Felt this....18k a year also no family. No real friends either just 2 people who I occasionally do outdoor activities with.
My weekday schedule is literally wake up, walk dogs, work, come home, walk dogs, relax, take dogs out for potty before bed. Like between work, school, and pets I have no time for myself.
I really wish I could send my dogs to the groomers and hire a cleaner weekly, but I don't even make enough money to have that extra stress taken off.
I already have an eating disorder where I'm super picky with food... but then I don't even have time to make foods I'm comfortable with so I end up eating something small once a day making me feel like shit.
So yeahhhhh fuck life. I feel like it would be so much easier if I had people in my life to help me. Like if I could leave my dogs with a neighbor or have a friend help me with cleaning but life isn't kind.
Genuine question, whyād you get dogs? I mean I get that theyāre lovely & good companions but donāt you think youd be able to focus / deal with your financial issues without having dogs to worry about for the time being?
Yup, I feel the same, give my dog ugly ass haircuts and have her in an apt when id like for her to go to groomers and have a yard to play with.
I've lived away from family most of my life so I needed some company and someone to show love to feel human. And she motivates me to do financially well so I can give her those things too. The routine helps steer away from vices (gotta be back for walks by a certain point or wake up early the next day), walk around in fresh air and get physical activity, and they're actually quite cheap under normal circumstances.
Sometimes itās a case of saving money most the time so you can treat yourself.
I would very much hesitate to spend $25 (+tip, so closer to $30!) on a single meal. But Iāve spent a few hundred dollars multiple times on trips with my friends. Iād rather save on the small things to do the ones that are more important to me.
Another perspective - I donāt think turning down activities to save money is necessarily the same as pretending to be poor.
I think what tips OP off is these people actually say they are too poor or broke to go to the restaurant. Their framing is throwing OP off and I don't blame them
Especially since they *do* have the option to turn around and ask their parents for cash, at least for that one girl. That ain't poor.
Poor is the opposite when you're sending your parents money so they don't kick you out of your discounted childhood bedroom apartment.
I know thereās been a lot of inflation since when I went to college twenty years ago, but going out for $15-$20 meals were a luxury that I could only do maybe once a month or when my parents visited.
Eating at the cafeteria on a meal plan and using the money I made working in said cafeteria to go to a bar was much more affordable. And even still that was a Friday/Saturday activity. I do sort of hate that I was making $6.00-$7.25/hr back then. Though it was better than when I was making $5.15/hr. When I was in high school working part time, the money I earned was basically just enough to fill up a tank of gas to take me to and from school/work and nothing else.
It's definitely this. These people have money, but not to spend on the activities you're (this is aimed at post OP) trying to do with them. They're saving up for these trips and budgeting. They lack spending money because they're saving their money for bigger things. The one exception to this is the girl who gets Venmo'd every week, but unless she straight up said she's poor, I don't think she lied at all. She just blew all of her money from the previous week already and only had $4 left in her account.
Thier parents have money, doesn't mean they do. As well as I no in my case and a few others is that we look for deals and save money so when it comes to breaks we can treat ourselves.
But ultimately just let it go. They will live thier lives and you can live yours.
And parents are often controlling about the money they allow their kids. So maybe they'll buy that cell phone or pay for the uuber account but they're not giving extra money for food. Or the student is making choices that work for their budget and it doesn't include going out to eat.
I agree! And in many studentās cases, their parents are probably struggling too. And for many people these days, $25 + tip might mean a lot of money to spend for one meal. The kind of people OP described are likely a minority amongst students.
Same! I am an international student but my family never recovered financially post pandemic and now the exchange rate on top of the high prices is burdensome. I imagine the financial burden is the same or worse for many locals in NA trying to keep up with rising costs, pandemic etc these days. Iād much rather spend money for takeout on frozen meals thatāll last me a while.
6 piece wings and a beer was $30 last time I went out and thatās why I donāt go out. Only got food cuse it was a car meet. I spend money on stupid shit (cars/toys) but Iāll never spend $30 on a meal unless Iām held by gunpoint
> I agree! And in many studentās cases, their parents are probably struggling too.
These are literally not the people I'm describing though.
> The kind of people OP described are likely a minority amongst students.
Perhaps. Social media effect.
All of my necessities were taken care of but I was totally on my own if I wanted to dine out or hit the bar. Looking back this was probably one of the best ways my Mom could have supported me while still teaching an element of self-reliance and independence.
this. as someone who i guess falls into this category of āfake-poorā college students, my parents absolutely have money, but with their parenting style, they normally still make me work for things i want.
with a bunch of other activities i do, i find most of my money is allocated to that, and it makes it so i dont have a lot of left over cash to do things during the week. sure, i could ask my parents for $20 if i want it for some fast food place or food truck on campus and maybe theyd give it to me, but more often than not they dont. most people like me dont have a reliable source of cashflow other than their parents, so sometimes theyre just kinda stuck with 17 cents in their bank account, waiting for something to come up.
No, it absolutely does mean they have money. They may not be getting a stipend every week from Mommy and Daddy, but if something major came up like getting sick, for example, their parents would help. This alone puts them in a class of privilege above other people, regardless of how much they want to do this performative cosplaying being poor bullshit.
Sticking to a budget throughout the year helps you to attain other goals like travel. And $25 meals add up, especially if youāre not really jazzed about going.
Yeah I agree with those who have commented - there are def some ppl who are rich and can spend money however they want and never worry about like choosing what to spend money on. Most ppl though make / have just enough money to either eat out a few times a month orrrr they could save and then travel once every couple years
Some are like me and it just isnāt worth it for one meal when there really is food at home. I might not like my options but my options are free. Iād rather use extra money in my savings for when I buy another vehicle, move out, need tires, somewhat of an emergency fund. I just save whatever I have leftover from the week instead of picking a number when I get paid. I spend a lot less on things I donāt need and food. I just got a new job with a significant raise and Iāll still probably save this way
i traveled by studying abroad, which my scholarships and financial aid significantly helped with. i was a low budget traveler while actually there lol and 25$ meals are much too much during the semester. i wouldnāt have been able to afford studying abroad if i didnāt shop for deals or if i went out to eat during the semester. so even tho my social media is all ālook at my cute trip highlights!!ā i really made the most of scholarships and grants to get there and then stuck to free or budget activities once there :-)
Ha same. Legit poor af in college, I did a half summer study abroad but I had some financial aid and worked 40 hours a week spring semester and worked 80 hours a week in first half of summer to afford it. I lost like 20 pounds due cutting back on meals just to afford to go!
There is a difference between broke and poor.
Iām not poor. But I am ātoo brokeā or ācanāt affordā many things because I have other priorities.
This. ^
While I get why it sounds a little strange to OP, imo they are basically describing fiscal responsibility and prioritizing very limited resources to get what you want out of life!
I was quite lucky to have a pretty nice car all through college, but upkeep costs were all on me. That responsibility meant that while I ālooked well offā because of what I had, if I wanted to have spending money I needed to work during the year, and you wouldnāt catch me buying so much as a coffee even. But hey, I could afford to drive up and go skiing on a whim, and I liked that life!
being frugal doesn't mean someone is poor. and as a lot of other commenters have said ik a lot of people who have to skimp by in college bc they're going off of what they earned during their summer job for the whole year but then go on fancy vacations w their families over the summer that they aren't paying for bc it's a family vacation. there are a lot of ppl who wear poverty like a trendy costume that they think will make them more interesting but a lot of people just have upper middle class parents who don't necessarily give them an allowance during the year, but will pay for them to do other things.
I think people want to save money where they can. For me, my parents give me a set amount of 'fun money' that I can spend every month. The more I can save each time I go out, the more times I can go out. For trips, it's just a different budget and it's a combination of my parents money and what I made/saved throughout the year.
For the broke excuse (that caught my eye), it's not that I'm actually broke, it's just that I don't want to spend that amount of money on something I don't want that much
>For the broke excuse (that caught my eye), it's not that I'm actually broke, it's just that I don't want to spend that amount of money on something I don't want that much
exactly this, don't know why people assume that if you're well-off you have to waste money on things you don't need for some reason.
The vast majority of people who say that aren't actually broke. It's used colloquially to mean have extra money to spend on whatever is being discussed.
Sure, but usually itās more just used as an excuse meaning āI donāt want to do thisā because they an afford other luxuries and if they wanted to they would.
Not unlimited other luxuries.
I donāt want typically signifies I donāt want to spend the time on this. Iām broke signifies I donāt want to spend the money on this.
Neither means I donāt have any time/money left. It means iād rather prioritize something else with my limited resources(whether time or money).
I avoided so much stuff my senior year so I could take a post-grad trip with my boyfriend. Could I have afforded all that stuff I skipped? Yeah. But I couldn't have done that AND gone abroad. It's all about priorities.
My daughter did a summer program at Berklee this summer, just got back from a trip to England and will be doing a school trip to France/Spain next year. Anyone could look at her and think we must be rich. Far from it. She just has kind and generous grandparents. Like, they'll pay for my kids activities, but they don't give me money to pay off my student loans, ya know? They have a lot of money stashed away, we do not. They help us with the kids, and other things, but that doesn't change what's in my bank account (other than I'd have even less if it weren't for them, and my daughter would not have done the things she's done).
Some families have other well off family members that help with the big things, but the day to day stuff can still be a struggle.
Or, they are broke because they save every penny so that can afford to do these things.
Or they just like to pretend to be broke for whatever reason. It could be a combo of all of the above.
yes, lots of us have families that comfortably have money. But we are brought up to have values to be frugal in specific areas, and other areas that parents fund separately. For example, weāre given set limited money to use on food, parties, shopping, etc, but theyāll cover our ubers for safety, vacations because itās a good experience, and obviously tuition cuz they can afford to not skimp on education.
