What have you done with your degree(s)?

[Goldilocks!]

I was in a small business run by a dysfunctional family. I made $35k a year after 5+ years. The health coverage was eating up $250 (pre tax) of my check. I was just scraping by. Every time I looked at other jobs, they required a degree. I tried to interview for one and the education was a clear sticking point in the interview.
Fed up, I hacked through a degree in about 9 months for less than $6000.
Applied for a job at a large company and got it. Got a 62% pay increase and with better healthcare plan, I'm only out $7 pre tax each paycheck. This company has a 401k with company match. I got more than my investment back in one year just on the 401k company match alone.
Now we own a house and actually get to go on vacations.

Fantastic!