Advice? Opinions? Comments?

[i][b][quote]I know I deserve better in life now[/quote][/b][/i]

In the circles I run in...we have a saying:
"You can't fix the problem until you recognize there is a problem."

Your statement above indicates that you have identified the problem (several actually). My guess is that his parents basically are enabling him (his lifestyle). This is common these days in our society as many "millennials" remain in the family home due to economics. Unfortunately what often happens is what you are seeing here. The family unit supports his lifestyle (coddling him, providing for him) vice encouraging him to leave the nest. And so... he takes the path of least resistance and lets them provide for him.

The future: since he works 'under the table'... he has NO CREDIT RATING.. so he will not be able to borrow for a car or ANYTHING else of value, like a home for instance. He is not contributing towards his social security account, so his retirement fund is NIL. If he gets hurt and becomes disabled, he is not contributing (social sec disability) so the best he could hope for is SSI (and it sucks to be anyone on SSI). He has no workman's compensation.. so if he gets a bad cut at work...he pays for it.

[quote][i][b]He constantly made excuses, lied to me about the littlest shit and put me down all the time.. even though he was “just joking”. It held me back a lot in life. [/b][/i][/quote] He may be a guy you have great memories with, but EVERY ONE of those things you mentioned in the sentence above is a blaring RED FLAG when it comes to your future together.

There is another saying I firmly believe in:
[b]"If you always do what you have always done... then you will always get what you always got" [/b] So if you want something different as you travel down the road of life, you have to do something different.

You are young, you have a lot of time to "reinvent" yourself. You seem to know what you need to do. So decide what life you really want and just say no to everything that isn't that.

You've finally realized loving someone doesn't translate into the right person for you. Bravo!

I know initially, it will be difficult but, give yourself a year of no contact with the guy. You'll be pleasantly surprised that, the more time passes, the less you'll feel like re-establishing contact, especially if you meet someone else. He lies to you and puts you down! That's not what a good friend does, much less a boyfriend. Right now, as long as you maintain contact with him, you'll never be able to move on to someone else. Break ups serve a purpose. Right now, you still are too emotionally involved with the guy. Emotional distance helps put things in perspective. Don't allow him to continue to manipulate you into staying in contact. He needs to start standing on his own 2 feet. You've enabled him to continue to act like an aimless teenager. He will lean on you and rely on you as long as you continue to allow him to. You are absolutely in control of the situation. Step away from him, for your own mental well being.

He's not at all the prince on the white horse. Love alone won't help :p find someone else. Judging from this info, finding someone better should be easy

Not that's it's anything to me, but I think it's a good decision.
The situation isn't going to change.

move on, you can do better. you're a young girl and you won't be one forever

Be my gf. 😑

You out grew him.. evolved.. etc. He didn't. It now hurts for what you had is just a memory.. what is there to analyze more than this?