Money In My Pocket

Friends Visiting during the Summer

As mentioned before, I love being back on campus and doing the whole college experience even if I am receiving the watered down summer version of it. Obviously my friends miss their college town just as I did in the spring. Roughly every weekend, at least one or two friends make the voyage back to their maiden collegiate land. Don’t worry; we enjoy each other’s company in true college form.

Their road trips remind me of my previous entries about returning to campus. Now that these friends have their internships and have a couple bucks to blow, they can’t keep the extra dollars from jumping out of their pockets while in town. They want to eat at their favorite restaurant, drink at their favorite bar, and remain entertained. I don’t blame them for wanting to indulge; I just have to remain more reserve will in their presence. I have budgeted for the summer while without income, and I need to stick to that budget. Quite surprisingly, I have taught myself the important financial lesson of restraint.

Presented To Society

In the South and several other places, families like to present their daughters to society as their sign of womanhood or eligibility or something along those lines. This weekend, I was lucky enough to experience a good friend’s debutant ball. She actually asked me to be her escort. I had no idea what that entailed, but I was excited for the adventure. About four months ago, she requested my presence at the ball. I graciously accepted and began worrying about my tuxedo.

High school rentals for proms turned me away from the rental stores and I scoured the web and formal stores for a good deal. Surely I will need a tux again later. In the long run, I will save money since I can dodge the expensive rentals. It is only an investment for future parties. My expense is nothing compared to tab her parents endured. Her parents covered every meal, beverages, a hotel room since we traveled from out of town, ball tickets, and every last detail. They truly treated us like royalty throughout their daughter’s special weekend. If I am never asked to another one in the future, this one party was the best. But if I am asked to another, I will accept in a heartbeat.

Post Office

My sister and I share a post office box here at school. While I was away, my sister tended to it. So when I returned to find that my key would not fit the lock, I was irritated with her. Of course this was after hours, and I was forced to return the next day. The post master general informed me that my sister had not paid the annual bill. If it was not paid soon, we would forfeit the box. My sister surely knew the bill was due. She wisely left me with it while she has returned home for the summer. The bill is a standard amount but I just did not anticipate forking out more cash. I’ll have to wait a couple weeks before I can recoup half the cost from my sly sister. If she refuses, there will be a classic round of the brother-sister rivalry.

Sticker Shock

I know I have addressed the book topic before but that was under normal school conditions. Now I am confronted with the much different version of academia during the summer. Summer school is taught at a much faster pace which is about three times faster. This makes every aspect of school more critical. One would never think of skipping a class or abandoning a homework assignment.

I tossed around the idea of buying books online, but that is not as feasible during the summer due to the shipping time constraints. For one course, a friend came to the rescue by loaning me his book during the summer. For the other course, I was forced to grit my teeth while purchasing the other book from the book store. Yes, it was a discount store but it did not offer much relief. If I thought ahead, I could have emailed the professor and requested info for the required textbooks. Then purchase the books online. I will do this for my next summer course.

Driving

I don’t know why but the price of gas keeps rising, though I don’t see a logical reason for it.  And this conveniently intersects with a time where I have to do a lot of driving.  A friend of mine from school is getting married, so I have to drive all the way there and back this weekend.  When the cost of the wedding gift is included, this trip could be expensive.  Thankfully, many of us who lived in the dorm together are going to carpool along the way.  I will pick up one other person on my way and we will be able to split the gas bill from there on.  It will be good to catch up with everyone, some of whom I have not seen in about a year or more because they graduated earlier than I did.  At least it is within that days driving distance that does not necessitate purchasing a plane ticket.  That would really have hurt.  A couple of tanks of gas is worth it to see lots of friends on an important day for one of them.

Remembering Why

Now that I am back on campus after the long absence for co-oping, I remember exactly why I choose my great school. The following reminded me why I love my school; the weather worn lounge chairs at the pools, friends by the score, throwing a Frisbee under the bell tower, squeaky old desks, caring professors, endless night life, and the numerous beautiful ladies. Most importantly school gives me the opportunity for a first-class education. All of it really is priceless. Especially after this last semester’s events, I have a greater appreciation for these opportunities and joys of college. I will not waste any of my short time and enjoy every last second at school. I definitely have created a greater passion for life and this will mesh well with the passionate crowd of college. I wish I could put a value to education and the collegiate experience for you, but it is just something you will have to partake in for yourself.

Week of Volunteering

Each year during the summer, I volunteer at a girls camp for a week, helping guide the girls in their activities and act as a mentor, trying to help build them into better young women and citizens.  I always look forward to my involvement every year because of the impact I can have on the lives of these girls.  While I don’t get paid to be there, everything I need is provided like food, housing and I even get reimbursed for the transportation to and from.  I have often looked at my experiences each year as something I would love to do professionally if possible, but alas, it is a summer, strictly volunteer-run program.  It would be great to get paid to do this kind of thing for the rest of my life, but maybe one day I will find something just as fun and rewarding that pays too.

Cutting the Rug

One thing I have had to think about for my new place is a rug.  The floor can be cold without one but on the other hand, it would be far easier to just sweep to clean up.  I have been looking online for rugs to remedy this problem, but the ones I see are pretty pricy for a simple rug to fit under a kitchen table.  I just don’t know if I want to spend a lot of money on a rug.  There is so much more I could spend that money on that would be far more important—like food.  With a limited budget in the coming year, it will be important to think even now how I can save money or scrimp on the things that do not really matter.  While I have enjoyed having a rug under my kitchen table at home all growing up, I think I will have to forgo this luxury now for something more important later.

No Summer Income

As I noted in a previous post, I will have no income this summer.  This will be new for me, as I have worked all but one summer since I was 16.  Relying on the advice of people who have completed law school, I decided to do a lot of nothing this summer.  From what these respected friends have said, I will be working so hard for the next three years, I might go crazy if I don’t have a break now, especially considering how hard I worked during undergrad.  I will save money by living for over a month with my parents, and while I will be catching up on my reading, TV, movie watching and volunteering, I don’t plan to go on any trips or shopping sprees that will put me in the red.  Sure I am envious of my friends who are taking this time to do amazingly fun and cool things before they begin graduate school or jobs, but I knew that was just not possible for me, so I am content with my plan for the summer.

Summer Plans

Since applying to law school, many people have been giving me advice—whether they graduated from law school or not.  One of the best pieces of advice I have gotten, though, is to do nothing before entering the first year of law school.  Since getting out of school for summer, I have been living at home, saving the money I could spend living in an apartment and buying my own food.  Sure I will go out to dinner some with friends at home, but it will be nothing compared to what I would spend living on my own this summer.  That said, I have created a list of things I want to do this summer because for the next three years I will do nothing but study and work.  I have many books and magazines I want to read that I already own, so that won’t cost me anything.  The part where I will spend a lot of money is all the movies I have missed out on that I will have to rent or buy.  I guess all that money I am saving will go right back out.  Finally, I will not be working this summer, only volunteering my time at a local non-profit I like a lot, so I will have no income to offset all those movie rentals.  I’ll figure out something I am sure.  I’ll let you know when I do.