"Being Not-Rich at UM" Guide
A UofM student created a guide for students at UofM that don't have a lot of money on how to find deals, get good jobs on campus, etc.. You can find her guide here - LINK.
I certainly wasn't poor, but I wasn't rich either. I often meet fellow UofM graduates and as we talk they rattle off a dozen or so of their favorite Ann Arbor establishments and I always feel a bit ridiculous as I never have been on the inside of most or even all of the places that they go on and on about.
I simply couldn't afford to eat out a lot.
About 20 years ago when I was living in West Quad they didn't serve dinners on Sunday evenings. So my roommate and I would grab loose change and walk up State Street to a place that I think was called "State Street Liquor," because they had a special on Sundays where you could buy an entire extra large cheese pizza for like $5. We would pour the free crushed red pepper seeds all over it in the store and then take it back to the dorm room. I thought it was pretty good and it was a lot of food...half the pizza could stuff me and for just $2.50.
Does anyone have any other tips for those currently at UofM that don't have a lot of money?
April 18th, 2018 at 10:02 PM ^
St. Mary's Student Chapel had spaghetti, salad, bread for $3 or $4 every sunday. When we were tired of that my roommate and I would go to Wolverine Den on South U. , Sundays they had full tray of deep dish and 2 pops $5. ( c.'79).
April 18th, 2018 at 11:43 PM ^
April 18th, 2018 at 11:08 PM ^
[Express (Pizza] Express)
+1 worked at delta gamma as a bus boy. got a few date parties out of that.
Not exactly proud of it but on many occasions after stumbling out of Rick's, having spent every last penny on cheap beer, we would hit the Stop 'N Go just off South U and shoplift their frozen burritos. Pretty bold to actually take the burrito, microwave it, and then shove it down your pants but then we were wasted. My buddy called it the Stop 'N Rob.
i think i ate oatmeal every meal for 3-4 months one year. oatmeal is still cheap as hell especially if you buy the store brand.
Seven words that could get me to pretty much any event on campus if I was in a pinch, or tip the scales if I wasn't sure I wanted to go:
"Lunch will be served"
"Reception to follow"
Once, in my early 20's, I crashed a funeral to get the lunch at the reception following. Don't judge me.
Well, OK - judge me a little.
My big splurge: A Cottage Inn pizza about once a semester. I deserved it.
We would sometimes hit an all you can eat fish fry that filled our stomachs beyond comprehension. Eating out was a rarity, though. Otherwise, dorm food 1st year, then unhealthy doses of pasta, ramen, rice, and the occasional lean protein, while living off campus in sub-standard housing. Penny pinching, man.
I washed dishes in residence halls. Great work. It kept me frantically busy, but completely mindless. I also did psych and engineering (biomechanics stuff) experiments for extra change.
Pro tip: consider being residence advisor. Free room and board was great, but dealing with drunken 1st years was trying. The fact that most drunken 1st years were much richer than me also grated my nerves.
At Michigan, the best hustle is to get in good with a professor as an undergrad and do work for them. Work your way up, get good at writing grants, and doing research, whatever is needed, and coming up with creative ideas your donor didn't think of or didn't remember they thought of. If you stick around for grad work, you can start to make actual coin, depending on how good you are at coming up with grant ideas/writing.
I have first hand knowledge of two social science majors (easier for the real sciences) who did that and made enough (saving what they could) through undergrad and ~4 years of grad school to outright buy a house, tuition fully paid off, when they got through their phd.
I really am saddened by the current trajectory of college costs. Back when I began at Michigan, I was able to pay for college completely between summer employment and work study and a few grants and scholarships. The student body seemed much more diverse in terms of the familial income level. Now, I get the feeling that there is much more homogeneity of wealth among the student body.
I will never forget reading an article a couple years back by a student from California who talked about being part of the "middle class." She was completely clueless about her wealth in comparison to the US, let alone the world. When I was a student, there were many UofM students who had blue collar families working in the auto industry throughout the state. I knew some students who were decidedly wealthy (flying wherever they wanted on the weekends, to go shopping in NYC or out to the beach for a day and a half.) But wealthy students were part of the mix, and didn't define the whole. When I've been on campus lately, there is more of a sense of snobby rich kids. They know they have money, and feel they can be disparaging to those who come from more humble means.
I think this list is probably better as "how to save money while in college" than specfically "rich people at Michigan". The median household income for a student at Michigan is apparently around $154k, which is obviously high but (especially for out-of-state students with out-of-state tuition costs) not astronomical.
There are some good ideas here about making your money go farther in A2, but I think people grossly overestimate just how affluent the average student's family at the University was.
April 18th, 2018 at 10:59 PM ^
Here are a few statistics and graphs.
10 years ago, in 2009, the top 5% made $155,000 in income. That would mean approximately 50% of Michigan student families were in the top 5% of family income nationally.