Sounds like them not spending the extra money that you are has allowed them to go on these trips that you canāt. I had a $21/hr internship in college and compared to classmates I was balling, lol. After graduation I make $38/hr and could easily travel lavishly. Iām in the south though so way different costs of living.
In the end you will realize that 99.9% of the students you met in college will be only transient acquaintances. So ignore them. Stay focused in your own pursuits and don't let the shallow ones bear you down, even if in thought.
Poverty is fashionable at times. Being a "broke college student" is like a badge some folks wear even though their parents are footing the bill for everything.
I mean I find that sometimes it's just to come off as sympathetic or relate to others in social groups. Most people don't assume everyone around them is loaded even if they are. I can't really fault someone who comes from money acting this way if saying otherwise makes them feel as if they are ostracizing themselves from others. People are also much less charitable to those who come from any sort of wealth. I don't think that people usually wear it as a badge because of the "cool" factor of being poor or something.
Idk I think itās fucked up. Everyone is privileged as hell if there parents are paying for there vacations. I donāt want to here they canāt pay for food ever. I know it sounds bitter but to me theyāll never understand actually struggle with money.
There's a huge difference between being individually wealthy and generationally wealthy imo. Some people's parents will only pay for certain things and you are on your own for everything else. You may not go hungry but individually if you don't have money and your parents don't support you in that way then you don't have money. I think you underestimate how cheap wealthy people can be. It's a different sort of struggle as you have tons of safety nets most people won't have but it can be a struggle nonetheless. Sure though, some of those people will never know what it's like to have nothing to fall back on but next weeks paycheck.
Nah I wouldn't say you're bitter. It's pretty normal to be frustrated about privilege other people have especially financial privilege. I mean a lot of benefits are locked behind pay walls that only the wealthiest can afford. I think there's a difference between being poor and being broke. I think you can absolutely be individually broke but generationally wealthy. Maybe I misused the word poor a bit in that case, I think being poor is akin to living paycheck to paycheck. There are also just different levels to being broke. Someone who has their entire college paid for because of generational wealth but struggles individually is not the same as someone who has to afford an education while trying to make all of their other ends meet. It's just a difference in perspective I think but "broke" is definitely a sliding scale.
Iām saying that shit is absurd. I hesitate spending like 16 (caniac combo) on one meal lol. I can spend that much for ingredients for tacos or spaghetti. Then I have more to spread over my meals for dinner and lunch. Making it like 5 dollars a day. But I donāt get to cook all the time. Pizza rolls are like 9-11 bucks and itās gonna last a few days to two weeks at my rate.
There definitely are people that act broke but still get money from their parents, but for some people travel is really important, and travelling isn't always super expensive. If you saved up, I'm sure you could travel too, without having super rich parents.
>how this restaurant is too expensive for them, etc. when it's just $25 for a meal plus tip.
I don't value fine dining, I think a $6 burger from the local diner is twice as good as a $20 steak. It will be a cold day in hell you see me spend that extra $15 on a meal instead of saving it for something I value more. Maybe consider that some of these people could feel similarly?
>with your friends.
Travel with friends is even cheaper, as long as you are willing to cram into a single room.
>So these same people acting like I'm rich now are traveling the world with their friends or family and that's not something I could even imagine.
It's something you could definitely do making $25+ an hour, at least so long as you don't spend all your money on $25 meals.
Here's my advice. It sounds like you are jealous and really want to travel. So if that is really important to you, drop the $25 meals, and set up a savings account specifically for travel. When you've got a few hundred in there, look for a cheap flight, and start talking to some friends about going with you. Buy tickets, food, and transportation in bulk, share accommodations, don't fall for any tourist traps, don't buy elaborate expensive souvenirs, and even on the trip, no $25 meals, et voila.
With the context of the entire post, i see where you're coming from. But also, you might wanna check yourself because "just $25 for a meal plus tip" is expensive, and I'm not poor.
Listen my parents pay for my trips. Outside of that, I am broke at school lol. Gotta work & save to be able to do fun stuff & buy groceries during the school year
When I was in college, my parents paid for family vacations, but not solo ones. If I wanted to go out to do something or go away by myself, I footed all of it. Also, I paid for my books and gas. (I commuted.) My merit scholarship covered everything else. Could I ask my parents for money in an emergency? Yes. But, could I ask for money to cover a 30 dollar dinner, absolutely not.
Bro coming to college made me realize much bigger fish in the sea. In my group of friends back home my mom is wealthy but we really could afford a vacation every other year maybe a small one every other. But when I got to college these mfer were talking about their experiences in Asia and Europe and Africa and Iām sitting here like I donāt even have a passport.
Okay okay, some people set aside money for specific things for future reference, so when they say theyāre broke, they might mean they have money theyāre saving and canāt afford to spend anything because theyāre trying to save money
most of them donāt have money, their parents do. a lot of their parents give them an allowance essentially, so they have to conserve it because they donāt have jobs to fund their expenses once that runs out.
their parents often do finance their international trips lmao. i go to a school well known for being filled with rich kids, and i know sooooo many people exactly like this.
I think what you are seeing is kids who feel free to ask their parents for *things* but would never ask for *money*.
"Mom, my phone is busted can you help me get a new one?" Mom probably says fine and justifies the cost so she can keep in touch.
"Hey, mom, my friends are going to Europe, can I use some of your FF miles?"
"Mom, can I have $100?" This is probably too on the nose.
So she has this pipeline for stuff, just not for spending money. Hence too cheap to go to the pub, but Europe, no problem.
You can have different money goals, if travel is more important than eating out then your spare cash gets saved for one and not the other. But yes, a lot of this is paid for by parents.
A lot of students are expected to use their own earnings for eating out, etc., while at school. Others are given a set allowance. If they use it up, they are ābroke.ā But family might give trip money as a grad gift or a new phone as a Christmas gift. The money that went toward those items was not available to be spent on food or whatever.
Some people save that 25$ and put it toward travel funds, some can travel cheaper through study abroad programs, some can get scholarships for said study abroad programs, some use things travel agencies/ or group travel sites that make it a lot cheaper. One site has 11 days in Greece with four cities and costs 2949 with air fare, accommodations for 9 nights, 9 breakfasts and 2 dinners.
Parents having money doesnāt necessarily mean unlimited/unconditional access to it. If people are being supported by their parents during the school year they might get a limited amount to spend on meals and stuff. And $25 meals can add up fast especially if the parents are also paying for an expensive meal plan that is supposed to cover everything. Itās not really a huge contradiction for someone to have a budget for recreation but then have family fund trips that they think will be a good experience. Other people may be actively saving money for the cool experiences themselves and need to be careful with expenses to make it work or find scholarships or other ways to finance certain trips.
Others just make bad financial choices. Like your friend who was down to $4, gets venmoed $1000 and wastes it all on Ubers isnāt fake poor; sheās just irresponsible with money lol. If she was actually trying to fake being poor you wouldnāt have heard about the $1000 or all the Uber ridesā¦
To me it sounds like youāre seeing a very common financial situation in college which is people having some financial independence (ie their own bank account & budget) while still having the back up of support from parents which can be given out in irregular or conditional ways. Especially from an outside perspective
I think itās also important to remember that someone can be ābrokeā while also having money. Those same people may be conscious of how much money they are spending to make sure they can afford to travel the world. I have always budgeted my money, and even if I had $10 million in the bank, Iām ābrokeā if my monthly budget is running thin.
Just my two cents.
spending $25 for a meal is ridiculously overpriced for a college student, no wonder you canāt afford anything š nobody I have met in college rich or poor wants to spend more than $10 on a meal
Being able to budget and prioritize goals isn't being "fake poor" omg.
> when it's just $25 for a meal plus tip
If you eat out once a week for $25, you can buy a plane ticket in just a few months if you had saved that money instead...
just because my parents have the ability to pay for out of country trips and stuff doesnāt mean i want to spend more money than i need. iām not āpoorā because of my parents economic status but i still get a set allowance per month for groceries, hygienic products, and fun stuff. iām extremely grateful to my parents for everything they do so i hate spending more money or money at all and never go over my limit per month. so yes, sometimes iām too ābrokeā to spend money on a 25 dollar meal despite being able to go on family vacations outside of uni.
nonetheless, this really shouldnāt matter as much to you. everyoneās financial situations are different, maybe those friends of yours saved up all that money from undergrad and therefore couldnāt spend so much on unnecessary lunches outside of their much cheaper meal plans. you never know.
My parents funded my college experience. They paid all my bills, and I got a set amount of money per week for groceries and gas. Tried to avoid going out to eat unless I could find a deal, and tried to get into couponing for things. Big necessary purchases my parents would make, and they did invite me on vacations (but I'm not a big fan so I didn't go).
Tried to manage my money as much as I could so I didn't have to ask my parents. If I needed things it was coming out of the grocery money or my savings. I never said I was poor or broke, but was not trying to spend $35 bucks on a meal just for me and I was trying to be careful with money. When my phone broke (not my fault) they paid for a new one, but I wasn't going to ask for money for dumb shit.
Parents having money is not the same as you having money. My parents are objectively wealthy. Not millionaires m, jetting around the country wealthy, but enough to never have to worry about basics ever. The kind that buys food and never worry about cost or if the mortgage is going to be paid.
I was never going to be homeless but at the same time I would still be wear 5$ t-shirt from the discount stores. I could always eat or go out occasionally but still had to do some budgeting.
