Breaking Even Without Going Broke

As a 21-year-old girl in Austin, Texas, I thought I would have the time of my life. What other college town could I have more access to bars and clubs and still manage to drink and have fun at a cheap price?

It is not until you are footing the bill for a boyfriend that is unemployed, feeding both mouths, paying rent, utilities, and working two jobs that you realize that this life has a little less fun than imagined.

No matter how much the recession has "turned around" jobs are still hard to find. You know when you have a bachelor's degree and you can't even get a job as a receptionist that things are still not as well off as they could be.

Working as a backroom associate at Wal-Mart, which includes physical labor and working at AT&T as a sale representative, all the while taking college classes that require 1,000 word essays each week in each class, I've started to realize that my life has become less about having any sort of fun or even rest and more about trying to stay above the water. Every once in a while I bounce back up and catch an occasional breath. Who needs rest anyway? Like they say, there's no rest for the wicked.

In a position that requires physical labor, 9 hours of heavy lifting and never getting to sit down, one could only hope that the compensation would match the hard work. Ah! But alas! At $9.40 an hour for 30 hours a week, I have found that working my butt off cannot generate enough funds to cover basic living costs, much less any sort of entertainment budget - even at its most basic state.

It amazes me that working in a retail position, I am making more money - two dollars more per hour to be exact - than that of a position that requires far more exertion, plus I am being compensated with commissions on top of my hourly rate. Yet, here I am on my night off wishing that I could go back to sleep to prepare myself for the 16 hour days that are still to come.

Cutting back or rather completely eliminating any entertainment budget, as well as taking away any luxury spending has been the only way that I have been able to cope with the recession. Though our new president has claimed that he would create more jobs, it seems that instead, exactly the opposite has happened and more people that have degrees are finding themselves in positions that they are over qualified for. What use is a $100,000 dollar degree when I am completing brainless tasks in a dirty backroom at a major grocery store chain?

The prices have gone up, the sales have gone down, and it is becoming even harder to afford to enjoy the most the most basic of all sources of entertainment. Though the bars are still full and the weekends are still booming, some of us can still be found working our butts off or staying the night in.