The stories of crippling student loans are mind-boggling.  Is it not possible to get through without so much debt?

When I was going to college in the late sixties and early seventies, I got student loans through the Department of Education.  It was not possible to borrow even enough to pay tuition, room and board, and books. I if private loans were available , fortunately, I didn’t know it. My government loan paid only tuition, initial payment on room and board, and possibly a few books.  I had to earn enough to pay second installment on room and board.  Propitiously, I worked in the university library and learned early on that textbooks could be checked out from the library and renewed all semester, eliminating book fees. Most textbooks sat on that lonely shelf all semester. Even if books were older editions, the changes were minimal, such as rearranging chapters or updating pictures.  It was an excellent plan, cutting my costs tremendously.

Bud and I got married our last year of college.  We arrived with the incredible sum of five hundred eighty dollars to start our senior year.  That was enough to pay his tuition, first month’s rent, get utilities turned on, and stock our meager pantry.  We earned minimum wage, one dollar and twenty-five cents hourly.  Between us, we earned thirteen hundred dollars that year.  We didn’t get married till August, so we had dorm fees the first half of the year.

Our Budget:

Rent.                 $75

Utilities.              20

Groceries.           50

We lived in a small shabby house not far off campus.  There was no air-conditioning, and two gas space heaters, one in the living room and one in the bathroom.  We only used the one in the living room when we were home, closing off the rest of the house off.  The bathroom heater only went on during baths.  There was no telephone, more savings.  We got through that year without buying clothing  except two pair of shoes.  I bought cheap ones the first time and they quickly tore up, necessitating the purchase of a second, quality pair, a poor economy.

Bud had a 1962 Chevrolet truck that got us back and forth on the few visits we made to our families.  A few times, my dad sent us a check for gasoline so we could visit.  We parked the truck when we got back, not moving it again till we left town.  We walked everywhere, class, work, and the grocery store.  We both carried home two bags of groceries on our monthly shopping trip.

I still remember our grocery list,

One pound Community Coffee.               $.89

1 lb ground chuck.                                         .89

Whole chicken approximately.                  1.00

Five lb flour less than.                                   1.00

Pasta 3 lb. less than                                        1.00

5 lbs beans less than.                                      2.00

3 cans tomato sauce.                                       1.00

Two lb meal less than                                       .50

1 lb margarine.                                                    .2 5

Two lb rice less than.                                         1.00

1 dozen eggs.                                                           .29

5 lb grits less than.                                                1.00

1 lb can Crisco less than.                                       .89

Three envelopes dried spaghetti sauce mix.   .99

Toilet tissue less than.                                            1.00

Laundry powder less than.                                   1.00

Toiletries and sundry                                   Negligible

Of course, we occasionally bought salt and pepper.  The whole chicken made three meals.  The first time, I fried four pieces, the second meal was chicken and dumplings, the third chicken noodle soup.  The ground chuck was for a casserole and to be cooked in spaghetti sauce, two meals.We had lots of beans and rice.  Many afternoons we fished.  If we had a good catch, we had fish and fries.  If not, we are grits.  We also had a lot of gravy and biscuits.  Bud’s mother gave us her old wringer washer, so we cranked that devil up when we totally ran out our clothes, so there was no expense for the Laundromat.  I will always remember this as one of the best times of my life   I never felt poor.  All our friends were as poor as we were, so we had community.  Bud always said we had one thing money can’t buy: poverty. The good thing about struggling early on is that from that time on, you know how to budget and set expectations.  We were fortunate.