It is not uncommon to hear this phrase (or variations of this phrase) uttered by young adults: ?°I am broke!?± How easily these words fall from our lips; how little thought we (myself included) often give to those who really do live below the poverty line, and how by us saying this, are undermining them. Of course, all this is relative and needs to be placed within a certain context, given the variables involved.

But within this context, and in our slice of society that has the privilege of being educated, technologically-savvy and middle-class, being ??broke’ most commonly means having used up all the money allocated to us in a month. More often than not, though we are broke, we will still have a roof over our heads and a meal in our stomachs. We have also become used to having little luxuries in life?aa nice dinner with close friends after a movie, two new pairs of shoes, a bottle of perfume for our other half. In other words, we lead a pretty darn comfortable life.

For some of the luckier ones, ??broke’ is simply a state of mind. ??Broke’ to them means having maxed out their Daddy’s supplementary platinum card, or Mummy being mean because she did not let them buy the new LV Epi Alma bag so they had to tap into their six-digit inheritance. Them being ??broke’ means having to forsake their fortnightly mani and pedi treatment, or having to forgo their morning espresso from the Starbucks across the road.

Not all of us can be Paris Hiltons. Picture from MSNBC .

To others yet (this means us mere mortals) with these same expensive tastes, not only for couture, but for pimping out their rides, going on holiday with friends, trying out new food places and the like, the money has to come from somewhere besides whatever allowances we obtain from the parental units. Because in all fairness, what they give us is to cover day-to-day living expenses?ahardly enough to purchase the new iPhone on a whim!

What is more worrying is the extent to which some would go to maintain their expensive lifestyles. Many university students take on part-time or freelance work to supplement their income. While the usual jobs range from mind-bogglingly boring data entry, to modeling, making coffee or waiting tables, other more unusual ??professions’ also come to mind.

A week ago, a classmate of mine mentioned how he was shown a text message from a friend who lives at the student residences of a popular tertiary institution in the Klang Valley. The text offered multiple ??services’ of a female student for a flat rate of RM300, and variations thereof for her other ??services’. Needless to say, it was incredibly shocking to hear of such transactions taking place in a private institution of higher learning where fees are not exactly a paltry sum. Clearly, by virtue of the fact that the young woman can afford to be enrolled there is an indication that she may not be too badly-off?awhat then is the purpose of her advertisements?

While I can only theorise and assume, I suppose I would not be too far off from the truth when I say she is possibly maximizing her ??assets’ in order to maintain a certain expected standard of living. I am not in agreement with this, as education is a way of escaping this deadly cycle; it is indeed ironic that a tertiary-level student with the brains and potential to carve a better life for herself would resort to something that could be done by anyone.

Most of us middle-class dwellers of suburbia come from families who have had to work significantly hard to afford the exorbitant fees required to secure a good education, which in itself is already a privilege. What more if we are given a car, a piece of property, or the promise of the family business to take over and run some day?

Juggling part-time work on top of studies is often challenging and stressful. Picture from Health.com .

Once our conscience kicks in (yes, it’s that little voice telling you to study after one too many hours of watching Sex and the City reruns), we realize that we will eventually have to start earning our own keep and lessen the dependence on the much-anticipated allocated sum each month. There is also nothing quite like the feeling of obtaining a long-anticipated paycheck or a bonus from your employer in return for many hours of work to be spent on a long-coveted item, a holiday, dinner with the parents, or on you.

The question is, how far would you go to maintain standards of living you are accustomed to?

Last 5 posts by Melody Song

• The activist in me - November 22nd, 2007
• Of Desperation, Duty and Dreams - September 1st, 2007
• When Cheap is not Chic - August 14th, 2007
• When to Lose One's Virginity - August 14th, 2007
• Waisted Days and Waisted Nights - July 14th, 2007