Friday, December 17, 2010

What has the Recession Done to You?

the kraken wakes

Admittedly, I watched most of the recession from behind the safety of my computer screen: I was a sophomore at BU, & it provided some entertainment to me to watch the Management students walk around, stupefied, realizing that they weren't guaranteed jobs either.

However, now I'm out of school & feeling the effects, & while they aren't huge, they certainly exist.

Health Insurance: Since the healthcare system is being restructured, my parent's plan has dumped me & I won't be able to rejoin until next year. In the interim, my parents have guilted me into buying insurance of my own, from New York Cares, which gets rid of $207/month out of my already pathetic bank account. And don't even get me started on that guy who wants to take away funding for any plan that provides support for abortions (if I accidentally have a baby, will he adopt it? Nope. He'll probably get mad at it for being a welfare burden).

Credit: Oh credit cards. I have resisted acquiring one of you, because you are mystical and scary. You seemed to get a lot of people in trouble, but now I'm being told I need you.

Earlier this year, when I tried to switch service providers from Verizon to AT&T (hello iPhone!), AT&T told me I needed to pay them a $500 deposit because I am a credit risk. Thus began my quest to acquire a credit card, & after 5 months & a dozen rejections, I finally have one: Wal-Mart are so far the only people who will approve me. Is there a WallE-World near me? Do I approve of their business practices? Was their fruit harvested within the last year? None of that is allowed to matter now in the name of Good Credit. In case I ever want to, you know, buy a house.

Jobs: Oh jobs. Jobs, Jobs, Jobs, where are you? All of my friends are looking for you. You are a very popular character. Restaurants will always need servers, but the customers won't always tip well.


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Anybody else care to weigh in on the economic crapper recent graduates have been put in?

3 comments:

Kristin said...

Have you tried CapitalOne? They gave me a card when I was still in college with literally no credit. Roger was able to get his first one through Discover, also with no credit background. The interest rates are INSANE, so don't keep a balance (clearly you are smart and already know this), but I think some places will extend student credit cards to the wider population. They're just cards for people who haven't had a chance to build up credit yet. Good luck!

PS - Can't wait to see you tomorrow night!

Sean said...

Yeah, Capital One isn't bad if you don't mind putting up with the yearly fee. My own bank, a servicemembers-only bank that I had been with for several years, even turned me down when I was hunting for cards. If you have trouble beyond CO, try a gas card. I got approved for one and I never use it, just leave it there for building credit.

Becka T said...

I transferred schools against my parent's wishes, got financially disowned, and am now working 26 hours a week (along with a full classload) while surviving on <$600 a month. I feel your pain, ma'am.