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张同学曾经说过,年轻就是Struggle。自然的,有了父母的信用卡之后就少了很多麻烦,但自从去年以来尝试自给生活,便又回到了Struggle的状态。
回忆起来,小时候没有零用钱,常常也做些边角料的事情来补贴。但毕竟不是办法,每年最大的收入来源还是一年一次可靠稳定的压岁钱收入。然而也会经常没钱。比如某年给女生买了一条围巾之后,存折就已然见底了。
幸而小时候毋须担心生活开销。衣物食品总是有保障,没钱时,无外乎是少打几次台球,晚上由几个朋友一起吃小炒改为牛肉面而已。况且牛肉面的店家慈祥得很,还可以赊账。
高中时就离家了。当时没有信用卡一说,只有一张银行卡,父母每周定时去银行打钱,也无多,几百而已。于是时常捉襟见肘。同学聚一次餐,再唱唱歌,是百十的花销,若每周是那一两次,即钱包见底。更逞论存钱呢,能有钱花便不错!也不敢乱买衣物,否则一两周的生活费就消耗殆尽。
没有钱就得自己想办法。青少年活动中心有免费的午餐,只需要坐两块钱的公交车,就能去混饭吃。而想要换个手机,就只能帮工赚钱了。我是技术不够,于是接到活之后就转包给他人,但究竟要自己交付,还得打20多块钱的车来回,去把系统修复好。幸而帮工的还算仁慈,给每小时100块的工钱,还管一顿晚饭。于是两个月总算赚够了一个手机钱。
及至到后来有奖金收入的时候,生活便改观了很多,也能基本想买什么买什么,偶尔还上课时候的中午混出去搓一顿。
可惜奖金也是没有什么定数的事,赞助的企业常常从年初拖到年末,于是也有这样的情况。某年我和张章同学都眼巴巴地望着一笔奖金,可惜却迟迟不发放,于是在参加完某个活动后,我和他就真正的身无分文了。此时离学校还有十几公里,所谓的身无分文即是连2块钱的公交车钱也无力负担。幸好,此时有一辆小货车要开回学校,我和张章就拦了下来,钻到货箱里,一路望着天空,跌跌撞撞地这才回了寝室。
到清华的时候境况好了很是不少。一是手中有一张父亲的信用卡,而且拜科技发展所赐,转钱到原来的银行卡只需要一点击而已。还申请了一张学生信用卡,把自己牢牢绑在了债务之中。
况且清华门口的小吃也并不太花钱,于是日子悠哉游哉,还能偶尔有结余给女生买个耳坠或者钱包。唯一一次记忆比较深刻的是在5月份某次,把信用卡给某同学让他带个笔记本电脑回国,然而银行卡上却也早已结余不多。那次的化解很戏剧,在弹尽粮绝之后,去查银行卡,奇迹般地又多了一些钱出来,这才舒了困。
后一年的辍学便在经济上亮了红灯。还好住宿不花钱,可是时常还要帮衬水电气,而没有了桃李园的便宜饭菜,伙食费就空前贵了起来。虽然在下半年可以报销一些,但我又没有开发票的好习惯。于是第一次结算了两千多出来,第二次只能结算一千多。过不了多少次,又回到了起点。那时为了节约,就时常一天就一包方便面加点咸菜,偶尔朋友带点香肠,放微波炉里面热一热,就凑合了一顿。
回美国读书之后就好了一些,因是大大方方花父母的钱,偶尔会接到警告邮件,便节省些。但基本上日子也转了起来。及至后来有了些存款,想自给自足,就把信用卡给废了。然而这日子却不好过了起来,某时甚至靠卖以前的教材帮补了200多块。更不用说没饭吃的时候,王同学还常常大方请客。
仅此记下。虽现在也时常钱包见底,幸而得朋友们帮衬,境况和小时候比改善了不少,才敢拿出来吹一吹,全当看个笑吧。
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