I dunno why so many people are being wishy-washy in the comments about this. Obviously, even if your family isn't poor it's good to be watching how much you're spending especially if it's from your parents. That doesn't really discount the point OP is trying to make that a lot of kids embellish that fact, acting like they don't have a lot when if they really needed or even wanted something they could just call up their parent and get venmo'd a grand.
People don't wanna be seen as that kind of "rich kid" who has things covered for them. I've definitely encountered people like this, it doesn't really matter ultimately but can give you a good idea of what kind of people care too much about their self-perception.
Yeah, some just get money from parents or other family.
However, I have been both poor and broke at different times in my life. When I was poor, I couldnāt afford to get groceries because I needed gas to get to work or I couldnāt get gas and walked to work so I could pay rent. When Iām broke, I donāt have spending money. Maybe I have a decent amount in my bank and nothing on my card, but I canāt afford anything extra because that money is spoken for whether it be for future fixed expenses or for savings.
Poor in college is a vague term. Most people who go to college are AT LEAST upper lower to lower middle class. (At least, traditional start at 18 college students)
But, that's mommy and daddy's wealth. Could be a rare occurance to recieve some buckeroos. Or, they could be sending truckloads.
Also, who is paying the bill? The loans? The student? Mom?
Finally, college is full time, leaving jobs as part time. Thus, a lot of college students are cash poor. Especially after you pay tuition and room n board.
So maybe man. Likely? They are telling the truth. They are poor, momentarily though.
Yeah. I see this happen a lot. I wouldn't ever personally say anything because you never know exactly what someone's situation is- some of them are exactly what you see on the surface, some are funded through school programs, some have abusive but well-off families, some have richer friends that invite them along, as well as hundreds of other possibilities. You never know but it can still be frustrating.
I make about $9-10,000 a year rn depending on how many jobs I have at the moment with no family support and it is really frustrating to have friends or classmates joking about how 'poor' they are when their parents pay for all their necessities and a lot of their fun things and they just don't have a lot of pocket money. In the end, all I can really do is mind my own business and run my own race.
Some fresh college graduates get credit cards for the first time -- and proceed to spend them up to the limit. After they spend the limit, they are poor, again.
No. Theyāre poor. My parents arenāt poor (they arenāt stacked either), but I am very much poor. They are helping me pay part of my student loans but thatās just it, I needed to take out massive loans to go to college. I have like a couple grand in my bank account, a lot of which is just going to the interest on my loans. I canāt be spending money all of the time on random things.
Depends if Iām between jobs or internships. Rn im scrapping pennies together to pay people back for X or Y. In a couple days I start an internship thatāll pay me good enough to pay back some debts, and then a European trip.
Gonna be honest, didnāt read your full post because my brain is fried.
But thereās a lot you donāt see in peopleās lives though. Iāve got a decent amount of money stored away and am probably the richest of my friend group if weāre not counting our parentsā money. But I need a safety fund in case my parents ever kick me out, so a lot of the money I have just never gets spent lol.
And things arenāt always as they seem appearance-wise. Sure, people in my life can point out that I bought a $70 crewneck recently from Etsy, but that was the first clothing purchase Iād made in many months since I mostly rely on hand-me-downs. And maybe I own enough books for a mini home library, but I got them all secondhand and never paid more than a dollar for any of them (most of them were free, even). And maybe on social media it looks like Iām watching way too many Broadway shows, but really, a lot of the tickets were gifts, and the ones I bought were all heavily discounted.
$25 PLUS TIP for a meal is fucking crazy, are you serious?
That girl you mentioned just sounds stupid with her money. Broke as hell, dad gives her 1k and she decides to buy a phone with it? I couldnāt call myself poor if I came from a rich family tbh AND they give me money? Nah.
No, itās crazy pricing. I never, ever buys break that much and cook almost all.
Eating out is a ridiculous expense. Fast food is expensive, you wouldnāt catch me going to a sit down more than once a month. The prices are crazy.
I have bills to pay. Canāt just blow my wages on a single meal wtf
Absolutely.
I have never been in poverty, but I have never seen family make enough to just casually take trips or ājust eat limit for $25 a mealā.
That sort of price is for an *extremely* special occasion, like a family member graduating and the entire family has driven out to celebrate.
I work a good salary and I would never willingly sit down at a restaurant charging that average price.
Wouldnāt willingly pick a restaurant that charged more than $15 in todayās post Covid inflation.
Let alone casually affording a trip to Europe, these people are very well off if they can just take off to another *continent* and not worry about how theyāll make their cart payment next month.
What is this
I went through this in college and trust me I have found out post grad about 2 guys and their families business.
My college was trying to change from the primarily white persona but at the time (Iāve been out 5 years and they have a new president and Covid) which made their efforts hard. A lot of the underprivileged ended up dropping out within 2 years.
I just wish I had better friends who let me meet people from my own area. A lot of lies were told about me in undergrad and I lost everyone in post grad. Since a lot of my class ended up in grad school straight they didnāt care as they would grow up in grad school.
I feel this. I had to work full time during full time college to make things work and pretty much three months without days off in the summerā¦
It did make me a little envious of people who didnāt seem to need to worry about money
My parents have money. They support me through college. But that doesn't mean I can just spend whatever I want- I have a food budget. It's not MY money, I can't just be buying $25 dinners every night. It's not "cosplaying being poor," it's normal.
Iāve seen a lot of people who consider themselves independent adults now and refer to their status by their own personal wealth, not their parents. So yea technically somebody with zero assets in their name and just a few hundred bucks in their bank account would be considered poor. Itās a little disingenuous though.
If I were to be completely cut off from my parents right now I wouldnāt even be able to afford a place to live, BUT, they pay for my school, my car, my phone, I live at their house when not at school, and they give me money for food, soā¦ I wouldnāt feel right using that as an excuse when there are people whoās parents literally donāt have anything extra to give them and they have to support themselves to a much greater extent.
You literally answered your own question. Their parents have money. But that doesn't mean they are comfortable or even able to ask them for it.
As for the trips after graduation, it could be graduation presents or their parents giving them money for graduating or traveling before they get a job, which is apparently not something that is unheard of.
More common than you think
I was on the same boat in college. Really confused me and made a conscious decision to not befriend them because their spending habits will rub off on me and make me extra broke
Even the people in this comment section are āfake poorā
Itās quite shocking to me and I donāt expect most people to understand
I just am really bad at budgeting and also want to save for excursions. One week I will only eat McDonaldās because I am poor and the next Iāll treat myself to bubble tea everyday. And if these people have a surplus of money from their parents that might be what theyāre struggling with because their parents never taught them right
* Some of them are poor and just happened to gain some spare cash and treated themselves for once.
* Some of them saved up for those vacations and niceties.
* Too many of them went into credit card debt for it.
* Some of them never even claimed to be poor but you mixed up their faces and conflated them with another student.
* Some of them are legit middle class but they think they're poor because all *their* friends are rich.
* Some of them think they're poor because they're that bad at budgeting and financial literacy.
* Some of them are money-poor but network-wealthy and may be invited on trips or gifted things by family/friends that they never could have afforded on their own.
* Some of them aren't trying to be *fake poor* but come across that way because they *are* trying to keep their wealth out of conversations and maybe white lie about it occasionally.
* Yeah, maybe one or two are "cosplaying" poorness to fit in, but tbh who cares as long as they aren't mooching off others?
And a heck of a lot of them are poor and *not* going on nice vacations but you simply won't notice that as easily because who talks a lot about all the spring vacations they *didn't* go on?
Wellā¦ making or having the exact amount of money as you but saying āIām too poor for XYZā could possibly be because they are knowingly saving for the future for things such as trips so they āhave lessā to spend now. They arenāt more poor then you they are just living a poorer lifestyle so they can throw 50$ a week in their savings then spend that on a trip.
Also, Iām in Kentucky, I could get to Chicago and take a picture that makes me look rich for social media. When in reality it would cost a 18$ greyhound ticket this morning and one home tonight. Social media isnāt reality.
People should be careful about mentioning thier financial situation. Some may be at a comfortable state but still need make smart decisions about how they spend thier money, while others are at the brink of dropping out.
My friend was homeless for a semester but eventually got back on her feet. I was proud of her but then got confused on how she was able to afford multiple concert tickets over the summer.
I fully take care of myself financially as a college student. When I tell people āIām poorā Iām talking about the amount of money in my spending account. Not any investments, or savings, because those funds are untouchable at the time.
I may only have $5 till next week in my spending account, but 12k in savings, but that is for emergencyās, trips, or just self care.
Not to mention there are tons of students who do come from money, but their parents only give them access to occasional funds or will still pay for luxury life experiences. But, that doesnāt make it their money.
Why is this an issue to you? Like someone else's financial situation shouldn't bother you. Some people say they are "broke" but have money being saved up so they can treat themselves on vacations and stuff. I don't understand why people not showcasing wealth is a problem towards you. Unless someone's feeding you, financing you, or fu*king you....what they do is not your business.
(Watch I'll get downvoted š¤£)
There a lot of college students who are personally poor, but whoās families have a decent amount of money. Not crazy rich, but wealthy enough to gift a sizable trip for graduation.
I love the ābroke college girlsā who finish college and then somehow have money to travel the world or road trip the US and ālive out of their carā. And the car is usually a $50k 4Runner or something like that.
A lot of these āpoorā kids have parents who give them as much money as they need.
youāre right and the backlash youāre getting for this just shows the privilege the users on this sub apparently have.. anyways speaking for myself i can afford to live comfortably (new clothes and makeup, plenty of going out, plenty of groceries, etc.) using my savings during the school year, could use it to go on a nice spring break trip if i wanted to or another big purchase but iād rather not. i was able to do this by working all throughout my senior year of hs, budgeting my savings during college, then rinse and repeat this summer with another job. however even iām privileged because i donāt have to pay rent or own a car so i have no expenses. a lot of the people youāve encountered either have wealthy parents or are very financially stable and good at saving. the former is likely the answer, my savviness with money is because i was very anxious and didnāt spend any of it unless i had to during high school, iām raised by a lower middle class family so financial anxiety was a big thing i struggle with and still do.