According to this next graph, 4.4% of US households are at 150,000 and above in income.
One of the fallacies with the perception of affluence is to generalize based on the income of those in your neighborhood and similar circumstances. Because many communities are significantly segregated based on income, it is very easy for those in a neighborhood where the income ranges from $100,000 to $300,000 to assume they are all roughly in the "middle class." 70% would self-classify themselves as middle class. Here is a quote from Pew:
Defined by Pew as those earning 67% to 200% of the median income — $39,560 to $118,080 in 2016 — only about half of Americans can call themselves middle class. Lower-income households account for 29%, while upper-income households make up the rest, according to Pew.
Doing the math, this means 21% of households nationally in 2016 would be at $118,000 or above, are considered upper-income households. If upper-income households are defined as "affluent," that means that a significant majority of Michigan students come from affluent homes. I'm not sure at what point you would consider this "grossly overestimated," but I don't think these numbers lie. Of course, I am open to a reasoned rebuttal. Please provide some stats on what you consider affluence, and whether or not and to what degree the "average student's family" is affluent or not.
EDIT: here are a few more factoids on "upper-middle class" and "rich." If you define "affluence" as being "rich," this suggests an income of $350,000 and above, comprising 1.8% of the population.
The upper middle class grew to 29.4% of the population in 2014, up from 12.9% in 1979, according to a new Urban Institute report. It defines this group as having household income of between $100,000 and $350,000 for a three-person family. The rich also expanded their ranks, to 1.8%, up from 0.1%.
April 19th, 2018 at 10:29 AM ^
It is foolish to assume that a school like Michigan, which boasts over half of it's incoming student body from out of the state, would have a true socio-economic breakdown for the state, let alone the country. But as your links noted, the "upper middle class" is a huge band of income, from a little over $100k to $300k, and that probably doesn't include regional differences (as someone who has lived in multiple large Northeast cities, $150k is decidedly middle of the road if you have kids). And the upper middle class has shrunk a bit in terms of median income, though the very top ($1M+) has jumped up.
So my bigger point is that true affluence (the super-rich, global traveler-type kid that gets the most scorn here) is relatively small at Michigan because it's relatively small everywhere. The average student at Michigan comes from a comfortable family, where they don't live paycheck to paycheck but absolutely feel changes in tuition, living costs, etc. Sure, that maybe means they can go out to dinner more often or buy some new clothes, but the truly "elite" financially are fewer and far between. And frankly, you don't see that level of affluence at Michigan as you see at, say, NYU, Columbia, Harvard, Stanford, etc. because, well, Michigan isn't that prestigious of an academic program for that moneyed elite.
The problem is in the definition of "affluence" or "elite."
Here is a relevant article from Bloomberg:
LINK: Yes, a Six-Figure Income Means You're Affluent
I would agree with this definition, you would not. I suppose we can agree to disagree. According to the article:
- Households making $100,000 or more comprise the top 24.7% of American households
- Those making $200,000 were in the top 5.6% of households
- Membership in the infamous 1% was $423,090
If I'm understanding you correctly, affluence really marks those in the top 1% of all households. If household income of $150,000 makes you middle of the road, well, sir, we travel in very different circles. I have lived in suburbs of Chicago and of LA. While I haven't lived in NYC, to say that $150k is "middle of the road" leaves me befuddled. I mean, I have family that live a block off Central Park on the Upper West Side, who pay more for their monthly parking space than I pay for my mortgage. I have former Michigan roommates in Brooklyn who bemoan the cost of buying a place to live. I suppose in those worlds, $150,000 is a mere trifle. But the reality is that on a national, let alone global, comparison, $150,000 is nowhere near middle of the road.
April 20th, 2018 at 11:39 AM ^
Sure, I've read all of those types of think pieces as well. And I guess our definition of affluence is different. Taking NY metro area as an example, the cost of living there is 169% of the national average, and that probably understates the overall cost because "NYC suburbs" legitimately stretches 50-60 miles and covers 3 states, so there is a large variance in the cost of living.
For annecdotal evidence, my wife and I rented a 2-bedroom apartment in (admittedly a nice part of) the Bronx for a long time for around $3k. In that time, we had two kids, and our household income was usually in the $125k-$160k depending on various jobs. With that income and daycare costs, we barely broke even each month, and we were extravagent living by any means. Maybe we could have found a slightly cheaper apartment, but it wouldn't have been walkable to the trains or daycare, and so any savings there in rent would have been eaten up in other commuting costs.
And this is the Bronx, generally the cheapest of the areas in the city to live. Maybe we move out to the burbs and save a bit, but then you are paying more for gas, more for train passes, etc. The average single-family house in the suburban area is around $450k, which again, is a pretty decent chunk of your income at $150k a year. From friends I know who lived in D.C., LA, SF, etc., this general cost breakdown isn't that crazy.
