Watching Your Wallet: Surviving as a poor college student
So far in this column I’ve really only discussed the disadvantages to being a poor college student and the ways to get around it. We can’t afford nice dates, so I compiled a list of cheap date ideas. We can’t afford classy decorations, so I gave suggestions on how to spruce up your apartment on a budget. We can’t afford gourmet groceries, so I gave suggestions on saving money on healthy food. But, as this year begins to come to a close and I think of the final financial topics I’d like to cover, I’d like to see the glass half full and discuss why being a poor college student is so great.
1. Being poor is socially acceptable.
For starters, in no other time of life can you say, “I can’t. I don’t have any money,” and maintain your dignity. However, as a college student, it is all too common and not looked down upon at all. With little or no income, being poor is just a fact of life for most collegiates, and no one (with a heart) will turn their nose up at a poor college student. Get out into the real world and people expect you to have a real job with a substantial income, and you’re going to sound pretty silly if you’re always complaining about lack of funds. So, enjoy this time of life when being poor is not only OK, it’s expected!
2. Having a crappy job is also acceptable.
Working at a bakery in the middle of the night. Nannying ornery children. Grading hundreds of tests and papers for a professor. Working at a convenience store. Bussing tables. None of these are exactly ideal jobs. However, when you’re just looking to pay your utility bill and eat food for a month, a job is a job for a college kid. No one thinks, “Gee, that college kid sure is a bum on a log. Why is he working at 7-11?” Nope, instead they’re just thinking, “What an industrious fellow! Going to school and working? Good for him.” Never again will such a dead-end job be acceptable, so enjoy your time driving city buses or completing other mindless duties – people are going to start expecting things from you when you graduate.
3. Sympathy (and sympathy cash).
Just drop the phrase “I’m a student” and pretty soon Aunt Susie, Grandma and Grandpa, Mom and Neighbor Joe are there offering sympathy. They’ll reminisce about their college days when they lived in a lean-to at the city park and ate ketchup packets for two weeks waiting for a much needed paycheck. And sure, sympathy is nice, but sometimes this sympathy converts to sympathy cash or goods – a $20 slipped into your pocket when you leave a family party or a grocery bag of food and treats from Mom when you head back to school after a long weekend. Enjoy it, because pretty soon all these people will just be nagging you about where you’re going in life.
4. (Acceptable) Government aid
College students receive the only socially acceptable government aid in the books. A Pell Grant to help with tuition, fees, books or housing can go a long way and is smiled upon by society. Because, of course, the government is investing in the future of America! But, give it a couple years and you are going to get some smug looks and some upturned noses if you’re still relying on the government to support you after graduation. So, enjoy the freeloading and the one time the government will be giving back to you (acceptably, that is).
5. Sweet living arrangements.
I live in a blue shack. The girls down the street live in what looks like a pile of bricks, rocks and decaying wood slowly slipping into the canal. In fact, look anywhere in a five-mile radius of campus where students live and you’ll find some pretty unsightly stuff in terms of living conditions. But it’s totally OK, and sometimes it’s even kind of cool and fun. For the rest of our lives we’re going to be paying mortgages on stuffy, up to code houses with functioning toilets, decent carpet and correctly hung doors. Why not enjoy living on the wild side for a few years?
6. Activities on a whim.
Backpacking to Salt Lake City. Sleeping in the back of a truck in Logan Canyon. Road trips to Vegas on the weekends. Staying up all night for a Harry Potter marathon. You’re never going to be able to get away with these kinds of things with a 9-5 job, spouse and kids in five to 10 years. So enjoy! Do something crazy – you’re only in college once, after all.
-karlie.brand@aggiemail.usu.edu