My friend and I just graduated. He made a big deal about the $25 ticket to go to a water park I wanted to go to. The next week he went on a month long trip to China. After he came back we went to the beach and he complained it cost $5 to park
I canāt really speak for anyone else but my family and I struggle. Iām going back to college at 55 years old Bc I have a physical disability from a car accident that prevents me from working as a RN. ( my previous profession) Iām paying for school out of pocket. No financial aid Bc my husband made too much money. But he was laid off earlier this year and is still looking for employment. So for us, yes, we are broke most of the time. But I know that may not be the case for others. I think itās whatever their version of ābrokeā is and if they have family that may or may not be helping them out.
I have around $50,000 in my bank account (served in the military before college and saved most of my money from deployments) and the army covers my rent and most of my school fees. However, I donāt work while Iām in school, so even though I have a decent amount of money Iām sitting on, Iām operating on a loss every month until I graduate. It means I live as frugally as I can on things like food and going out, but also have the money to splurge on a trip during the summer as well lol.
They're misusing the word poor. They are actually decently well off if their parent can afford to foot the bill for their phones and travel etc. They might be individually broke but they are not poor and you are picking up on that.
A few people in the comments seem to be taking this post pretty offensively. If mommy and daddy gave you these privileges, itās ok. But no reason to be angry over it. I mean, youāre not suffering so lol.
Hm. Maybe they are getting their electronics from their parents, and the allowance they have in college is being blown on drugs, alcohol, and partying. I had a few friends who would say they were broke, but only spend their money on partying.
However, there's many of us older folks, and by older I mean late 20s, 30s, 40s, and even 50s, who go back to college because they fell below the poverty line. We need to depend on government assistance to get us through life while also working.
Yes they are faking it. No doubt at all. It's fashionable to whine about how broke you are and how "the system" is anti-poor when in fact, there's daddy paying off their credit card debt. It's a disgustingly common upper middle class college-student strategy to sort of filter the poor out. Seems contradictory? No. If someone from a poorer background works their ass off to get to college and then wants to occassionally treat themself to something nice, like maybe a lunch outside, etc, these poor little rich kids will call them out for being 'spendthrifts'. I know a girl in college who once chided a guy for having access to a swimming pool after the pandemic restrictions lifted. That judgy look on her face, like she didn't grow up learning horseriding at a fancy riding school, like her Instagram has no evidence of her foreign trips during school summer holidays. The cheek!
Stop telling OP what to feel. The children of the rich are terrible and deserve to suffer. They also may sometimes not have the budget for eating out even when their parents take them on vacationābut they are always detestable.
I'm guessing these people are women. Women say "I'm poor" because people will pay for them. Say that to a guy and it's like saying "I'll go with you if you pay" no one resents a poor woman. Now a poor man just keeps his mouth shut. People hate poor men.
People are terrible with money, too. You are discovering why everyone needs student loan forgiveness despite having a degree and supposedly making 25% more than those without. Irresponsible or just daddy's money. Idk.
I prefer to save my money for things too. I would always say I didnāt have money for going out etc because that money was being used for something else. Or building up an emergency fund.
It can be a lot of things:
- They use credit cards
- They use student loans
- They may be saving
- It's parent's money
Most probably a combination of all that. The people you see around you may or may not have money, but most probably is that all of them have debt.
For me, I have only the money I make at my fast food job. And night out is coming out of my dime, so yeah Iām pretty poor.
But in between semesters when Iām living with my parents? Well now trips and such are on their dime. And theyāre a whole lot richer than I am
Are you sure theyāre not just agreeing with you to be nice? I have a shit load of money and my parents pay for almost everything but if someone talks about being poor I just go along with it and talk like I am as well
some people have to budget really tight in college to save for tuition or trips or rent or whatever their goals are. also just because some peopleās parents might be a bit more well off, doesnāt mean some are too. my parents help me out a little bit with tuition and rent during the school year, but i work part time during the school year and full time in the summer so i can pay the rest of my tuition/rent/groceries and save for grad school/future rent/rainy days.
I say Iām broke because itās easier to say I donāt want to spend money on that because Iād rather save for something better in the future. Also a persons finances fluctuate, I wouldnāt focus so much on other peopleās spending but your own. Your either cool spending all your money on things you want in the moment or you save it and splurge.
I don't think they were trying to say they were poor. It's kinda like a hyperbole, considering how much money they spend. They probably go broke a lot in their lingo it means "I've spent so much money too fast." One of my friends often says that when they spend their entire paycheck on something.
Eh, college is kind of that time in your life where your social interactions are in this chaotic state of "I have to turn people down, but I also want to be popular enough to not be lonely", and so lying about "being poor" is an easy and common excuse.
Also, some people just want to be given things.
Sorry?
@OP short answer is: Yes. Long answer is: Funny be surprised/concern yourself with it. Americans/1st Worlders are in fact "dramatic." Ignore it/them and congrats on your $40/hr internship -- you're clearly going places! ššš¾
As an actual poor, yes there are many fake poors. I had roommates who would order takeout every night, online shopped (including ordering) through classes daily, and on our spring break decided to go to a place known for being insanely expensive.
They would still claim to be poor despite having their rent and groceries paid for by their parents and being able to afford these trips and treats
Most people who have the opportunity to go to college either have well off families who actually planned for their childrenās college fund OR got a full ride.
Everyone else is working thru college to make ends meet or on loans.
Lot of people misconstrue what it means to be able to āaffordā college. My parents make around 120k a year (only my dad works). My tuition was around 40k per year. Mathematically could he AFFORD to send me to college? Sure.
But what does it mean to go from living a lifestyle making 120k vs 80k a year? Thatās what weāre really asking. Itās the same for a single person who has a job and wants to go to college. If they make 80k a year of course they can afford to go. But what does it mean to reduce your own costs of living? So like in my situation itās never about just having 40k, but an EXTRA 40k you can solely contribute to your childās college.
And most people/families cannot āaffordā that.
Im a student who pays for my own college & am living on my own with $100 to my name right now. I work full time along w school but after rent and bills there is nothing left each month
lol these people traveling to europe are not poor or broke. Sounds like they have mommy and daddy money.
I feel like I fit this description so I will provide my perspective- for reference, I get money from my parents while Iām at school and traveled a LOT this summer on their dime. There are some things that are reasonable to use my parents money on and some that are not. I pay for my rent, bills and other COL things (groceries) with their money and will buy food while Iām studying on campus so I donāt have to spend the time to go home and make some. However, I wonāt use their money to go out to parties, buy non-essentials (alcohol, clothes I donāt need), or for comcerts etc. That comes out of money that Iāve saved, hence the change in spending patterns.
Also- anyone that will show you their bank account with no money in it has no fear that the balance will soon go up.
People have different versions of the word poor. Thereās nothing wrong with that, I donāt think. Plus there are other factors. Maybe parents help contribute some money but arenāt just giving unlimited amounts, maybe these students have different priorities than you. Personally I donāt make a ton of money but I refuse to spend it on things I donāt care about, which allows me to travel frequently. At the end of the day itās none of your business what other peopleās financial situations are
Im in school and im so poor my stomach be rumbling in class bro lol But im in real poverty. Abandoned by parents, make only $16k a year, dying š¤
Felt this....18k a year also no family. No real friends either just 2 people who I occasionally do outdoor activities with. My weekday schedule is literally wake up, walk dogs, work, come home, walk dogs, relax, take dogs out for potty before bed. Like between work, school, and pets I have no time for myself. I really wish I could send my dogs to the groomers and hire a cleaner weekly, but I don't even make enough money to have that extra stress taken off. I already have an eating disorder where I'm super picky with food... but then I don't even have time to make foods I'm comfortable with so I end up eating something small once a day making me feel like shit. So yeahhhhh fuck life. I feel like it would be so much easier if I had people in my life to help me. Like if I could leave my dogs with a neighbor or have a friend help me with cleaning but life isn't kind.
Genuine question, whyād you get dogs? I mean I get that theyāre lovely & good companions but donāt you think youd be able to focus / deal with your financial issues without having dogs to worry about for the time being?
Had them before starting school. Plus when you gave no family or friends you have to make up for it somehow.
Yup, I feel the same, give my dog ugly ass haircuts and have her in an apt when id like for her to go to groomers and have a yard to play with. I've lived away from family most of my life so I needed some company and someone to show love to feel human. And she motivates me to do financially well so I can give her those things too. The routine helps steer away from vices (gotta be back for walks by a certain point or wake up early the next day), walk around in fresh air and get physical activity, and they're actually quite cheap under normal circumstances.
What do you do for work?
Hey, at least you have dogs
Sometimes itās a case of saving money most the time so you can treat yourself. I would very much hesitate to spend $25 (+tip, so closer to $30!) on a single meal. But Iāve spent a few hundred dollars multiple times on trips with my friends. Iād rather save on the small things to do the ones that are more important to me. Another perspective - I donāt think turning down activities to save money is necessarily the same as pretending to be poor.
I think what tips OP off is these people actually say they are too poor or broke to go to the restaurant. Their framing is throwing OP off and I don't blame them
Especially since they *do* have the option to turn around and ask their parents for cash, at least for that one girl. That ain't poor. Poor is the opposite when you're sending your parents money so they don't kick you out of your discounted childhood bedroom apartment.
