to keep myself fed and with a roof over my head, I got a job bartending five days a week, on top of my full course load and my two unpaid internships. I scrimped, saved, and applied to jobs starting in December of my senior year, and I got hired into an entry-level position three months before graduation. And not too soon, since my parents unceremoniously cut me off after graduation, and they haven't paid much toward my life since then. Well, except for my phone bill. But I know I'm not the only one in that boat I used to feel really guilty about the fact that I didn't have loans, and it's hard to put into words why. I think it has to do with the fact that there's this culture of struggle in your 20s — especially in New York. "I've been spending so much money lately!" is a catchphrase for so many of us. We'll discuss how little cash we have left in our bank accounts like it's a contest (whoever has the lowest balance wins!), yet we'll drop $40 on a brunch without batting an eye. Admitting that I don't have student loan debt is giving up a little bit of my street cred. How much can I really be struggling if I don't owe tens of thousands like so many of my millennial cohorts?But I've let go of some of that guilt lately. It started to dissipate around the time I moved into my own place and really began to struggle to make ends meet for the first time. My rent doubled, utilities were my responsibility alone, and I was working toward paying down my credit card. (I didn't say I was completely debt-free.) When I almost didn't have the funds to pay rent one month, I realized how badly I needed to budget. So now I have a list taped to my fridge that shows me where my money is going in order to keep myself in check. I pay for everything in cash, and I find myself saying no to a lot of brunches, vacations, and shopping trips in order to stay within my budget. This was my choice — I don't have to live alone — but that doesn't mean it's not a struggle.