Tell a story about being poor in college

[pffft]

My bank account was never actually empty, but freshman year, I wouldn't pony up for a $5 cup at house parties. A few of us guys would find some random house party where we didn't know a soul and look for a stray cup on the porch, in the corner with the dust bunnies, wherever. Then we would drink until the kegs were dry.

Sometimes I would even put a few solo cups in my coat -- one red, one blue, one yellow -- and take them with me.

Thinking back, I'm not sure how it was even fun going to a party where you didn't know anyone, but there were some good times. Probably couldn't bring myself to do that these days.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

My situation was very similar. Only I would go to a party, pay $5 for a cup, then later in the night, sneak over and grab a second cup from the stack that was left out. I'd double-fist for the rest of the night. Only once did a frat guy ever complain, and I quickly bent the original cup and told him there was a hole in it.

And I also went to parties by myself where I didn't know anyone. Sometimes my friends didn't want to go out, or were busy doing something else, so I'd go alone and end up at a place where I didn't know anyone. Sometimes I'd meet people, and sometimes I'd just stay there all night without talking to anyone. Looking back now, I'd imagine that everyone thought I was this weirdo guy hanging out.

And I sure don't think I'd do it today. But when I was in college, I had this "I don't give a **** what anyone thinks" rebel attitude, so I'd go and act like I didn't care what people thought of the strange loner with the two cups of beer scoping out the women from his spot in the corner.

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

The fine folks at Ramen thank you for this thread.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

One semester I bought a 50-pound bag of rice. I didn't eat breakfast, but would have a bowl of rice for lunch and then for dinner.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

One semester I bought a 50-pound bag of rice. I didn't eat breakfast, but would have a bowl of rice for lunch and then for dinner.

With rare exception these would be the items in my shopping cart.

Mountain Dew
Coffee
Ramen
Rice

Sometimes I would splurge and get Chef Boyardee Raviolis or Mac and Cheese.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

We used to make our pledges show up with a roll of toilet paper everytime they came to the house.

 

[Brian]

I went fishing for change with a broom under the vending machines in the basement of my dorm. Usually came up with a buck or two.

 

[heyabbott]

I sold my blood plasma. You could only do it twice in 2 weeks. The first time you got $7.00, you came back about 3 days later and got $13 more.
$20.00 at the grocery store would get a lb of ground beef, package of hot dogs, dozen eggs, pasta & sauce, loaf of bread.

I did this for about 3 months, but I looked like a junkie and the g-ddamn people who would stick my arm with a needle missed as often as they would hit.

 

[Big Circus]

The campus art museum was on my way from my apartment to class, and one of their exhibits was a model train that ran in an oval on the inside and outside of a sidewalk-level wall. The train was loaded from inside with hot dogs and condiments for anyone walking by. I still have no idea what the artistic merit was - there was speculation that it was a psych experiment. No matter - Big Circus was getting one of those dogs every time he walked by. I ate free hot dogs for lunch every day that exhibit ran.

 

[txsportsscribe]

i had to take a pay cut when i left college. i was getting max financial aid, dad was paying for my apartment, mom was paying for groceries and gas and i also made about $400 a month on the campus newspaper. ramen noodles? hell, i had steak in my freezer!

 

[pffft]

I sold my blood plasma. You could only do it twice in 2 weeks. The first time you got $7.00, you came back about 3 days later and got $13 more.
$20.00 at the grocery store would get a lb of ground beef, package of hot dogs, dozen eggs, pasta & sauce, loaf of bread.

I did this for about 3 months, but I looked like a junkie and the g-ddamn people who would stick my arm with a needle missed as often as they would hit.

I donated plasma for a while as well, except in my time just a few years ago, it was something like $65 a week. Pretty good money for sitting there reading a magazine. And the needle would go through the same "hole" every time, so my arm looked fine.

 

[spikechiquet]

I had seven jobs at the same time in college (student newspaper women's basketball beat writer/student TV news show producer&director/student radio station DJ/Public Radio DJ/Professional TV station sports camera guy/I DJ'd at a bar/Taco Bell) so I was always around different sets of people willing to buy me a meal or a drink where ever I was.
I paid for school by the semester (with the help of parents as well) and never had much money and wouldn't suggest it to many to try, but it worked for me.
Oh, and the school had a meal plan card for kids that lived on campus (I didn't), but it was always too much money on the card per semester...so kids would always be willing to buy me a personal pizza a ****ty hamburger or chicken strips from the in-school vendors.

 

[nmmetsfan]

I made $450/month working at the campus radio station. That didn't last long when rent was $275. I lived in a desert climate so I lived without heat. No natural gas also meant no hot water. Showers sucked.

 

[Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!]

Not exactly poor:
My roomie and I had a female friend who worked the checkout at Krogers. She had a crush on my roomie.
Anyway, she told us to come by the store one day when she was working the checkout and she would hook us up.
We took advantage ... bought some pork loin, and a few cases of imported beer and some other **** walked out of the store with about at least $50 worth of groceries that we paid $10 for.
When she was ringing up she was nervous, worried about all the **** we had loaded up with.
We got back to campus, and broke out the **** Butkus Quick Cook Grill and did the loin and drank beer.
Looking back it was really stupid, prolly woulda went to jail if we got caught. Her too. Luckily, nobody got caught.

 

[Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!]

One more:
We had two pledges who smoked up their scholarship money. One guy, Dan, was an international student from Thailand, whose parents has some money.
His roommate, Joe, was a football player from Jersey who got a scholarship to school, but never played a down.
Second semester, after football season and Christmas break, these two guys go to class, come back to the dorms and fire up.
After about a week, they stop going to class altogether. Just stay in the dorm all day, smoking weed.
Joe told us he spent second semester scholarship money (about $2K) on weed.
These guys smoked at least $4K in weed in a semester. That was all the did.
Both left and never came back.
I found Joe on FB a few months back ... he's divorced with a kid, working a 40-hour-a-week job trying to keep his ex-wife off his back and hang onto his kid.

 

[Turtle Wexler]

One semester my living arrangements were five girls in a two-bedroom apartment with 1.5 bathrooms. Five girls sharing one shower meant there were many, many fights.

 

[Jake_Taylor]

One semester my living arrangements were five girls in a two-bedroom apartment with 1.5 bathrooms. Five girls sharing one shower meant there were many, many fights.

If you wanted to make extra money you should have sold tickets.

 

[Jake_Taylor]

The campus art museum was on my way from my apartment to class, and one of their exhibits was a model train that ran in an oval on the inside and outside of a sidewalk-level wall. The train was loaded from inside with hot dogs and condiments for anyone walking by. I still have no idea what the artistic merit was - there was speculation that it was a psych experiment. No matter - Big Circus was getting one of those dogs every time he walked by. I ate free hot dogs for lunch every day that exhibit ran.

I know a bunch of psychiatrists at your alma mater. Now I know that you're the hot dog guy they always talk about.

 

[Jake_Taylor]

My friends and I lived down the street from Allen Fieldhouse in college and we had our beer/grocery money for each month taken care of from November to February by selling parking spaces in the yard. We could (illegially) park up to 15 cars in the driveway and behind the house where they weren't visible to passing cops. Charged $10-$30 a pop depending on how big a game it was. For 7 p.m. starts we'd fire up the grill and sell hot dogs for $2 to people that didn't have time to get dinner after work.

 

[RedHotChiliPrepper]

I lived at home with my mom and worked pretty much full-time while I was in college, so I wasn't poor. I had to wait until I left school, got a full-time job and moved out to be poor. But I don't have any cool stories about being poor.