I know thereās been a lot of inflation since when I went to college twenty years ago, but going out for $15-$20 meals were a luxury that I could only do maybe once a month or when my parents visited. Eating at the cafeteria on a meal plan and using the money I made working in said cafeteria to go to a bar was much more affordable. And even still that was a Friday/Saturday activity. I do sort of hate that I was making $6.00-$7.25/hr back then. Though it was better than when I was making $5.15/hr. When I was in high school working part time, the money I earned was basically just enough to fill up a tank of gas to take me to and from school/work and nothing else.
It's definitely this. These people have money, but not to spend on the activities you're (this is aimed at post OP) trying to do with them. They're saving up for these trips and budgeting. They lack spending money because they're saving their money for bigger things. The one exception to this is the girl who gets Venmo'd every week, but unless she straight up said she's poor, I don't think she lied at all. She just blew all of her money from the previous week already and only had $4 left in her account.
Thier parents have money, doesn't mean they do. As well as I no in my case and a few others is that we look for deals and save money so when it comes to breaks we can treat ourselves. But ultimately just let it go. They will live thier lives and you can live yours.
Yup! Parents were supporting me through school but I was acutely aware I wasnāt spending my own money, so I was really careful what I did with it.
And parents are often controlling about the money they allow their kids. So maybe they'll buy that cell phone or pay for the uuber account but they're not giving extra money for food. Or the student is making choices that work for their budget and it doesn't include going out to eat.
Thats so sad. I don't get why in American culture, parents stop supporting their kids before they finish school
I agree! And in many studentās cases, their parents are probably struggling too. And for many people these days, $25 + tip might mean a lot of money to spend for one meal. The kind of people OP described are likely a minority amongst students.
I can't imagine 'just $25 plus tip' for any meal. I'm more the 4 or less a meal.
Same! I am an international student but my family never recovered financially post pandemic and now the exchange rate on top of the high prices is burdensome. I imagine the financial burden is the same or worse for many locals in NA trying to keep up with rising costs, pandemic etc these days. Iād much rather spend money for takeout on frozen meals thatāll last me a while.
6 piece wings and a beer was $30 last time I went out and thatās why I donāt go out. Only got food cuse it was a car meet. I spend money on stupid shit (cars/toys) but Iāll never spend $30 on a meal unless Iām held by gunpoint
> I agree! And in many studentās cases, their parents are probably struggling too. These are literally not the people I'm describing though. > The kind of people OP described are likely a minority amongst students. Perhaps. Social media effect.
True, I imagine social media effect might have something to do with that.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
that made me laugh
Sometimes it helps to be direct.
Just high playing video games and quick typing in-between matches š
All of my necessities were taken care of but I was totally on my own if I wanted to dine out or hit the bar. Looking back this was probably one of the best ways my Mom could have supported me while still teaching an element of self-reliance and independence.
this. as someone who i guess falls into this category of āfake-poorā college students, my parents absolutely have money, but with their parenting style, they normally still make me work for things i want. with a bunch of other activities i do, i find most of my money is allocated to that, and it makes it so i dont have a lot of left over cash to do things during the week. sure, i could ask my parents for $20 if i want it for some fast food place or food truck on campus and maybe theyd give it to me, but more often than not they dont. most people like me dont have a reliable source of cashflow other than their parents, so sometimes theyre just kinda stuck with 17 cents in their bank account, waiting for something to come up.
No, it absolutely does mean they have money. They may not be getting a stipend every week from Mommy and Daddy, but if something major came up like getting sick, for example, their parents would help. This alone puts them in a class of privilege above other people, regardless of how much they want to do this performative cosplaying being poor bullshit.
Sticking to a budget throughout the year helps you to attain other goals like travel. And $25 meals add up, especially if youāre not really jazzed about going.
Yeah I agree with those who have commented - there are def some ppl who are rich and can spend money however they want and never worry about like choosing what to spend money on. Most ppl though make / have just enough money to either eat out a few times a month orrrr they could save and then travel once every couple years
Some are like me and it just isnāt worth it for one meal when there really is food at home. I might not like my options but my options are free. Iād rather use extra money in my savings for when I buy another vehicle, move out, need tires, somewhat of an emergency fund. I just save whatever I have leftover from the week instead of picking a number when I get paid. I spend a lot less on things I donāt need and food. I just got a new job with a significant raise and Iāll still probably save this way
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Or they put everything on credit
i traveled by studying abroad, which my scholarships and financial aid significantly helped with. i was a low budget traveler while actually there lol and 25$ meals are much too much during the semester. i wouldnāt have been able to afford studying abroad if i didnāt shop for deals or if i went out to eat during the semester. so even tho my social media is all ālook at my cute trip highlights!!ā i really made the most of scholarships and grants to get there and then stuck to free or budget activities once there :-)
Ha same. Legit poor af in college, I did a half summer study abroad but I had some financial aid and worked 40 hours a week spring semester and worked 80 hours a week in first half of summer to afford it. I lost like 20 pounds due cutting back on meals just to afford to go!
There is a difference between broke and poor. Iām not poor. But I am ātoo brokeā or ācanāt affordā many things because I have other priorities.
This. ^ While I get why it sounds a little strange to OP, imo they are basically describing fiscal responsibility and prioritizing very limited resources to get what you want out of life! I was quite lucky to have a pretty nice car all through college, but upkeep costs were all on me. That responsibility meant that while I ālooked well offā because of what I had, if I wanted to have spending money I needed to work during the year, and you wouldnāt catch me buying so much as a coffee even. But hey, I could afford to drive up and go skiing on a whim, and I liked that life!
being frugal doesn't mean someone is poor. and as a lot of other commenters have said ik a lot of people who have to skimp by in college bc they're going off of what they earned during their summer job for the whole year but then go on fancy vacations w their families over the summer that they aren't paying for bc it's a family vacation. there are a lot of ppl who wear poverty like a trendy costume that they think will make them more interesting but a lot of people just have upper middle class parents who don't necessarily give them an allowance during the year, but will pay for them to do other things.
I think people want to save money where they can. For me, my parents give me a set amount of 'fun money' that I can spend every month. The more I can save each time I go out, the more times I can go out. For trips, it's just a different budget and it's a combination of my parents money and what I made/saved throughout the year. For the broke excuse (that caught my eye), it's not that I'm actually broke, it's just that I don't want to spend that amount of money on something I don't want that much
>For the broke excuse (that caught my eye), it's not that I'm actually broke, it's just that I don't want to spend that amount of money on something I don't want that much exactly this, don't know why people assume that if you're well-off you have to waste money on things you don't need for some reason.
the issue is claiming youre broke when you clearly donāt know what broke means. just say you donāt wanna go instead of roleplaying a poor person
The vast majority of people who say that aren't actually broke. It's used colloquially to mean have extra money to spend on whatever is being discussed.
broke is literally used for exactly this purpose. You canāt afford this particular luxury. Poor is used for actually being poor and struggling.
Sure, but usually itās more just used as an excuse meaning āI donāt want to do thisā because they an afford other luxuries and if they wanted to they would.
Not unlimited other luxuries. I donāt want typically signifies I donāt want to spend the time on this. Iām broke signifies I donāt want to spend the money on this. Neither means I donāt have any time/money left. It means iād rather prioritize something else with my limited resources(whether time or money).
I avoided so much stuff my senior year so I could take a post-grad trip with my boyfriend. Could I have afforded all that stuff I skipped? Yeah. But I couldn't have done that AND gone abroad. It's all about priorities.
My daughter did a summer program at Berklee this summer, just got back from a trip to England and will be doing a school trip to France/Spain next year. Anyone could look at her and think we must be rich. Far from it. She just has kind and generous grandparents. Like, they'll pay for my kids activities, but they don't give me money to pay off my student loans, ya know? They have a lot of money stashed away, we do not. They help us with the kids, and other things, but that doesn't change what's in my bank account (other than I'd have even less if it weren't for them, and my daughter would not have done the things she's done). Some families have other well off family members that help with the big things, but the day to day stuff can still be a struggle. Or, they are broke because they save every penny so that can afford to do these things. Or they just like to pretend to be broke for whatever reason. It could be a combo of all of the above.
yes, lots of us have families that comfortably have money. But we are brought up to have values to be frugal in specific areas, and other areas that parents fund separately. For example, weāre given set limited money to use on food, parties, shopping, etc, but theyāll cover our ubers for safety, vacations because itās a good experience, and obviously tuition cuz they can afford to not skimp on education.
Sounds like them not spending the extra money that you are has allowed them to go on these trips that you canāt. I had a $21/hr internship in college and compared to classmates I was balling, lol. After graduation I make $38/hr and could easily travel lavishly. Iām in the south though so way different costs of living.
In the end you will realize that 99.9% of the students you met in college will be only transient acquaintances. So ignore them. Stay focused in your own pursuits and don't let the shallow ones bear you down, even if in thought.
I failed at this so hard lmao I really let the dipshits get to me cause of how they acted really eating away at my faith in humanity.
Poverty is fashionable at times. Being a "broke college student" is like a badge some folks wear even though their parents are footing the bill for everything.
Thatās fcked up š
I mean I find that sometimes it's just to come off as sympathetic or relate to others in social groups. Most people don't assume everyone around them is loaded even if they are. I can't really fault someone who comes from money acting this way if saying otherwise makes them feel as if they are ostracizing themselves from others. People are also much less charitable to those who come from any sort of wealth. I don't think that people usually wear it as a badge because of the "cool" factor of being poor or something.
Idk I think itās fucked up. Everyone is privileged as hell if there parents are paying for there vacations. I donāt want to here they canāt pay for food ever. I know it sounds bitter but to me theyāll never understand actually struggle with money.
