Elizabeth Davies on haircuts from fellow students, public transport, $10 outfits and paying for things with handfuls of sofa coins

By Elizabeth Davies

Dwelling on my financial future can be depressing so I thought I’d spend this week concentrating on the little things about being young and poor that I’ve developed some strange appreciation for.

When my card gets declined buying candy and white bread I don’t blush and mutter apologies, nor does the cashier awkwardly look away and suggest I try again. We both exchange a knowing smile, she gives a small laugh as I confess, "Well, it was worth a try".

One day I’m sure I will feel a pang of nostalgia for the nights I’ve headed to a bar at 11:45 only to kill time until midnight before ordering a drink and waiting, biting my bottom lip, crossing my fingers, desperately hoping that my pay has come through. The relief, the exhilaration, and quite literally the sweet taste of a dollar earned.

For the last year I have been getting free hair-cuts from Servilles academy students. While others are paying $100 for a trim, I’m helping out a fellow student as well as saving myself more than a couple of dollars. Sure I may risk a slightly lop-sided hairdo, but I can always call it ‘experimental fashion’ – this seems to cover just about every style blunder in your youth.

Strangely enough I’ve even developed a soft spot for Auckland’s infamous public transport system. What would normally be a ten minute drive turns into an hour where everything is out of my hands. All I can do is listen to music and people watch - a designated time in the day to just think.

Last week I was running to my stop when I saw my bus coming and realised I would never make it. I gave up and let out a string of words I cannot repeat.

All of a sudden I heard the bus brake and the doors open. The driver gave me a huge smile and said, “Don’t worry love, no man left behind!”

He proceeded to sing the entire trip, and wished me a good day at school as I disembarked at uni. That man restored my faith in humanity on what would likely have been a miserable day.

I love the odd Saturday morning spent rifling through the racks at Save-mart, hunting down the perfect ‘new’ outfit for the night for a sweet $10 price tag.

These are the last days of my life when it will be socially acceptable to pay for anything in handfuls of sofa coins, or sleep on a mattress on the floor because I can’t afford a bed base, or live off noodles for a week in order to afford a weekend away, or steal from my parent's pantry because mine is empty.

I may as well cherish these quintessential characteristics of life in your twenties.

At this age I still have a huge amount of financial freedom. I don’t have kids to feed, or rates to pay, I simply have life to live. I’ve reached a time in my life when, financially speaking, things have never been this hard before, and at the same time, will never be this easy again.

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*Elizabeth Davies is a 23 year old post graduate journalism student at Auckland University of Technology. She lives with her partner in Epsom and spends her free time refurbishing vintage furniture and attempting to bake while fighting a daily battle against her bank balance. She writes a weekly article for interest.co.nz on money matters and financial struggles from a young person's perspective.