Many university students can relate to my financial woes. We pay so much in tuition, books, additional expenses, and either residence fees or transportation fees. We can hold down part time jobs during the school year, but that money won't stretch to cover everything. For me to afford school, I had to apply for OSAP, get a student loan, and work part time during the school year. Even still, there are still times that I'm short on cash. I do have to pass up certain trips to the mall or to dinner or the movies with my friends because I simply can't afford it.
You should know first of all, that I am the only one who is working during the school year, out my house and the boys downstairs. I struggle to cover interest charges on my line of credit, and buying groceries sometimes means putting back certain things to lessen the bill. It does make me upset sometimes that my friends can afford to go a movie, or go the mall and on a whim, buy a new pair of shoes. I'm usually the one at home, doing homework or watching t.v., much like tonight. Everyone else has gone to a movie at the mall, but I declined the offer to save money. In the end, you have to pay for your ticket (and ticket prices for the movies these days are ridiculous), snack food (we all love popcorn, admit it), and then transportation to and from. So, it's just me alone in the house, which sometimes isn't a bad thing. For some reason, no one else seems to understand the financial situation I'm in. When I say I don't have money, they look at me like I have six heads. Only a few of us have OSAP as financial aid to help us through, and I'm the only one who has a student loan already. I have no idea how to make them understand that I'm not well off financially, and neither is my family.
I don't mean to vent in my blog about things, but sometimes writing is the only way to get it out. I'm sure there are plenty of other students out there who have some financial trouble, but they have those friends who seem to never run out of money, ever. They have some endless supply of money to their bank accounts. I'd be open to any suggestions from anyone who has any tips on how to deal with this problem. I'm almost at the end of my rope over here.
I also have very little money right now, and I have no job. I have 6 courses and meetings during the week, and barely have time to complete all my schoolwork because I am in class all the time. What makes it worse is that I am very close to running out of money on my meal plan ($12 left) and I am here until the 16th. I try to buy stuff that is on sale, but also I tend to buy stuff sometimes that I don't need. I am really worried right now, though because I have no idea what my living situation is going to be like for the summer... because I can't afford anything! I don't really have any great tips, but you can "borrow" things from fast food restaurants... like napkins (this means not having to buy paper towels, which are expensive), and sugar, salt, pepper, straws, ketchup, etc. are all things you will never have to buy again (unless you need a lot of salt/sugar for cooking, lol). Also, you can find places to print for free because ink costs a lot of money. If you bring your own paper, there is a printer in the music building that you can use free of charge (it sometimes has problems so it takes too much time, but if you are desperately short of ink and money, it works). If you can get in the English lab, they also have printers you can use for free. Sign up for a lot of "free stuff" or coupon websites, they take awhile to come, but it's a great and fun way to try to save some money. Book train tickets in advance, etc. Those are all the ideas I can think of for now!
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