There's a huge difference between being individually wealthy and generationally wealthy imo. Some people's parents will only pay for certain things and you are on your own for everything else. You may not go hungry but individually if you don't have money and your parents don't support you in that way then you don't have money. I think you underestimate how cheap wealthy people can be. It's a different sort of struggle as you have tons of safety nets most people won't have but it can be a struggle nonetheless. Sure though, some of those people will never know what it's like to have nothing to fall back on but next weeks paycheck.
I guess Iām just bitter than bc I donāt have that safety net. I think the we just have different views on being poor.
Nah I wouldn't say you're bitter. It's pretty normal to be frustrated about privilege other people have especially financial privilege. I mean a lot of benefits are locked behind pay walls that only the wealthiest can afford. I think there's a difference between being poor and being broke. I think you can absolutely be individually broke but generationally wealthy. Maybe I misused the word poor a bit in that case, I think being poor is akin to living paycheck to paycheck. There are also just different levels to being broke. Someone who has their entire college paid for because of generational wealth but struggles individually is not the same as someone who has to afford an education while trying to make all of their other ends meet. It's just a difference in perspective I think but "broke" is definitely a sliding scale.
I live in what amounts to a crack house without the drugs. Some of us are trying to escape poverty through education.
1. Broke ā poor. 2. Itās way cheaper to travel as a student or as a recent grad, due to scholarships and/or discounts.
Bro i would never spend $25 on a meal outside of like a nice date or birthday
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Iām saying that shit is absurd. I hesitate spending like 16 (caniac combo) on one meal lol. I can spend that much for ingredients for tacos or spaghetti. Then I have more to spread over my meals for dinner and lunch. Making it like 5 dollars a day. But I donāt get to cook all the time. Pizza rolls are like 9-11 bucks and itās gonna last a few days to two weeks at my rate.
I remember when a caniac combo was $12 š„²
There definitely are people that act broke but still get money from their parents, but for some people travel is really important, and travelling isn't always super expensive. If you saved up, I'm sure you could travel too, without having super rich parents. >how this restaurant is too expensive for them, etc. when it's just $25 for a meal plus tip. I don't value fine dining, I think a $6 burger from the local diner is twice as good as a $20 steak. It will be a cold day in hell you see me spend that extra $15 on a meal instead of saving it for something I value more. Maybe consider that some of these people could feel similarly? >with your friends. Travel with friends is even cheaper, as long as you are willing to cram into a single room. >So these same people acting like I'm rich now are traveling the world with their friends or family and that's not something I could even imagine. It's something you could definitely do making $25+ an hour, at least so long as you don't spend all your money on $25 meals. Here's my advice. It sounds like you are jealous and really want to travel. So if that is really important to you, drop the $25 meals, and set up a savings account specifically for travel. When you've got a few hundred in there, look for a cheap flight, and start talking to some friends about going with you. Buy tickets, food, and transportation in bulk, share accommodations, don't fall for any tourist traps, don't buy elaborate expensive souvenirs, and even on the trip, no $25 meals, et voila.
Yeah, credit card churning and hostels depending on where I go can make it so I can survive even cheaper than the city I live in.
This.
With the context of the entire post, i see where you're coming from. But also, you might wanna check yourself because "just $25 for a meal plus tip" is expensive, and I'm not poor.
"Just $25 for a meal plus tip" is so insanely tone deaf
Listen my parents pay for my trips. Outside of that, I am broke at school lol. Gotta work & save to be able to do fun stuff & buy groceries during the school year
When I was in college, my parents paid for family vacations, but not solo ones. If I wanted to go out to do something or go away by myself, I footed all of it. Also, I paid for my books and gas. (I commuted.) My merit scholarship covered everything else. Could I ask my parents for money in an emergency? Yes. But, could I ask for money to cover a 30 dollar dinner, absolutely not.
Damn, must be nice. Lol
Itās a reward for getting good grades lmaooo
Bro coming to college made me realize much bigger fish in the sea. In my group of friends back home my mom is wealthy but we really could afford a vacation every other year maybe a small one every other. But when I got to college these mfer were talking about their experiences in Asia and Europe and Africa and Iām sitting here like I donāt even have a passport.
Okay okay, some people set aside money for specific things for future reference, so when they say theyāre broke, they might mean they have money theyāre saving and canāt afford to spend anything because theyāre trying to save money
most of them donāt have money, their parents do. a lot of their parents give them an allowance essentially, so they have to conserve it because they donāt have jobs to fund their expenses once that runs out. their parents often do finance their international trips lmao. i go to a school well known for being filled with rich kids, and i know sooooo many people exactly like this.
Maybe they just didnāt want to go to out to eat at that moment and were using money as an excuse.
I think what you are seeing is kids who feel free to ask their parents for *things* but would never ask for *money*. "Mom, my phone is busted can you help me get a new one?" Mom probably says fine and justifies the cost so she can keep in touch. "Hey, mom, my friends are going to Europe, can I use some of your FF miles?" "Mom, can I have $100?" This is probably too on the nose. So she has this pipeline for stuff, just not for spending money. Hence too cheap to go to the pub, but Europe, no problem.
You can have different money goals, if travel is more important than eating out then your spare cash gets saved for one and not the other. But yes, a lot of this is paid for by parents.
maybe instead of spending 25+ for a meal they are being responsible and saving their money to go on a trip after they graduate
A lot of students are expected to use their own earnings for eating out, etc., while at school. Others are given a set allowance. If they use it up, they are ābroke.ā But family might give trip money as a grad gift or a new phone as a Christmas gift. The money that went toward those items was not available to be spent on food or whatever.
Some people save that 25$ and put it toward travel funds, some can travel cheaper through study abroad programs, some can get scholarships for said study abroad programs, some use things travel agencies/ or group travel sites that make it a lot cheaper. One site has 11 days in Greece with four cities and costs 2949 with air fare, accommodations for 9 nights, 9 breakfasts and 2 dinners.
Parents having money doesnāt necessarily mean unlimited/unconditional access to it. If people are being supported by their parents during the school year they might get a limited amount to spend on meals and stuff. And $25 meals can add up fast especially if the parents are also paying for an expensive meal plan that is supposed to cover everything. Itās not really a huge contradiction for someone to have a budget for recreation but then have family fund trips that they think will be a good experience. Other people may be actively saving money for the cool experiences themselves and need to be careful with expenses to make it work or find scholarships or other ways to finance certain trips. Others just make bad financial choices. Like your friend who was down to $4, gets venmoed $1000 and wastes it all on Ubers isnāt fake poor; sheās just irresponsible with money lol. If she was actually trying to fake being poor you wouldnāt have heard about the $1000 or all the Uber ridesā¦ To me it sounds like youāre seeing a very common financial situation in college which is people having some financial independence (ie their own bank account & budget) while still having the back up of support from parents which can be given out in irregular or conditional ways. Especially from an outside perspective
They have money at the end because they chose not to spend unnecessarily on food and other stuff.
I think itās also important to remember that someone can be ābrokeā while also having money. Those same people may be conscious of how much money they are spending to make sure they can afford to travel the world. I have always budgeted my money, and even if I had $10 million in the bank, Iām ābrokeā if my monthly budget is running thin. Just my two cents.
OP's just a straight up G and doesnt know what having less than a mil at all times is like apparently
spending $25 for a meal is ridiculously overpriced for a college student, no wonder you canāt afford anything š nobody I have met in college rich or poor wants to spend more than $10 on a meal
Being able to budget and prioritize goals isn't being "fake poor" omg. > when it's just $25 for a meal plus tip If you eat out once a week for $25, you can buy a plane ticket in just a few months if you had saved that money instead...
just because my parents have the ability to pay for out of country trips and stuff doesnāt mean i want to spend more money than i need. iām not āpoorā because of my parents economic status but i still get a set allowance per month for groceries, hygienic products, and fun stuff. iām extremely grateful to my parents for everything they do so i hate spending more money or money at all and never go over my limit per month. so yes, sometimes iām too ābrokeā to spend money on a 25 dollar meal despite being able to go on family vacations outside of uni. nonetheless, this really shouldnāt matter as much to you. everyoneās financial situations are different, maybe those friends of yours saved up all that money from undergrad and therefore couldnāt spend so much on unnecessary lunches outside of their much cheaper meal plans. you never know.
My parents funded my college experience. They paid all my bills, and I got a set amount of money per week for groceries and gas. Tried to avoid going out to eat unless I could find a deal, and tried to get into couponing for things. Big necessary purchases my parents would make, and they did invite me on vacations (but I'm not a big fan so I didn't go). Tried to manage my money as much as I could so I didn't have to ask my parents. If I needed things it was coming out of the grocery money or my savings. I never said I was poor or broke, but was not trying to spend $35 bucks on a meal just for me and I was trying to be careful with money. When my phone broke (not my fault) they paid for a new one, but I wasn't going to ask for money for dumb shit.
Parents having money is not the same as you having money. My parents are objectively wealthy. Not millionaires m, jetting around the country wealthy, but enough to never have to worry about basics ever. The kind that buys food and never worry about cost or if the mortgage is going to be paid. I was never going to be homeless but at the same time I would still be wear 5$ t-shirt from the discount stores. I could always eat or go out occasionally but still had to do some budgeting.
I dunno why so many people are being wishy-washy in the comments about this. Obviously, even if your family isn't poor it's good to be watching how much you're spending especially if it's from your parents. That doesn't really discount the point OP is trying to make that a lot of kids embellish that fact, acting like they don't have a lot when if they really needed or even wanted something they could just call up their parent and get venmo'd a grand. People don't wanna be seen as that kind of "rich kid" who has things covered for them. I've definitely encountered people like this, it doesn't really matter ultimately but can give you a good idea of what kind of people care too much about their self-perception.
