Man, I am poor.

Totally, stupidly and intoxicatingly poor.

In the old days, I heard of this 'poor student' affliction and thought it was a myth concocted by smug, self-serving uni bludgers who relied on their heightened status as 'students' to escape the workforce. 

But then I became a student and realised that the price for good grades:

is $0.

Well, not quite.

It's $236 per fortnight... PLUS youth allowance,

but when you break it down, all it amounts to is $315 per week.

$315 a week.

For someone who needs to pay rent, drive a car, pay bills, maintain a social life, upkeep her feminine charms, eat and generally stay alive,

$315 will only just get you there.

Being poor has been an awakening experience. 

It has stripped me; if I want to buy a piece of clothing, I am forced to momentarily deliberate between the $15 or $20 top.

(That $5 makes all the difference.)

It has sobered me; Forced me to consider whether a messy Saturday night in town is worth 1 weeks groceries and half a tank of petrol.

(2 gin & tonics = 80 kilometres in my car.)

I am a woman who, in pursuit of 1 more year until graduation,

has renounced all her earthly possessions and is now forced to,

dare I admit to you all...

dye my own hair.  

*cue fall to the knees, looking to the heavens and screaming 'whhhyyyy!!!'*

There are many types of students roaming the campus of life. Those who live at home with mum & dad, do arts degrees, and talk about the meaning of life and other pretencious dribble. Then there are those who live on campus, get drunk at lunchtime and seem to be forever waiting for the bell to ring to get to class (even though there is no bell).

There are the mature-age people who have 3 kids, 2 jobs, shoulder pads and ask too many questions in class, and there's the rest of us;

the ones who don't fit the cliche, don't mind the lifestyle and can't wait to get out of here.

Being poor is hard, but it's a good lesson in life. It forces you to consider the pro's and the con's... the needs and the wants... the things in life you once had the sense to overlook and now,

have no cents at all.

Say... could you spare a dollar for the bus?

Poor in taste but not style:

Nasty.