I was lucky, I was young. I lived with roommates and spent and saved responsibly. When I was hired things were moving pretty quick (2007) so I was hoping to upgrade in a couple years and leave within 5. Obviously things changed. When I left in 2013, about 50 pilots were quitting every month. I think market forces finally forced them to raise the pay to stop the bleeding once management shrunk the list to the size they were looking for.