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It's never easy being a poor college student.
I ate Ramen last week - now there's a sure sign you've fallen on hard times. My roommates were all like, "Man, you must be in a tough spot." And I was like, "I know, right?"
I guess I'm used to it, though. My family's middle-class, so I never had the opportunities some of my friends had back in prep school. We scraped by with just enough money to put food on the table, gas in the Tahoe and DirecTV on the plasma.
When my friends were going to Dubai with their families for Spring Break, I was stuck in Cozumel. It was OK, I guess, but what really broke my heart was watching my little sister have to settle for horseback riding lessons when all her classmates got ponies of their own.
I didn't bother applying for scholarships because I figured I didn't have a shot at any of them, and I didn't really have time to fill out the financial aid forms, so my parents said they'd help foot the bill once I got to college. Sometimes they ask me if I want to get a job, but I keep telling them I want to have the full college experience and not be weighed down with work. I think they had to sell the beach house.
Turns out getting that full experience is a little bit pricey. Fraternity dues were crazy high this year, and then there are the incidental expenses like booze and Mountain Weekend.
Some weekends, I just have to put my foot down and tell my roommates, "Look, somebody else is going to have to pitch in and buy the case of Natty this time."
Speaking of which, I had to buy almost a whole new wardrobe last week because I threw up in my closet and couldn't figure out how to wash the smell out of all my polos. Like I said: incidental expenses. They really pile up.
I usually eat out, but when I do buy groceries, I always go to Fresh Market because I think it's important to buy organic. I feel good because I'm doing my part to save the planet, but I just wish their products weren't so expensive.
And don't even get me started on textbooks. The bookstore didn't have any used copies of the business book I needed, so I had to shell out something like $150. A guy standing in line behind me told me I could check out places like Amazon for independent sellers - but then there's no telling where that book's been, and I'm just not comfortable with that.
The long and short of it is that I'm going to have to shoot another e-mail to my parents pretty soon about transferring money into my account.
If the economy gets any worse, I don't know how I'm going to make ends meet. Maybe I'll have to cut back on a few things.
But let's not do anything drastic yet.
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