My Last 100 Pounds: Graduation Ceremonies Do Not Care About Your Financial Situation

by James Griffiths

$100! It is a lot of money, and yet, it is also not a lot of money at all. Where did your last hundred bucks go, James Griffiths?

Note: as of 19/07/12 the exchange rate means £100 = $157

I graduated from university on Tuesday. In less than two weeks, the contract ends on my house and I will have to move back in with my parents. I would like to be able to sign on a new apartment or house share, but doing so without any income seems incredibly irresponsible (since my savings would just about cover a deposit and not much else). With 32 job applications sent off with one positive response so far, money’s been on my mind a lot recently.

£20.00: Extra graduation tickets.

£35.00: I went to town to buy a nice white shirt for graduation and ended up getting a dinner jacket that was on sale. My black suit is in need of dry-cleaning, so I justified this on the grounds that it was only twice as expensive as my planned graduation clothing.

£6.50: Lunch at Leaf Tea Shop, because being poor doesn’t necessarily mean being responsible.

£2.90: Bubble Tea at Café De Pearl. I used to live in China, and drinking Bubble Tea lets me pretend I still do.

£3.85: Phone call to the Benefits Agency (via their premium rate number) during which I was told that due to a piece of documentation having the wrong date on it (despite my having sent in a corrected document as soon as this was pointed out), my benefits claim has been closed and I won’t be getting the Jobseekers Allowance I applied for (and travelled to and from Job Centres for, and filled in what felt like a million forms for).

£35.00: Graduation photos. There is a 90 percent chance I will regret paying for these when they turn up, but I didn’t want to regret not having a clichéd graduation photo to hang on my wall.

Total: £103.25 over three days, hopefully the piece of posh paper I received at the end of my graduation ceremony might help me land a job soon.

Previously: My Last 10,000 Yen: Train Fare, Chocolate, and a Haircut

James T Griffiths is based in Liverpool, UK, where he edits Gossipian.com and works as a freelance writer, hire him. Photo: Shutterstock/Patryk Stanisz

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