Poverty Autora

Day 1: Normally, I would drive to class, but due to the fact that it costs money now to do that, I walked to class and then to convocation. From there, I had to walk to get my car and drive to work. Normally I would stop and get lunch on my way to work, but today I just spent one dollar and got a bag of chips from a vending machine. I worked until about 6 and then drove straight home. I ate an apple that I had in my dorm room. The hardest part of the day was that I started this on a Friday, so normally I would be texting my friends to make plans, but I could no longer due this. I had to hold off on laundry because I did not have enough money to do it. I spent my last dollar on another snack from a vending machine. I did not really know where else I could get food. I really wanted to go to the movies with my friends, but we all know that costs way too much. So, instead, the girls that live in my quad and I stayed in and had a game night. After the game night, my roommate needed to go to Walmart, so I walked with her there and she picked up just some basic food items. She kept offering to pay for me to get food, and as nice as it was, I just kept telling her no. We walked back to the dorm, and by this time it was kind of late, so I just went to sleep.

Starting this on a Friday night definitely made it harder. I found myself getting frustrated because I just wanted a normal meal and to drive to hangout with my friends. As the night went on, I realized more and more just how much time I typically kill by sitting on social media. Work was even hard because usually when the kids are taking their naps, I just sit on my phone or call my mom. As the frustration sort of died down, I just become bored. I thought that Friday would not be bad because I was at work all day, but it actually was quite difficult to not spend a lot of time focusing on the fact that I cannot spend money. This day made me realize that as much as I like to joke about the fact that I am a “poor college student” I am actually not poor at all.

Day 2: It was Saturday, so my original plan was to just lay in bed for most the day so I did not have to think about my lack of money or my phone. However, I had forgot that I had a leadership event in the morning. I woke up at nine and rode with my RA to Camp Hydaway in order to participate in the challenge course there. This was kind of sad because that was 75 cents that I had not planned on spending that day. We were up there until about one, so the good thing was that I did not have time to think about my lack of funds. After the course, we were originally going to go to the dining hall, but I told them that I was unable to go. We ended up going to Green Hall to eat, but I just hung out. I had already spent a dollar in driving that I had not expected to spend. I decided that I did not want to spend my last two dollars that early in the day. I walked back to the dorm in order to avoid any unnecessary spending. It was kind of awkward because I did not want to announce that I was living poor for the weekend and draw attention to myself.

Instead of feeling frustrated today, I found that I just had an overwhelming feeling of loneliness that I did not expect. After all, I am not actually poor, but there were just so many times I wanted to text friends that I could not.  I ended up getting extremely bored and lonely in my dorm, so I decided to grab my hammock and walk up to the monogram. This killed a lot of time and was nice cause well, it did not cost me anything to do this. I never fully realized just how many places that I drive.  I spent my last two dollars on a bowl of soup I had in my room and some goldfish. I drank water (even though I really wanted a Coke). The day sort of drug on and night was not any better. I ended up just reading and doing homework because I really did not know what else do to.

Day 3: At this point, I have mostly gotten the hang of what I can and can not do. I spent a dollar driving to and from church. Instead of going to Macados like I usually do after church, I went back to my room and hung out with some girls on my hall. I typically spend Sundays in the Library doing homework, so that’s exactly what I decided to do. Luckily, it was not bad weather this weekend, or I probably would have been more annoyed about the fact that I had to walk everywhere. At this point, I am just drained. Which was surprising because I had been getting more sleep that ever. However, with the lack of food and coffee, I was just exhausted. So, spent my last $2.25 by splitting a pizza from Pizza Hut in the library with a friend. It was not much, but it was refreshing to have normal food.

I was anxious because it was the last day, and I was just ready to be done with this assignment. I was also ready to be able to call my family. This was a hard weekend to not be in communication with them because we were still trying to figure out details of break. I know my mom s frustrated, but she will be alright. I found myself bummed that I missed out on a weekend with my friends. What I did like, was that it showed me which friends truly just enjoy hanging out with me. Tonight, two of my friends came over to my dorm room without warning and told me they had wondered where I was all weekend. We ended up playing UNO and just hanging out. It was probably the most fun I had all weekend.

When I first started this experience I did not expect it to be as hard as it was. I have always thought that I do not spend much money simply because I have to pay for school. However, while I was doing this, it truly made me realize how much money I actually spend. I expected for it to just kind of be my normal life with some minor adjustments; however, what I did not expect was for it to be as hard mentally as it was. I spent so much time alone because I could not afford to go anywhere with anyone. I know the assignment said not to become a hermit, but it genuinely was hard. Without texting, I had no real way of communicating with my friends. I did expect for their to be inconvenience, but it was way more inconvenient than expected.