My husband and I had our children when we were 18 and 19. We grew up in poverty and had no financial support. We have done it all on our own and now own a beautiful home in one of the best school districts in the state. We worked very hard to get out of the area we grew up in and are very proud of our accomplishments despite being teen parents.We're now 24 and 25. Our children are 5 and 6. We're just now in a very financially secure spot and feel comfortable contributing to our children's education fund. We had done our best but we were only able to contribute about $20 a month each until recently. We felt it was more important short term to get out of the area we were living in and establish a large emergency fund, but now we are comfortable thinking long term.I was doing some online calculators and it just seems hopelessly pointless to contribute at this point. Unless we are contributing hundreds of dollars a month each it just doesn't even seem like it will make a dent in their expenses.I feel absolutely horrible and I'm struggling with the guilt. I don't want them to be in their mid 30s still drowning in debt but we can't afford to spend thousands of dollars a year contributing to their college funds right now, and the older they get, the more pointless it seems to start saving. At best we can hope to give them $25k each, but that won't even cover a single year.We have worked so hard and I feel like I'm still failing. I want them to have the opportunities that we didn't. I just feel so defeated and I'm having a hard time forgiving myself.Is anyone else just not saving? Or only contributing a small amount to their kids college fund? Any tips on how to move past the overwhelming guilt? I just can't help but feel like they will start off life behind due to our choices. via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/2PPKpUe
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