Money In My Pocket

Who's Pocket?

Just like how constituents put a public figure in office, buyers have the power to choose what is put on the shelf. By deciding where you spend your money, you can control what is sold and where it is sold. My friends and I have debated this thoroughly and decided which businesses we do and don’t support. We brought in extensive knowledge about companies’ histories, corporate policies, and their political affiliation. I am sure you have read the forwarded emails or facebook groups of similar topics. We might just be a few college students, but we should have some sort of impact by affecting the companies’ pocketbook.

We particularly analyzed oil. Any driver would like to reduce the price of a gallon. We have decided to not buy from certain gas stations that are supplied from APEC companies. If we do not have that option at the pump, we decided to avoid the two highest suppliers who control the market. By reducing their cash inflow, hopefully the supply and demand curve will slip in our favor. Our economic classes have taught us the power of the consumer.

Since college students traditionally don’t have much money, we have always wanted to save money. But our new mindset clashes with certain large national super stores. Certain stores pride themselves with low prices. There are many arguments about the large company stores who have monopolized the national market at the expense of their buyers who can’t do without the stores. One in particular is not popular at all with college students because of their policies of keeping workers under full-time status to prevent health care benefits or the poor hourly wages they offer to their employees. I prefer to support local stores and small businesses. Local products are also healthier, for example local honey helps allergies.

Remember you can control which pocket is worthy of your pennies. I am not asking you to support my spending patterns but to rid your apathy and lack of awareness. I encourage you to do your own research and make your own opinions.

With A Little Help From My Friends

Thankfully, a couple of my friends live here in Washington D.C. and having them here is a wonderful opportunity to learn about the city and get a free guided tour. When I get together with them they are able to show me not only the tourist spots, but also their favorite off-the-map sites. Because of these connections I am learning the ins and outs of the city, which help me when I am trying to get around, and it also helps in saving some money while I am here. They are able to tell me all the good but inexpensive places to eat, which is really helping my pocket book. One of my friends even told me about free concerts and performances in the city- one night a week at the Kennedy Center there are free shows, and in a park here there are free jazz concerts on Friday nights. Having these insider tips from my friends are not only saving me money, but also helping me to discover lots of fun things to do while I am here.  There are still a few friends I have here that I have not gotten together with, and I can’t wait to find out what they can share with me about the amazing things to do in this city.

Metro

Each summer with the exception of one since I turned 16 I have held a summer job. With these summer jobs, I have had to drive to my place of work, spending part of my paycheck on gas. This summer is different, though. Each day I take the Metro, or the Washington Area Metropolitan Transit Authority train, into work. This is the name for the subway in Washington D.C., but I think I have figured out this it is actually more expensive for me to take it verses when I drive to work at home. If the only thing I do during the day is go to and from work, it costs $3.30, which can add up to about $50 just for trips to and from work in a period of only three weeks. I know that driving to and from work here in the city is totally impossible, so I am at the mercy of the Transit Authority, and I think they have that figured out. I also have to take the Metro wherever I want to go whether it is go to sightsee or to go out to dinner somewhere other than in the immediate area around where I live. I guess this is just another expense that I will have to bear while up here. I know it is probably better for the environment if I take public transportation, but it is certainly not good for my pocketbook.

Museums

There is so much to do in Washington D.C. that is free, and one of the main highlights of the free entertainment is going to museums. Whether you are interested in art, architecture, history, science, or even aeronautics, there is a museum for you. It has been my goal to see most of the free museums in the city, but I now realize that this is probably impossible. When I learned I was coming to Washington, I asked one of my friends who worked a summer here his advice on what to do. He gave me a copy of a guide book he bought that helped him find out what all was available, which has really helped me a lot. Not only is this guide free to me (a definite plus because if I were to buy it in a bookstore it would cost maybe $20), but it helped me start a list of the places I want to go. The book even contains suggestions on how to get there and a brief synopsis on what I will find once I am there. This is invaluable because it saves me tons of time that I might have used tying to find a website and information on it- time I can now spend going to the museums themselves. While I know that these museums are not completely free—the taxes I pay help support them all—why not see what my tax dollars are being used for and enjoy the benefits of some of that money I send each year to Uncle Sam?

Packing My Lunch

One of the simplest things I can do here to save money is to pack my lunch each day for work. While eating out is always pricy, it is even more so here. Plus, I don’t really get a luxurious lunch break. I can take 30 minutes tops, but being out of the office for more than about 20 is frowned upon, so there is no time to go out to a restaurant for lunch. The other option is going to the cafeteria or little café in my building. These options are expensive too, though. Because these places offer the convenience of having a quick place to either pick up lunch or eat lunch there, you definitely pay for that convenience. Because I am bringing my lunch, I did have to make a trip to the grocery store where I spent about $80 stocking up on everything from crackers to bread and peanut butter, sandwich bags to plastic knives. But while it was tough to drop almost $100 at one time on food, I know that it is money well spent because I can save approximately $8 per day by doing it. By not having to spend money on my lunch, I now have more money to spend later.

Conference

I was offered the opportunity to attend a professional group’s biannual statewide conference. I figured it would be a great chance to start networking with individuals and companies in my field of study. By the end of the conference, I had enough business cards to fill two wallets. I will most definitely be contacting a few of them for different internships and what not.

