This weekend was full of very high highs and very low lows, ironically, both involving money. I got some really depressing financial news on Saturday. Luckily I have the best parents in the whole world. I'm so glad they are there for me when I need them but on the other hand I'm really sick of needing them. Sometimes I try to figure out how I got to be so bad with money. I had my first job at fourteen working as a cashier at a grocery store. I know I wasn't making much money and I know my parents were trying to teach me about saving and budgeting, but somehow it all went wrong. I knew other kids who had to work to save for college or to buy a car or something. They could deal better with the long hours of boredom (because really, what high schooler's job isn't boring?) and the ever present temptations of spending. I don't remember having any crazy shopping sprees, but I also don't remember saving anything.

I think college is a particularly vulnerable time for people. I can remember credit card companies with tables set up in the cafeteria offering free t-shirts to sign up. At that point, what did I know about credit cards? It felt like free money to me and it's hard to believe how far reaching the consequences of those mistakes are.

And while we're on the subject of college, I'd like to rant for a moment about college loans. I remember signing things in the financial aid office, promising to pay back the thousands of dollars in loans that I was borrowing. How could I have known that I wouldn't land a lucrative, yet rewarding and fulfilling position immediately upon graduation? What does any college student know about the "real world"? All they know is what they are told about how valuable a college degree is. Have I used mine at all?

But lest you start to feel too sorry for me dear reader, let me say three words: Saturday sample sale. The fabulous clothing company in the same building I work in had another of their sales this weekend. I got some great deals and ended up with tons of clothing for a fraction of the retail price. The only thing that really made me feel happy this weekend was envisioning all of the possible new ensembles I would be displaying every day until Christmas. There was a point though that I was wishing I could exchange clothes for the amounts on the tags ($88 jeans, $128 shirts - these things could really add up if they were changed into currancy). But then I realized that I would (hopefully) have these clothes much longer than these financial troubles and I got over it fast.
  ¶ 4:06 PM