THIS VS THAT

Raising Course Related Costs

There are many good things in life, being the fourth user of a Netflix account you don’t pay for is definitely one. Another? Having a baby smile at you instead of crying like it does with everyone else (one of life’s greatest accomplishments).The best thing right now though, is hands down hearing the news that course related costs have been raised by another $1000.  

For most students, the number of hours being offered at work are currently fluctuating more than the waistline of a middle aged man attempting to diet, which means many of us are earning significantly less. Additionally, the hours that we do work are probably at a rate less than normal too, ie. we’re only receiving 80% of our regular paycheck. Candidly,  it’s nice to be able to pay rent and eat, and an extra $1000 in the pocket definitely paves the way to getting a peaceful nights sleep. 

Tertiary life and living paycheck to paycheck kinda go together like New Zelanders and binge drinking…It’s common but doesn’t always set you up for a good week should something go wrong. Having that extra $1000 on hand when the car you bought for looks and not long term efficiency shits the bed, is an absolute life saver.

Aside from deleting the $1000 from your bank account come Re O’Week (or sooner), there actually are a few other viable options to consider doing with your funds, aside from actually using them for the intended purpose. Do some research and invest it, (to help your future self to prosper or something like that). You could put it towards some gear, and by that, I mean the type that will help turn your hobbies into a tidy little side hustle. Decent music equipment, to land you a gig or two and earn some extra $$, or maybe quality pens and paints to sell your creative endeavours. Call it what you want; additional debt, a ‘later’ problem, or a helping hand (out)- but considering we’re currently living in an economy that needs us to spend, it could be argued that taking out our course related costs right now, is a student’s civil duty…

Keeping Course Related Costs The Same

Debt. It’s a funny word with a useless B in the middle and a long, fascinating history that has grown uglier and uglier over time. It’s one of those nebulous things that doesn’t seem like a big deal until border security stop you at the airport over unpaid parking tickets. It is, like most things in modern life, a fiction. One that we all agree on despite it being mostly pretty shit to everybody unless you’re a merchant banker. Which, if you are reading this, you are not.

Over the years to come most of you are going to rack up extraordinary levels of debt. This debt is the price of a ticket into modern professional life. It wasn’t always that way. Our parents studied for free then pulled up the ladder after themselves and charged us for a leg up. The rotters. But this tirade isn’t about your shitty parents. It’s about student debt and how much of it you are already in. You will be paying it off for years into your adulthood. All of your paychecks will be garnered until the Government has decided you’ve paid your penance and can now start trying to desperately scrabble together enough savings to go into even more debt buying a house. Which may still never happen because… well, I’ve said enough about your parents.

The point is this. We all know you are never going to spend your course-related costs on anything even remotely course-related. It’s a windfall that will inevitably (and quite rightly) be blown on something self-indulgent and stupid. You might justify your new laptop as being “essential for school” but your browser history tells a different story. A cool G is enough to drop on such flights of fancy. That, every year over a 3-4 year degree amounts to probably an entire year of your life to pay back. There is no need to make it two for the sake of an electric scooter that will likely end up at the bottom of the Waikato River one night out on the piss. Leave it well enough alone, your future self will thank you.