I have a problem. Admittedly and on the grand scale of things, it isn’t really a huge one but it matters. It matters to me and most likely to you. Why? Because it is one you have probably encountered or are encountering today. The problem is this: money. They say money isn’t everything but trust me that it becomes so when you have no fare for the train or bus home after a long day at work. That is not my specific problem though, well it was once and it may be in the future in which case I will have to simply do the extremely immoral, guilt-ridden freedom ride home on the barriers free train. However and in all seriousness, the problem about money is this: why am I always worried about it?
Money shouldn’t be the focus of your life they say and I like to think that for me it isn’t but recently I have realised that I have become forced to view it as ever more important. It’s always there, knocking on the door with its papery thin fingers and cold metal handshake. If money shouldn’t be the focus of life, then why are people bound by it before they have experienced the joys and beauty of life?
Growing up, I was surrounded by a loving family which met up every weekend at my grandparents and there the glorious hours of childhood would be enjoyed, blissfully unaware of the realities of life which were only revealed after the passing away of my grandparents when I was seven years old. After that, the family began to drift apart from the anchor that held us so closely together, for those who say family life can be constricting, they clearly have not experienced the love, happiness and unity it can also bring. By this I mean the extended family because I definitely understand how teeth grindingly annoying the people in your house can be at times.
My father, a salesman without all the glitz and glamour of the 1930s era, did not earn a significantly large salary and it shrank even further as I grew older. Well it either shrank or the financial strain he had to endure become more apparent to me as I matured. So money was and still is a point of contention in the house. However, the individual financial difficulties I face compound to the issue. You may ask my age and I will be happy to tell you, I am eighteen.
A WORRIED STUDENT 
This is really true! I’m still growing up (14 years old) and have only just realised how much money is important. And everything goes downhill aftertheloss of grandparents
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Thank you 🙂
Yes things do, its only later you realise that when they were here, it was a magical period of your life.
Thanks for visiting my blog 🙂
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It was my pleasure.
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A note on tuition:
As someone going to Uni in the States, where cost to attend approaches $50,000/ year for out of state students (even at State schools), I understand worrying about money. I was lucky enough to get scholarships for school, but I see my classmates daily deal with the reality of the fact that they owe ten to hundreds of thousands of dollars to banks, at high interest rates, and a job market that is, well… not the most encouraging. After being told we had to go to college, now wer’re getting out, $200,000 in debt and being told that thats not good enough and we have to go to grad school. And even then when we get out, we should just work harder because if our parents could pay their way though college (when a credit hour was $14) why shouldn’t we be able to (when it is anywhere from $140 at a 2 year college to $1400 at a 4 year Public University). All with no raise in the minimum wage. So yes, sometimes we come off as a little pissed off… but don’t you think we have some reasons?
I work 2 jobs, and pay my own rent and food while going to school as a full time student. I have to worry about extracurriculars and “leadership experience” all while keeping a GPA that will allow me to keep my full ride scholarship. During the semester I am working from the minute I wake up to the minute I go to bed. And I’m still barely making it by on my own. I have no big savings. I don’t know what people are talking about when they call our generation lazy or entitled. I’m working flat out, like most of my peers, and we’re graduating into a bad economy, and a ruined environment. And then we’re reprimanded for not being grateful.
Fees in the UK are high, but at least your government goes to some length to get its citizens educated. And funding is cut more here every time. I just don’t know…
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One of the things I have definitely realised since being on WordPress is that many students do have it worse than me and as you say, especially in the US with crazy amounts of tuition fees. It is a way to tie us down to the system I think.
There is a worldwide problem with education that is not about its quality or standards but merely about its cost. I agree, it’s disgusting to be told our generation are lazy and unmotivated. The fact students still go to university when costs are this high with no certainty over job prospects is proof of our determination to do well.
We students have it bad and we are paying for the previous mistakes of those in charge.
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Truth, I had a break down as a young teen panicked at just how I would pay for my education. This is a complex issue. US
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It certainly is and well, for students in the US it is currently quite alot worse than how it is for students in the UK.
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‘It’s always there, knocking on the door with its papery thin fingers and cold metal handshake.’ – very nice imagery.
I’m considerably older, so I have been through many more years than you, but your basic truth is correct. We may not want to have to worry about money, but the realities of life dictate that we do. I’m in the US, and when I was in my college years there was not all the talk of Student Debt, because it had not yet escalated so exorbitantly. That is a terrible burden being placed on young people just starting out on their independent lives. They aren’t starting from square 1 – they’re starting from square -10 or more.
Would that I had any easy answers to give, but I’m not sure that is even possible. The world changes faster than anyone can form a plan. The best advice I can give to any and all is to do everything you can to stay out of debt. Those in power who control the money got there and stay there largely by feeding off people with much less, and one of the prime ways they accomplish is with high interest rates on debt. Evaluate everything you buy on the basis of how much value it offers to you for your money. Do you need all the frills you pay for on your cell phone? Does the amount of TV you watch justify your cable bill? Are there ways to do things for less or free?
If we can’t increase our money supply, we must use it as wisely as possible. Debt can grind you into the ground until nothing is left.
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Definitely and I hope I stick to my goal of never going into debt for anything other than the small family – member-given loan for my fees.
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