I make $2,200 a month as a TA, and I pay $1,002 dollars of it a month for rent. I have a car payment which is $380 a month, which I need to reach my mom, whose health is failing, and my research, where I visit archives sprinkled all over the US West. With a car comes insurance, which is an additional $120 a month and AAA, $12 a month. I had to buy a new car when it broke down 700 miles away from UCSB last summer and it cost me an extra two nights of hotels and $600 (that I did not have at the time) to fix. During the same trip, my laptop died, and I had to buy a new one in another state. I am still paying off my credit card for that, as well, which is $200 a month with previous expenses. I have to pay for my phone and its service, which is $75 a month. Even with our health insurance, I spend $120 a month on therapy to help me with my Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. I spend $10 a month on my medication. I go to the campus food banks often to get essentials, like rice, grains, sauces, and some vegetables, but it is not enough to give me all that I need. I spend about $150 a month on groceries.
STIPEND: $2,200
Rent: $1,002
Car Payment: $380
Car Insurance: $120
AAA: $12
Credit Card Payment: $200
Phone Bill: $75
Therapy: $120
Medication: $10
Food: $150
Gas: $100
TOTAL: $2,169
I used to have an extra job off-campus to support myself, but I was encouraged by faculty to only work at UCSB in order to have more time to focus on my research. Now, I worry about being evicted, which almost happened a few weeks ago when a late stipend led to late rent. I want to help take care of my mom and stepdad, who only make a few hundred more dollars a month than I do--they are proud that I am the first in my family to go to college--but I am barely afloat. My friends, who are just as precarious as I am, are my safety net. I have no one else.
Now, I worry about being evicted, which almost happened a few weeks ago when a late stipend led to late rent.
I have $40,000 in student loans, working towards a degree that is the reason I get up in the morning, but the finances surrounding it are the reason I cannot fall asleep at night. I am so grateful to be a graduate student at UCSB; I just want to be able to afford to be one who can eat, sleep, teach, and research, which are all why I am here in the first place.
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