"I am an idealistic, naive, passionate, truth-seeking, spiritually motivated artist, unschooled in the science of law and finance." --Wesley Snipes

Thursday, September 01, 2005

Imagine

You are a grad student in your early 30s.

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As compensation for teaching a .49 FTE load, you bring home 1053 American Dollars each month.

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Your utilities are manageable: electric bill only runs about 30 USD per month.

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Cable and phone combined are 100 USD.

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You now have $923 per month.

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Your combined coffee and beer habit equals about $200 per month (setting some money aside for those days that you go out drinking rather than stay in drinking).

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Landlord just raised your rent, so now you pay $720 for your lodging. Now you have $3 per month.

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You must pay your credit card bills (200 bucks). And you must also make a loan payment ($100). And you must eat food.

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You have negative $297 and you haven't eaten yet. But you're hyper and drunk.

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Maybe one of your books of poetry will sell and you'll get rich like Mattie Stepanek. Or Billy Collins. Or Maya Angelou.

4 comments:

Radish King said...

Better to get rich like Billy than to get rich like Mattie who had to die and go on Oprah.

Jess Mynes said...

Homebrewing. After an initial investment, it'll lessen the booze expenditures.

Peter said...

Grad students should be paid much more. Or at the very least they should give you housing . . . jeez.

Have an affair and move in with a professor. ~grin~

Anthony Robinson said...

Peter,

Aw hell yeah. Free housing would be awesome.

But, alas, none.

Tony