Hey big spender

[shann]

Well, I finally got my financial aid in on Tuesday! I paid off the rest of my car insurance and paid Sarah back all the money she loaned me while I was broke, and have been happily spending all the leftovers on the big-ticket items I've been wanting or needing over the year(s) $__

Comments

[darkangel_wings]

All purchases I approve of! (Those DS games are fun, enjoy!)

I wish that it was easier to get summer aid here, but it's actually really difficult. Even if you get aid with little problem in the fall/spring, often they expect you to pay out of pocket for summer or winter interim courses. That's what I had to do for the anthro class I took last summer.

Financial aid would REALLY help me out now. I'm usually pretty good at holding onto money, but my expenses unexpectedly doubled. Oops. I'm not completely boned or anything... I just wish I had financial aid to help me out, rather than waiting until fall. Though that tends to be how my financial aid works too - I get a pretty big refund. Most of it does actually go to rent and groceries, but some also goes to fun things, haha.

But hey, while you are making pure fun purchases (the DS, games, TV) you're also making "grown up" purchases as well. Getting furniture is stuff that you do need, and is very grown-up to be considering. These are also all purchases that will stick with you, so you'll have something to show for this even years down the road.

Also, your anniversary sounds like it was wonderful. :3

[shann]

USF just enacted Summer aid, making it just as easy to get as Summer and Fall. I really didn't have to do anything but fill out a form online. I don't think aid was offered at all during Summer until this year, so I really lucked out. For tuition purposes and in every other way.

That sucks about your school D: It really is dumb that there's no/limited aid for Summer at so many Universities still... plenty of people need to take Summer classes that aren't offered at other times of the year, and still have to pay for their living expenses while going. I think it's still assumed that people go home to live with parents during Summer, and only need to take classes in the Summer if they failed something during Spring or Fall. It's not like that anymore... and the schools really need to catch up and realize that. I'm glad USF did.

My aid usually goes towards my bills and such, just... got lucky this time around, and am free to spend the majority on other things :3

I'm always so worried I'll be judged for buying expensive items, though, hence the reason why I spent several paragraphs trying to justify it D: I feel like I should always be hoarding money away and never touching it, and only buying the absolute cheapest items if I have to replace something.

But, I dunno... I've been through three cheap computer desks in five years, I really want something that is going to last. When I told my grandma that, she thought I was being wasteful with my money. I dunno. Maybe it's just a Jew thing xD

[darkangel_wings]

OIC, regarding them just enacting it. I WISH they'd do so here... but it's very unlikely. Colorado just cut a ton of public higher education funding, so tuition went up 9% and they cut financial aid. I still got enough to cover tuition in the fall, but will likely need to use the rest of my savings to pay living expenses, which really sucks, because then once I graduate I'll have NO money. So far I've been able to do college without loans, since I had a lot of money saved, but that may end up changing this next year. =/

I'm glad you were lucky with how this stuff worked out though, because fun purchases are needed too! (And I understand what you said about it making stress easier to bear. I've never been the girl who goes and buys seven pairs of shoes to get through a fight with someone, but spending money on things I want does help me out when I'm upset or stressed, and I know it.)

You don't have to justify it. Especially because it is loan money that you're going to have to pay back. If you were using a government student grant to buy yourself a TV, that might need a little more justification, but really, this is your money for you to spend as you need.

And I think it's DEFINITELY not wasteful to want something that will last rather than needing to be replaced in another year or so. Too much stuff nowadays (damn you kids, get off my lawn) seems designed to be cheap, temporary, and replaceable. I'd much rather have an initially more expensive item that's durable and will stick around for years.