Bone Broke

DOSW

Seriously... I'm flat out broke. I got about $200 bucks in my bank account. I owe my friend $300 because he spotted me for my housing deposit off-campus next year. The next payment is due March 1st, and that's $500. I mean, I do have a job here on campus, but the pay is terrible, and rakes in only about $90/week (standard work study pay). I guess I'll have to ask my parents for a little help, but I feel bad about that because they have no money also.

Ah, the joys of being a college student.

Indian Summer

Can you not get a second job? And don't say you don't have time! I was a college kid once too.......best job I ever had was working security at a Bourbon distillery. All I had to do was sit in a office and keep an eye on some monitors, and about every two hours ride around the facility in a golf cart. I got lots of studying done, as well as watched a lot of movies on my laptop.....best part...it payed like 10 bucks an hour because it was third shift! Never had to work weekends either (unless the old dude that did needed off).

orig_long red

yea same here. i quit my full time job last summer because it was making me miserable. i took some odd jobs and went back to school full time. while my disposition has greatly improved since leaving work, my bank account has shrunk to near unrecognizable lows. heat is now a luxury and basic cable an extravagance. the bank will probably be coming for my car in about a month or two. oh well. at least i'm not in accounting anymore.

i'm 28 and living the life of an 18-year-old college student ... minus the promiscuous sexual expression.

know1

DOSW wrote:

Seriously... I'm flat out broke. I got about $200 bucks in my bank account. I owe my friend $300 because he spotted me for my housing deposit off-campus next year. The next payment is due March 1st, and that's $500. I mean, I do have a job here on campus, but the pay is terrible, and rakes in only about $90/week (standard work study pay). I guess I'll have to ask my parents for a little help, but I feel bad about that because they have no money also.

Ah, the joys of being a college student.

So you're only making a little over $2/hr at that job? (I take it you're working very few hours)

Time for you to start working harder and more hours to cover your bills.

DOSW

know1 wrote:

So you're only making a little over $2/hr at that job? (I take it you're working very few hours)

Time for you to start working harder and more hours to cover your bills.

It's about $7/hour, and I'm working about 13 hours per week. We're supposed to stay under 15, so I can't really work any more. My only other option would be to get a second off-campus job, but (I hate to say it) that would really sap almost all of my free time. I have 18 credits this semester and it's no cakewalk, to say the least. If it weren't for the weekends I'd be suicidal.

The good news is that if I can manage to make these housing deposits through borrowing money (if I have to), I'll be able to pay that all back in the summer. And I'll get a nice refund check for my student loans this fall because I won't have to pay the fees for on-campus housing. So as long as I persevere, I'll be fine. It just kinda sucks right now though, and I feel like a bum borrowing money from people.

DOSW

Indian Summer wrote:

Can you not get a second job? And don't say you don't have time! I was a college kid once too.......best job I ever had was working security at a Bourbon distillery. All I had to do was sit in a office and keep an eye on some monitors, and about every two hours ride around the facility in a golf cart. I got lots of studying done, as well as watched a lot of movies on my laptop.....best part...it payed like 10 bucks an hour because it was third shift! Never had to work weekends either (unless the old dude that did needed off).

That sounds badass. I kinda like my job though. It's working in an office, taking/making calls and running errands for my boss and whatnot. I'm expected to do a lot, but it's kinda nice doing things that are actually productive. Like I had to plan a bowling trip for a club that I'm in the other day. Calling bowling alleys up, asking about prices, making reservations for transportation, etc... it's hard to describe but after working at a grocery store for so long back home it's nice to feel like I'm actually doing something at work.

_

What about your tax refund? Work-study income doesn't count as income, right? So I would assume you'll get a decent refund. If you file electronically, maybe you can get it pretty soon.

Or have you had any kind of hardships like medical bills or car repairs? Seems like they used to front you some financial aide money for those things. I assume you've tried pell grants. Have you looked into random scholarships? Can you get a second work-study job?

I had more than one work-study job at a time in college and it was a lot easier and more time-saving than the off-campus jobs because they were right on campus so I could put in an hour or two here or there between classes and sometimes study on the job. I was a TA for a class, which supposedly required grading papers and such outside class time. They paid me for X amount of time to do the work outside class time, but didn't care that it really only took me about 1/4 of that time to do it, so that was a good way to make more money without spending too much extra time.

I had this sweet work-study job as a projectionist for a media arts class for awhile. All I did was start the film and then either watch it or study. I also had jobs as a projectionistsin movie theaters off campus. I would spend about 30 minutes starting movies, then about an hour and a half studying or sleeping, and then do the same thing again a couple of times each night. Maybe it won't take up all your free time if you can study on the job.

Good luck. :eek: