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2 months ago | 
arcamax.com | Harriette Cole |Amy Dickinson |R. Eric Thomas |Abigail Van Buren
DEAR HARRIETTE: I'm feeling completely overwhelmed by my financial situation. With paying off student loans, covering my living expenses and trying to save for the future, I feel like I'm barely keeping my head above water. Rent alone takes up half of my paycheck, and despite budgeting carefully, I'm struggling to make any real progress. I don't want to move in with my parents, because I value my independence and feel like it would be a step backward, but it's starting to feel like my only option.
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2 months ago | 
arcamax.com | Harriette Cole |Amy Dickinson |R. Thomas |Abigail Van Buren
DEAR HARRIETTE: A childhood friend of mine has been in a relationship for more than five years now. He and his partner live together and share a car, and he covers some of her expenses, etc. They are fully enthralled. But honestly, I get the sense that he was never truly fulfilled by his choice. He always tells their story as if things just sort of happened, not so much that he chose things this way.
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2 months ago | 
arcamax.com | Harriette Cole |Amy Dickinson |R. Thomas |Abigail Van Buren
DEAR HARRIETTE: I made the mistake of getting involved with a co-worker. At first it seemed really harmless to me because we were accustomed to hanging out socially (mostly in groups after work). When he asked me on a date, it felt like a natural progression. After a few dates, we progressed some more. Things started off as a fun and casual hookup, and then I began to notice that he seemed like he wanted our co-workers to know.
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2 months ago | 
arcamax.com | Harriette Cole |Amy Dickinson |R. Eric Thomas |Abigail Van Buren
DEAR HARRIETTE: Whenever my girlfriend and I are intimate, she showers immediately after. At first it was just her, but now she forces me to join her in a post-intercourse shower. In these showers, I've noticed that she scrubs relentlessly -- ferociously, even. It scares me a bit because I wonder what she's trying to get rid of or wash away. She also changes the sheets as soon as we shower. As you can imagine, this is a tedious routine to keep up with at night when all I want to do is pass out.
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2 months ago | 
arcamax.com | Harriette Cole |Amy Dickinson |R. Thomas |Abigail Van Buren
DEAR HARRIETTE: I recently managed to land a job after months of searching in this tough job market, and while I'm incredibly grateful for the opportunity, I'm struggling with the decision to take it. The job is exactly what I've been looking for in terms of compensation, responsibilities and career growth. It's the perfect fit on paper, and it feels like the kind of opportunity I've worked so hard for. The problem is that it's so far away from my family.
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2 months ago | 
arcamax.com | Harriette Cole |Amy Dickinson |R. Eric Thomas |Abigail Van Buren
DEAR HARRIETTE: My boyfriend is currently visiting his family in South Africa, and ever since he got there, he's stopped calling and texting me regularly. Normally, he's a great communicator, and we talk and text throughout the day, so this sudden change has caught me off guard.
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2 months ago | 
arcamax.com | Harriette Cole |Amy Dickinson |R. Thomas |Abigail Van Buren
DEAR HARRIETTE: I am currently working in an industry that I love, but it is unstable. I've been working on the creative side of TV and film for the past eight years. I am currently employed and thankfully have never experienced being laid off. I've done a lot of freelance work, so I know what it feels like for a project to end, but honestly, I have always been lucky enough to be offered new work pretty steadily at the end of projects I've worked on.
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2 months ago | 
arcamax.com | Harriette Cole |Amy Dickinson |R. Thomas |Abigail Van Buren
DEAR HARRIETTE: A friend of mine is in a relationship, and in my opinion, her partner is not good to her. From what she tells me and what I observe, he seems selfish, abrasive, cheap and not affectionate or protective of her. At a social event, he asked me jokingly why it feels like I don't like him. I gave him a serious answer -- a diluted version of my thoughts on how he treats my friend.
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2 months ago | 
arcamax.com | Harriette Cole |Amy Dickinson |R. Eric Thomas |Abigail Van Buren
DEAR HARRIETTE: My ex-partner and the father of all five of our grown children recently broke up with his longtime girlfriend. This is a woman he began dating around 20 years ago when he decided to leave me to raise our children alone. While he didn't fully abandon our children, he did betray us, and I was left to explain why. He is now abruptly single and in need of a place to stay. He has asked me if he can stay in one of the spare bedrooms of my home, which was once our home -- the home he left.
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2 months ago | 
arcamax.com | Harriette Cole |Amy Dickinson |R. Thomas
DEAR HARRIETTE: The past year has been full of change for me ... way too much change. Early last year, I lost my job. It was a job I had nurtured for the past 25 years, a place I'd been attached to since I graduated college, a job that saw me get married and have two children. That was a hard loss. Not long after, my youngest child graduated from high school and went away to college. Both of my boys are away now, and my husband has a demanding schedule.
