u/Willing-Grapefruit93

I’m in my fifth and final year, and I’m trying to figure out how to afford finishing it. My family is going through a difficult financial situation and genuinely can’t help me.

Right now I’m working a 9-to-5 job, trying to write my academic papers, and also creating digital products to sell because asking people for money feels incredibly uncomfortable to me. My pride keeps telling me I should somehow earn everything myself.

But then impostor syndrome kicks in and tells me my digital products aren’t good enough for anyone to actually pay for. At the same time, I’m mentally exhausted from trying to juggle work, research, money problems, and family responsibilities all at once.

So I’m starting to wonder whether refusing to ask for help is actually helping me at all.

Would you consider crowdfunding/donations in this situation, or would you keep trying to earn the money another way? What would you do?

I’m at the point where I genuinely don’t know whether I should go back and finish my PhD or just let it go.

I’m already several years into it, and I don’t hate my research. I actually still want the degree, and I can imagine regretting it if I quit now.

The problem is money.

Going back would mean paying for travel, tuition/living expenses, and basically trying to survive financially while finishing. I’ve already had a rough couple of years financially, so part of me wonders if choosing the PhD again is just making my life unnecessarily harder.

At the same time, quitting because of money feels different from quitting because I realized I don’t want academia anymore. I’m scared that once my financial situation gets better, I’ll look back and think, “I was so close. Why didn’t I just finish?”

For people who have been in a similar situation: how did you decide?

Did you prioritize financial stability and leave, or did you push through because you knew you’d regret not finishing?

And if you did quit, do you still think about it years later?