But yes, get outside the big citites it does get cheaper, but look closer to home (Oakland County, where I grew up), and you see about 25% of the population makes over $100k. That's higher than the state median, but my guess is that families on average make more than "households", which includes a lot of retirees and people without kids. That's your population who send kids to college, and the vast majority of them wouldn't consider themselves affluent, especially with college costs weighing them down.
So again, we are arguing over subjective definitions, which is probably a waste of everyone's time. I don't believe that the average student at Michigan comes from the astoundingly wealthy families that I read here; most come from, yes, families with enough money to help them attend Michigan or at least attend school systems that prepare them to then matriculate to the University. But they aren't classically "rich" in that money doesn't matter to them, which is the undercurrent of all these complaints.
I had a 4 uear scholarship for room and tuition based on need. Worked " meal job " at a sorority for 3 years. Was the dishwasher for lunch and dinner and for working 50 minutes each meal receceived my meal for free. No meals on Sundays so generally had corned beef hash on a hot plate for $0.19 or would splurge at the Cottage Inn.
In addition, for two years worked the evening shift as a clerk at the Health Service from 5 pm - 7 am. The residents ran a walk in clinic until about 9 pm, then I would go upstairs and study and sleep in the infirmary, being buzzed about twice a night to waddle downstairs to open the doors for an urgent medical call. Lots of stories there. Was paid $1.75 an hour, and considering I ususally slept for 6 of those hours, it was big money back in the day.
I would generally echo the above comments. Knew a few very wealthy, good individuals, but most of us were truly middle class coming from a family with one car, who had to work a job at the university for sundries, etc.
Not complaining - best years of my life.
April 18th, 2018 at 11:26 PM ^
Less old, but still had the same experience in the late 2000's.
I'm going to guess we were on the same scholarship, the house still works the "meal job" pipeline.
Meal job was great, got lunch and dinner 6 days a week, and the chefs would be sure to hook us up with enough food to last the weekend on friday/saturday afternoons. If you find the right sorority, the girls are not too bad. Some even really nice! Went to a fair share of date parties as well.
The minimum wage we made was enough for drinking money and late night specials from Cottage Inn on the weekends. Good times.
You have the skill set to be part of Mueller's investigative team.
Disney was right, it is a small, small world.
Wishing the best to a fellow caddie..
get by at Michigan if you're not rich. First, you REALLY have to not care what people think. This applies post-Michigan as well. You'll learn how to save money and live better at the same time, once you get past that hurdle.
“We buy things we don't need with money we don't have to impress people we don't like.”
April 18th, 2018 at 10:00 PM ^
I remember eating a ton of cheap-ass $1 Back Room pizza in my day, especially at the end of the semester. Slims from Jimmy Johns are also a good choice if you're strapped. Are there still hot dog stands/carts around Ann Arbor these days? Got those for lunch a lot.
Had to take advantage of everytime my folks or friends' parents came to town too. Tried to save extras/leftover as much as I could and stretch out those trips to restaurants and cafeterias.
I also used to make a sandwich on my way out of the cafeteria if I didn't know where my next meal was coming from (also sneaking into the dorm cafeterias is also a good move to sneak a meal - did that on a number of occasions).
April 18th, 2018 at 10:10 PM ^
April 18th, 2018 at 10:18 PM ^
April 18th, 2018 at 10:13 PM ^
It was undoubtly a culture shock learning what "real" money was coming from a small town in northern Michigan. But I was expected to have a job growing up so having a job needing money in college didn't feel much different. Just surround yourself with like-minded friends and enjoy the ride at one of the best universities in the world. 2 years out and doing well for myself now!
April 18th, 2018 at 10:20 PM ^
PCP sandwiches:
Pringles
cheese (squeeze)
Pepperoni
Pringles
April 18th, 2018 at 10:58 PM ^
April 18th, 2018 at 11:04 PM ^
Working for IM sports used to be a nice part time job. Reffing IM sports sucks because you suck as an official, but that cold weather pay was awesome (I think I made like $22/hr back in 2008-2009) and you can pick hours. I worked usually 6-10 hrs a week and it was enough to get me spending money
April 18th, 2018 at 11:16 PM ^
I lived in West Quad. Adams house with the wrestling team.
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April 18th, 2018 at 11:45 PM ^
seriously ... and you have a U of M degree ? OMG
Go Blue!
You could get 9 or 10$ towards one of their iterms for every shift, which at the time mostly covered it. I wasn't a vegetarian, but those meals beat the heck out of my standards: spaghetti and an ill conceived homemade version of tuna helper.
I remember at the time proudly thinking that I should put together a "broke college student cookbook" to show the many ingenious ways to cook with Maruchan Ramen and canned meats.
But then I just realized that I had a really good pot hookup.