30 year old arts graduate struggling to get by

I'm only saying programming as that's my experience.

Once upon a time I'd programme for free. Getting someone to pay me for it was unreal.

Now, as I'm much older, and have family and life to deal with, the whole career aspect of it has become a REAL slog.

But I still love getting the chance to do some uninterrupted programming. It's magical.

You need to discover this yourself and not have some, possibly crap tutor/teacher turn you off for life.

I don't think there are normal office jobs anymore that pay well, they are all being automated. Maybe management or ...

I only suggested learn to code to see if you like it. If you do, then it's a great career option.

Now, the way things are going in Dublin, it'll still be hard to buy anyway, especially if you are single.

Or maybe there will be a crash ..

But with a programming job, you can work anywhere in Ireland or abroad.

It's definitely getting more competitive, but everything is getting automated and there is endless work to be done.

Some of it is absolute garbage, but if can still pay very well.

Opinions on that subject vary wildly. Some people are given houses for free because they can't/won't afford to rent at market rate, or get a mortgage. Others work themselves to the bone to put a roof over their heads. And then there's you OP...the single person not earning enough to live in the city and have your own space. I empathise with you, but you do have options.

You can leave Dublin, or Ireland completely and start afresh elsewhere. You would need to pick somewhere your education and experience would be advantageous to you. The next option you should consider is to retrain. Similar to another poster on here, I went to college as a mature student at 34, starting off doing a year to get to level 5 and then onto an IT for 3 more years to get my Level 7. I could have skipped the first year though, but I left school after my Jnr cert and my math skills were very basic. I chose Engineering for the challenge and because I reckoned there would always be a need for them.

You say your annual pay is 30k. I walked into a job earning more than that right after graduating and moved to another role where I have nearly doubled that income. It's about choosing what's right for you and unfortunately, an arts degree is generally not worth much unless you go into teaching, or you get lucky. If you can't earn what you need to at least have your own place (rented or mortgaged) then you need to change path, be it county, country or education. Don't feel like you've failed. Still a lot of time left in the game for you. Best of luck with your future.

That's the second or third time you have alluded to manual work/non-university type work about being somehow beneath you. I take back what I said about you being too hard on yourself. It seems you think you are better than these jobs because you did arts. You say not everyone can work in IT. Well, technical and manual jobs can pay well because many DO think it is somehow "beneath" them.