I am also interested in the topics and issues that they discussed. After all I will be faced with the same topics and issues in about two years. Most of the professionals were attending for continuing education hours, but my mental curiosity was captivated by the hour long presentations.

I was very grateful about the student registration fee, which was immensely less than the adult rate. It was only twenty dollars to cover the cost of the meals. By convincing a friend to attend with me, we were able to split the travel expenses. We even stayed at a different friend’s house to avoid paying for a hotel room. While I missed a couple days of class, I believe it was worth it in order to create a business network.

Moving Out

 

Now it is my turn to relocate my residence. I decided to move out of my apartment and into a new abode for the fall. It is nothing against my current roommates but rather a change of scenery. Unlike the friends I told you about in a previous post, Moving In, I won’t be paying others to do it for me. Here are the things I did for my personal move.

First, I went to the grocery market and liquor stores to gather empty cardboard boxes. Unlike the moving companies’ “moving” boxes, the local stores offered the boxes free of charge. (Another example of reducing waste and recycling.) I hope the parents believe the liquor boxes were empty upon my receipt. Secondly, it would have taken a million and one trips in my car to transfer my belongings across town. So, my truck-driving friend was gracious enough to swap vehicles for the day. I even put a couple gallons of gas in the truck for his generosity. Third, I knew it would take forever if I was the only one carrying my numerous items. Plus, certain items required two sets of arms, i.e. mattress, sofa, etc. So, I enlisted a different friend for his help. It did not take long between the two of us, and I rewarded him with a hearty meal. At the end of day, I rewarded my sore muscles with a longer-than-normal, hot shower.

Playing Host

 

I am very enthusiastic about my college and would love for every high school student to appreciate it for what it is. I would love nothing better than for those outstanding students to attend here. For this reason I graciously agreed to let an uprising high school senior spend the night with me. He is a friend from home who goes to my alma mater and church. I wanted to show him all the sights and convince him about how great my college is. I offered him a place to stay and to play host for a couple days. I didn’t realize he would like it so much that he would want to stay three nights.

So I gave up several days… Thank goodness he wasn’t too much of a hassle. He kept his quarters clean. He didn’t eat my private stash of food and even bought me a couple meals at nice restaurants. I went a little out of my way, but it was a fun few days. He did not cost me any direct costs just a little bit of time. I am glad I had enough time in my busy schedule of classes. When I did not have the time to entertain him, I set up meetings with the big wigs and professors on campus. They had more creditability and facts to fill my friend’s mind and ultimately convince him to continue his higher education at my college. Only more time will tell where he decides to attend.

 

 

Cost of Living

While I am here in D.C., I, of course, have to have a place to live. After consulting several of my friends who have spent summers up here before, they came up with one definitive answer, stay in student housing on one of the many university campuses in the Washington area. These schools offer summer housing for people working in Washington D.C., and it seems to me that this is a pretty lucrative part of their summer. The cost of living where I am now, a two person apartment within a larger complex kind of like a dormitory, is high. For the five week minimum rent (utilities, internet, etc. included) I have to pay, it costs just as much as living on my university’s campus for an entire semester. Not only is it expensive to live here, it is expensive to eat here. Meals and even grocery stores have higher prices than I experience at home, which is going to prove costly even for the essentials. Usually this would not be a problem to someone who is now an expert and cutting the cost of food to the minimum, but I know several people up here already and we all want to spend time together by going out to dinner after work, which keeps me from saving that money. Maybe we can start eating at each other’s apartments to cut the costs.

Green Wave

It is in your city. It is your neighborhood. It is on campus. And it is global. Hopefully, you have noticed the huge “Green” push in recent years. The Green mindset is a way to create a more sustainable environment and prevent waste from damaging the environment. I care for the environment and consider myself a conservationist, since I hunt, fish, camp, SCUBA dive, hike, and enjoy other outdoor activities. If we can’t preserve the global environment then nobody can partake in the outdoors. I know many other individuals have become more environmentally friendly for similar reasons. A relieving and secondary factor to me is that most environmentally friendly practices coincide with a primary collegiate goal of money saving.

Environmentalists want to reduce energy consumption and water usage. Many simple, household procedures allow the reduction in electric and water bills. I am sure you know the basic ones. Low A.C. usage, seal windows, funny looking light bulbs, unplug tvs when not in use, shorter showers, limit running water while brushing teeth, wash clothes with cold water, etc. We also need to decrease the amount of garbage and non-biodegradable products we put in landfills. Reusable items are key. One should consider their use of water bottles, plastic bags, Styrofoam, paper products, glass bottles, and hard metals. I have friends who make money by selling recyclable items to recycling centers. Reports are popping up about cities and their cycling programs to reduce automobile traffic. This is ingenious to reduce hydrocarbon pollution and traffic. It also saves on gas!

True, I have not adapted to a complete “Green” lifestyle, but every little step helps to saving the environment. True, not every “Green” procedure is cost saving, but you can choose the ones that are and then you can participate in this win-win situation. Enough with my soap box and now I’m going to go enjoy the outdoors that I have helped save.