I find myself reflecting on being thankful to have a job and able to work. I have put in many years of service. Now, I feel shirts and food are nice however shirts are not part of the dress code for nurses. Reallocate those resources. Appreciative of any pay raise yet I know it goes straight into the higher premiums for health insurance and deductibles for me and my family. I would like to use more of the money I "keep" for other things than necessities. I thought getting a college degree and a nursing job would be enough. I am looking into side hustle because time for dollars is not how I want to spend the rest of my life. My time is precious. My skill set and experience are valuable. Sure I can pick up more shifts and more OT but that means less time with my family, less time with helping take care of my grandparents, less time to go to school activities, less time to be at home, less time to go to dr appointments, and the list goes on. Truly getting a life changing pay raise would be a blessing for me and the people in my life. I don't have a new house or car and yes I'm aware of trying to be financial smart and that only gets you so far in today's world. I hate to say more money is the answer to all my problems but would it be incredible to see it actually be significant enough for me to be like "Wow, I really am ok and then some. I can pay my bills, have savings, go on trips, not rack up debt, help others with all these natural disasters without fear of losing my own home" then yes by all means please make it happen! Thank you for your time.