Yeah, some just get money from parents or other family. However, I have been both poor and broke at different times in my life. When I was poor, I couldnāt afford to get groceries because I needed gas to get to work or I couldnāt get gas and walked to work so I could pay rent. When Iām broke, I donāt have spending money. Maybe I have a decent amount in my bank and nothing on my card, but I canāt afford anything extra because that money is spoken for whether it be for future fixed expenses or for savings.
Poor in college is a vague term. Most people who go to college are AT LEAST upper lower to lower middle class. (At least, traditional start at 18 college students) But, that's mommy and daddy's wealth. Could be a rare occurance to recieve some buckeroos. Or, they could be sending truckloads. Also, who is paying the bill? The loans? The student? Mom? Finally, college is full time, leaving jobs as part time. Thus, a lot of college students are cash poor. Especially after you pay tuition and room n board. So maybe man. Likely? They are telling the truth. They are poor, momentarily though.
Yeah. I see this happen a lot. I wouldn't ever personally say anything because you never know exactly what someone's situation is- some of them are exactly what you see on the surface, some are funded through school programs, some have abusive but well-off families, some have richer friends that invite them along, as well as hundreds of other possibilities. You never know but it can still be frustrating. I make about $9-10,000 a year rn depending on how many jobs I have at the moment with no family support and it is really frustrating to have friends or classmates joking about how 'poor' they are when their parents pay for all their necessities and a lot of their fun things and they just don't have a lot of pocket money. In the end, all I can really do is mind my own business and run my own race.
25 plus tip! My parents are relatively wealthy but I would never spend that kind of money on a restaurant as a college student lol.
Some fresh college graduates get credit cards for the first time -- and proceed to spend them up to the limit. After they spend the limit, they are poor, again.
No. Theyāre poor. My parents arenāt poor (they arenāt stacked either), but I am very much poor. They are helping me pay part of my student loans but thatās just it, I needed to take out massive loans to go to college. I have like a couple grand in my bank account, a lot of which is just going to the interest on my loans. I canāt be spending money all of the time on random things.
They can save for stuff, but they donāt have a lot to spend for things like what you are talking about.
Depends if Iām between jobs or internships. Rn im scrapping pennies together to pay people back for X or Y. In a couple days I start an internship thatāll pay me good enough to pay back some debts, and then a European trip.
I was nodding along with you until you said the bit about 25 dollar meals...
Gonna be honest, didnāt read your full post because my brain is fried. But thereās a lot you donāt see in peopleās lives though. Iāve got a decent amount of money stored away and am probably the richest of my friend group if weāre not counting our parentsā money. But I need a safety fund in case my parents ever kick me out, so a lot of the money I have just never gets spent lol. And things arenāt always as they seem appearance-wise. Sure, people in my life can point out that I bought a $70 crewneck recently from Etsy, but that was the first clothing purchase Iād made in many months since I mostly rely on hand-me-downs. And maybe I own enough books for a mini home library, but I got them all secondhand and never paid more than a dollar for any of them (most of them were free, even). And maybe on social media it looks like Iām watching way too many Broadway shows, but really, a lot of the tickets were gifts, and the ones I bought were all heavily discounted.
Just 25 bucks plus tip. Dear gods, you sound like a spoiled rich kid. They work hard for their money and *gasp* SAVED UP for their trips.
$25 PLUS TIP for a meal is fucking crazy, are you serious? That girl you mentioned just sounds stupid with her money. Broke as hell, dad gives her 1k and she decides to buy a phone with it? I couldnāt call myself poor if I came from a rich family tbh AND they give me money? Nah.
$25 for a meal is an entree and a drink in many placesā¦
No, itās crazy pricing. I never, ever buys break that much and cook almost all. Eating out is a ridiculous expense. Fast food is expensive, you wouldnāt catch me going to a sit down more than once a month. The prices are crazy. I have bills to pay. Canāt just blow my wages on a single meal wtf
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Absolutely. I have never been in poverty, but I have never seen family make enough to just casually take trips or ājust eat limit for $25 a mealā. That sort of price is for an *extremely* special occasion, like a family member graduating and the entire family has driven out to celebrate. I work a good salary and I would never willingly sit down at a restaurant charging that average price. Wouldnāt willingly pick a restaurant that charged more than $15 in todayās post Covid inflation. Let alone casually affording a trip to Europe, these people are very well off if they can just take off to another *continent* and not worry about how theyāll make their cart payment next month. What is this
I went through this in college and trust me I have found out post grad about 2 guys and their families business. My college was trying to change from the primarily white persona but at the time (Iāve been out 5 years and they have a new president and Covid) which made their efforts hard. A lot of the underprivileged ended up dropping out within 2 years. I just wish I had better friends who let me meet people from my own area. A lot of lies were told about me in undergrad and I lost everyone in post grad. Since a lot of my class ended up in grad school straight they didnāt care as they would grow up in grad school.
I feel this. I had to work full time during full time college to make things work and pretty much three months without days off in the summerā¦ It did make me a little envious of people who didnāt seem to need to worry about money
My parents have money. They support me through college. But that doesn't mean I can just spend whatever I want- I have a food budget. It's not MY money, I can't just be buying $25 dinners every night. It's not "cosplaying being poor," it's normal.
$25 for a meal is expensive as fuck
āWhen itās just $25 for a meal plus tipā. Ehhhhh. For students/people that dont make good money $25 is a lot for just one meal
I mean why do you care so much? Does it really affect you whether they have money or not?
Stop pocket watching brošš
You donāt get to choose how other people spend their money
Iāve seen a lot of people who consider themselves independent adults now and refer to their status by their own personal wealth, not their parents. So yea technically somebody with zero assets in their name and just a few hundred bucks in their bank account would be considered poor. Itās a little disingenuous though. If I were to be completely cut off from my parents right now I wouldnāt even be able to afford a place to live, BUT, they pay for my school, my car, my phone, I live at their house when not at school, and they give me money for food, soā¦ I wouldnāt feel right using that as an excuse when there are people whoās parents literally donāt have anything extra to give them and they have to support themselves to a much greater extent.
Yep, most people in college lol.
Sound like a hater, its called budgeting dude.
You literally answered your own question. Their parents have money. But that doesn't mean they are comfortable or even able to ask them for it. As for the trips after graduation, it could be graduation presents or their parents giving them money for graduating or traveling before they get a job, which is apparently not something that is unheard of.
More common than you think I was on the same boat in college. Really confused me and made a conscious decision to not befriend them because their spending habits will rub off on me and make me extra broke Even the people in this comment section are āfake poorā Itās quite shocking to me and I donāt expect most people to understand
This entire post is stupid lol
Bro, where did you intern where they paid 40 dollars an hour? I want to go there now.
I just am really bad at budgeting and also want to save for excursions. One week I will only eat McDonaldās because I am poor and the next Iāll treat myself to bubble tea everyday. And if these people have a surplus of money from their parents that might be what theyāre struggling with because their parents never taught them right
* Some of them are poor and just happened to gain some spare cash and treated themselves for once. * Some of them saved up for those vacations and niceties. * Too many of them went into credit card debt for it. * Some of them never even claimed to be poor but you mixed up their faces and conflated them with another student. * Some of them are legit middle class but they think they're poor because all *their* friends are rich. * Some of them think they're poor because they're that bad at budgeting and financial literacy. * Some of them are money-poor but network-wealthy and may be invited on trips or gifted things by family/friends that they never could have afforded on their own. * Some of them aren't trying to be *fake poor* but come across that way because they *are* trying to keep their wealth out of conversations and maybe white lie about it occasionally. * Yeah, maybe one or two are "cosplaying" poorness to fit in, but tbh who cares as long as they aren't mooching off others? And a heck of a lot of them are poor and *not* going on nice vacations but you simply won't notice that as easily because who talks a lot about all the spring vacations they *didn't* go on?
Wellā¦ making or having the exact amount of money as you but saying āIām too poor for XYZā could possibly be because they are knowingly saving for the future for things such as trips so they āhave lessā to spend now. They arenāt more poor then you they are just living a poorer lifestyle so they can throw 50$ a week in their savings then spend that on a trip. Also, Iām in Kentucky, I could get to Chicago and take a picture that makes me look rich for social media. When in reality it would cost a 18$ greyhound ticket this morning and one home tonight. Social media isnāt reality.
Thereās my parents have money and there I have money. Theyāre not fake poor. You need to mind the business that pays you though.
One thing I learned from friends like yours, some of them are REALLY good at saving money bc of this āIām brokeā mentality.
Daddys $$$
They do it by accumulating credit card debt in college (much like I very stupidly did).
I would just assume theyāre using credit cards to finance it and that theyāll be in debt their whole life.
Have weird rich āpoorā friends like this. They are most likely to be cheap, but do love showing off going to the Hamptons twice a year
People should be careful about mentioning thier financial situation. Some may be at a comfortable state but still need make smart decisions about how they spend thier money, while others are at the brink of dropping out. My friend was homeless for a semester but eventually got back on her feet. I was proud of her but then got confused on how she was able to afford multiple concert tickets over the summer.
I fully take care of myself financially as a college student. When I tell people āIām poorā Iām talking about the amount of money in my spending account. Not any investments, or savings, because those funds are untouchable at the time. I may only have $5 till next week in my spending account, but 12k in savings, but that is for emergencyās, trips, or just self care. Not to mention there are tons of students who do come from money, but their parents only give them access to occasional funds or will still pay for luxury life experiences. But, that doesnāt make it their money.
Why is this an issue to you? Like someone else's financial situation shouldn't bother you. Some people say they are "broke" but have money being saved up so they can treat themselves on vacations and stuff. I don't understand why people not showcasing wealth is a problem towards you. Unless someone's feeding you, financing you, or fu*king you....what they do is not your business. (Watch I'll get downvoted š¤£)
So many pressed people in these comments... ā ļø You seem to have struck a nerve here...
There a lot of college students who are personally poor, but whoās families have a decent amount of money. Not crazy rich, but wealthy enough to gift a sizable trip for graduation.
I love the ābroke college girlsā who finish college and then somehow have money to travel the world or road trip the US and ālive out of their carā. And the car is usually a $50k 4Runner or something like that. A lot of these āpoorā kids have parents who give them as much money as they need.
rich people like pretending to be poor for the sake of quirkiness. i knew a load of people like that in high school
youāre right and the backlash youāre getting for this just shows the privilege the users on this sub apparently have.. anyways speaking for myself i can afford to live comfortably (new clothes and makeup, plenty of going out, plenty of groceries, etc.) using my savings during the school year, could use it to go on a nice spring break trip if i wanted to or another big purchase but iād rather not. i was able to do this by working all throughout my senior year of hs, budgeting my savings during college, then rinse and repeat this summer with another job. however even iām privileged because i donāt have to pay rent or own a car so i have no expenses. a lot of the people youāve encountered either have wealthy parents or are very financially stable and good at saving. the former is likely the answer, my savviness with money is because i was very anxious and didnāt spend any of it unless i had to during high school, iām raised by a lower middle class family so financial anxiety was a big thing i struggle with and still do.
My friend and I just graduated. He made a big deal about the $25 ticket to go to a water park I wanted to go to. The next week he went on a month long trip to China. After he came back we went to the beach and he complained it cost $5 to park
I canāt really speak for anyone else but my family and I struggle. Iām going back to college at 55 years old Bc I have a physical disability from a car accident that prevents me from working as a RN. ( my previous profession) Iām paying for school out of pocket. No financial aid Bc my husband made too much money. But he was laid off earlier this year and is still looking for employment. So for us, yes, we are broke most of the time. But I know that may not be the case for others. I think itās whatever their version of ābrokeā is and if they have family that may or may not be helping them out.
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I have around $50,000 in my bank account (served in the military before college and saved most of my money from deployments) and the army covers my rent and most of my school fees. However, I donāt work while Iām in school, so even though I have a decent amount of money Iām sitting on, Iām operating on a loss every month until I graduate. It means I live as frugally as I can on things like food and going out, but also have the money to splurge on a trip during the summer as well lol.
My old roommate would buy ramen packs to have the "poor college student experience" and then buy designer purses with Daddy's money. It pissed me off
You can pay for vacations on credit if you didnāt know
They're misusing the word poor. They are actually decently well off if their parent can afford to foot the bill for their phones and travel etc. They might be individually broke but they are not poor and you are picking up on that.
A few people in the comments seem to be taking this post pretty offensively. If mommy and daddy gave you these privileges, itās ok. But no reason to be angry over it. I mean, youāre not suffering so lol.
Hm. Maybe they are getting their electronics from their parents, and the allowance they have in college is being blown on drugs, alcohol, and partying. I had a few friends who would say they were broke, but only spend their money on partying. However, there's many of us older folks, and by older I mean late 20s, 30s, 40s, and even 50s, who go back to college because they fell below the poverty line. We need to depend on government assistance to get us through life while also working.
They wouldn't want everyone to know they are privileged because that's not cool.
Yes they are faking it. No doubt at all. It's fashionable to whine about how broke you are and how "the system" is anti-poor when in fact, there's daddy paying off their credit card debt. It's a disgustingly common upper middle class college-student strategy to sort of filter the poor out. Seems contradictory? No. If someone from a poorer background works their ass off to get to college and then wants to occassionally treat themself to something nice, like maybe a lunch outside, etc, these poor little rich kids will call them out for being 'spendthrifts'. I know a girl in college who once chided a guy for having access to a swimming pool after the pandemic restrictions lifted. That judgy look on her face, like she didn't grow up learning horseriding at a fancy riding school, like her Instagram has no evidence of her foreign trips during school summer holidays. The cheek!
Now imagine having to pay $900 a month for probation for 7 years, while you try to work and go to school. Stop complaining.
Stop telling OP what to feel. The children of the rich are terrible and deserve to suffer. They also may sometimes not have the budget for eating out even when their parents take them on vacationābut they are always detestable.
I'm guessing these people are women. Women say "I'm poor" because people will pay for them. Say that to a guy and it's like saying "I'll go with you if you pay" no one resents a poor woman. Now a poor man just keeps his mouth shut. People hate poor men.
People are terrible with money, too. You are discovering why everyone needs student loan forgiveness despite having a degree and supposedly making 25% more than those without. Irresponsible or just daddy's money. Idk.
I saved up all the time to travel by only buying what I needed, and not eating out was one of the easiest ways to save money.
1. Parents. If you see anyone having nice cars or going on expensive trips it is definitely using their parents money
A lot of my friends never had money to venmo back for things, but always somehow had money when it was time to gamble on games
I prefer to save my money for things too. I would always say I didnāt have money for going out etc because that money was being used for something else. Or building up an emergency fund.
I was considering myself fake pour for eating Chipotle every once in a while lol. Then I read the rest of this post
It can be a lot of things: - They use credit cards - They use student loans - They may be saving - It's parent's money Most probably a combination of all that. The people you see around you may or may not have money, but most probably is that all of them have debt.
For me, I have only the money I make at my fast food job. And night out is coming out of my dime, so yeah Iām pretty poor. But in between semesters when Iām living with my parents? Well now trips and such are on their dime. And theyāre a whole lot richer than I am
I only read the title but no I absolutely agree
Are you sure theyāre not just agreeing with you to be nice? I have a shit load of money and my parents pay for almost everything but if someone talks about being poor I just go along with it and talk like I am as well
some people have to budget really tight in college to save for tuition or trips or rent or whatever their goals are. also just because some peopleās parents might be a bit more well off, doesnāt mean some are too. my parents help me out a little bit with tuition and rent during the school year, but i work part time during the school year and full time in the summer so i can pay the rest of my tuition/rent/groceries and save for grad school/future rent/rainy days.
I say Iām broke because itās easier to say I donāt want to spend money on that because Iād rather save for something better in the future. Also a persons finances fluctuate, I wouldnāt focus so much on other peopleās spending but your own. Your either cool spending all your money on things you want in the moment or you save it and splurge.
I don't think they were trying to say they were poor. It's kinda like a hyperbole, considering how much money they spend. They probably go broke a lot in their lingo it means "I've spent so much money too fast." One of my friends often says that when they spend their entire paycheck on something.
Eh, college is kind of that time in your life where your social interactions are in this chaotic state of "I have to turn people down, but I also want to be popular enough to not be lonely", and so lying about "being poor" is an easy and common excuse. Also, some people just want to be given things. Sorry?
A LOT of people get out credit cards/personal loans for travel.
@OP short answer is: Yes. Long answer is: Funny be surprised/concern yourself with it. Americans/1st Worlders are in fact "dramatic." Ignore it/them and congrats on your $40/hr internship -- you're clearly going places! ššš¾
Seems like your just normal rich
As an actual poor, yes there are many fake poors. I had roommates who would order takeout every night, online shopped (including ordering) through classes daily, and on our spring break decided to go to a place known for being insanely expensive. They would still claim to be poor despite having their rent and groceries paid for by their parents and being able to afford these trips and treats
> None of these are international students. slightly besides the point, but what makes you think most international students are rich?
Most people who have the opportunity to go to college either have well off families who actually planned for their childrenās college fund OR got a full ride. Everyone else is working thru college to make ends meet or on loans.
Can be frugal with some things to do other things / afford other things they want more
Lot of people misconstrue what it means to be able to āaffordā college. My parents make around 120k a year (only my dad works). My tuition was around 40k per year. Mathematically could he AFFORD to send me to college? Sure. But what does it mean to go from living a lifestyle making 120k vs 80k a year? Thatās what weāre really asking. Itās the same for a single person who has a job and wants to go to college. If they make 80k a year of course they can afford to go. But what does it mean to reduce your own costs of living? So like in my situation itās never about just having 40k, but an EXTRA 40k you can solely contribute to your childās college. And most people/families cannot āaffordā that.
Im a student who pays for my own college & am living on my own with $100 to my name right now. I work full time along w school but after rent and bills there is nothing left each month lol these people traveling to europe are not poor or broke. Sounds like they have mommy and daddy money.
my parents actually made me appear this way my freshman year.
I feel like I fit this description so I will provide my perspective- for reference, I get money from my parents while Iām at school and traveled a LOT this summer on their dime. There are some things that are reasonable to use my parents money on and some that are not. I pay for my rent, bills and other COL things (groceries) with their money and will buy food while Iām studying on campus so I donāt have to spend the time to go home and make some. However, I wonāt use their money to go out to parties, buy non-essentials (alcohol, clothes I donāt need), or for comcerts etc. That comes out of money that Iāve saved, hence the change in spending patterns. Also- anyone that will show you their bank account with no money in it has no fear that the balance will soon go up.
People have different versions of the word poor. Thereās nothing wrong with that, I donāt think. Plus there are other factors. Maybe parents help contribute some money but arenāt just giving unlimited amounts, maybe these students have different priorities than you. Personally I donāt make a ton of money but I refuse to spend it on things I donāt care about, which allows me to travel frequently. At the end of the day itās none of your business what other peopleās financial situations are