2 1 century college students

Narrator: Zhuangzi Meng, a junior in beijing international studies university.

I came to Beijing from Guangdong to study in 2004. Our annual tuition and accommodation are ***8000 yuan. Every time I start school, my dad will give me 1 0,000 yuan to apply for a card at one time. After paying tuition and accommodation, the remaining 2000 yuan is living expenses. Whenever I have no money, I will ask my father for it again.

When I first arrived in Beijing, I felt that everything was new and I liked to go around. In the first semester, I spent more than 1000 yuan just shopping for clothes. At that time, the monthly living expenses 1000. Later, I consciously saved some, spending 800~900 every month.

Usually it takes about 13 yuan to eat in the school cafeteria for one day. Students in the dormitory have a dinner party at the weekend, with 20 yuan for everyone. In this way, I have to pay 500 yuan for meals every month. I usually like to eat fruit, and I will buy about 10 at a time.

I love reading magazines, and I spend more than ten yuan on them every month. Sometimes people come to school to sell some second-hand books, and I buy one or two books at a time, about 10 yuan. Get a network card every month, and it costs more than 100 a semester.

There will be a party in the department or school on weekends, 20-30 yuan per person. I go once or twice a month. Besides, I prefer traveling. On the eve of the winter vacation the year before last, I went to Harbin, and last May I went to Chengde. But they all went with their classmates and lived in their home. I will pay my own expenses.

I always go home in winter and summer vacations, basically flying, and it costs 2000 yuan to go back and forth. But sometimes I take a hard seat by train.

I made money, too! In my sophomore year, I rented out all the magazines I bought at 50 cents each. But then I felt embarrassed, so I stopped renting it. A * * * only earned more than 20 yuan. Another time, I brought some trinkets from Guangdong and sold them at school, earning more than 400 yuan. However, I haven't done any other part-time jobs. My father often tells me that when I study, I should study wholeheartedly and study more.

I moved out in September this year because I wanted to live independently for a period of time and cultivate my ability to live independently. But the monthly rent in 900 yuan, I think it's a bit expensive. Now, I cook by myself, and 200 yuan a month is enough. There is nothing else to spend.

In this way, I spend about 20 thousand a year, and so far I have spent more than 50 thousand. That's a real pity. But my consumption is only moderate in our class. I used to go sightseeing in the suburbs of Beijing on National Day, but this year I didn't go out to play because I paid the rent for three months at a time, in order to save money.

1990 college students

Narrator: Ms. Lu, 1994- 1998, studying at Sichuan University, is now an employee of a securities company.

I was admitted to Chengdu University on 1994. That year, our school was the first to implement unified fees. Compared with the current charging standard of tens of thousands of yuan, the fees at that time were not excessive: tuition in 800 yuan and accommodation in 400 yuan per academic year.

At that time, students were very frugal. There is a very large wholesale market near our school. At the beginning of each semester, students will go to the wholesale market in small groups to buy toothpaste, shampoo and other daily necessities for one semester, which can save a lot of money.

At that time, school meals were also very cheap. Generally, a meat dish 1.2 yuan, a vegetarian dish costs a few cents. If there are no other expenses, the monthly living expenses 100~ 200 yuan.

However, when you go to college, it is inevitable that there will be less meat and more vegetables, and it is difficult to meet the needs of the stomach. Sometimes, we try to cook a porridge. There is a snack street at the school gate, and there are many kinds of Sichuan snacks in the small shops on the street. When we are greedy, we will spend one or two yuan to eat ourselves until we are satisfied.

At that time, the entertainment life was still relatively poor, that is, spending one yuan on dancing and watching a movie on campus on weekends.

Learning equipment is not so fully equipped now. A teacher can have at most one digital pager. There is no fixed telephone in the dormitory, but only one telephone in the reception room. The aunt in the reception room called someone downstairs to answer the phone with a megaphone, which was a unique scenery on campus at that time.

To say the most extravagant, it should be an old bicycle with tens of dollars. This is basically necessary for every student, because the campus is too big. Apart from riding on campus and going out for business, I always rely on it. I often ride for an hour and never feel tired. Reaching for a taxi never occurred to me. Looking back now, during my four years in college, I never took a taxi once.

In line with the principle of increasing revenue and reducing expenditure, we will also find some part-time jobs after studying, but there were not so many opportunities at that time as now. The first money I made at that time was to distribute leaflets to enterprises attending alcohol, tobacco and candy parties. One day, I worked for 30 yuan for three days, and my legs were almost tired. But when I got 90 yuan, I felt it was particularly worth it. Later, I got a job as a tutor, one hour 10 yuan, twice a week, two hours each time. At that time, it should be a fairly good stable income. I worked for more than a year until I entered my junior year and began to study professional courses. I didn't resign until time was pressing.

In addition, my grades have been good, and I can get a large scholarship every academic year (around 800 yuan). By the time I graduated, more than 1000 yuan had been deposited in my passbook.

1980s college students

Narrator: tian teacher, 1982- 1985, studied at Zhengzhou University, and is now the principal of a middle school in Zhengzhou.

When we were in college, we were very poor, and there were many students from the countryside, so the overall consumption level was not high.

The school pays 23 yuan a month, which is almost all my living expenses. There is nothing special at ordinary times, and I basically don't ask for money from my family.

Eating is a big deal, accounting for most of the living expenses. Every meal is 30 cents at most, and about 20 yuan a month. The remaining money saved every month is used to buy some clothes, daily necessities and extracurricular books. After school, several of our best classmates will meet to go to the movies, which is almost our only way of entertainment.

At that time, we didn't have any economic mind, and we didn't even think about work-study programs. We lived on that little subsidy. The school has scholarships. Anyone who wants to buy something extravagant can only study hard and strive for a scholarship. At that time, what I wanted most was a radio. At that time, all the better students at home had this luxury. But I don't know how long it will take to save enough money just from the cost of living. So I study hard. Next semester in my junior year, I won the highest scholarship, 70 yuan. I felt that I was the richest man in the world. The next day, I spent 50 yuan to buy a radio.

Another dream of my college years was to travel around, but it didn't seem realistic at that time. In my junior year, I gritted my teeth and spent dozens of dollars on a trip to Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge. At that time, I made a wish: I would work in the future and travel all over the famous mountains and rivers of the motherland.

1college students in the 1970s

Narrator: Ms. Xia, 1978- 1982, studying at Fudan University, is now a university professor.

At that time, our living expenses were not given by the state, so we could only bring them from home, so everyone was quite economical. I spend about 30 yuan a month, including eating, buying clothes, buying books, and occasionally buying snacks and trinkets. These things are called ornaments, but they are actually a scarf and a handkerchief. Usually eating at school is particularly cheap, and it costs more than ten yuan a month.

I remember we also had a hometown party at that time, but the form was very simple. Every time we eat in the canteen, AA system, a bowl of noodles or a bowl of wonton is enough for us to be happy for half a day, but only a few cents. The most luxurious time of college should be when we graduate. We went out for a party in the dormitory and had a western meal at the Red House Western Restaurant in Shanghai. Everyone spent a few dollars, and this meal saved us several days.

I prefer reading, so the cost of buying books also accounts for a large part of my living expenses, about every month 15 yuan. I don't often buy clothes, because I was not rich and didn't have any income at that time. I just bought one or two clothes in one semester, and it costs forty or fifty yuan, which is a common situation in our class.

At that time, no student had the habit of spending money lavishly. They only spent what they needed, and there were few other luxuries. At that time, a girl in the class wore a watch, which was particularly envied by others. Of course, I also want it very much. After all, girls are a little vain. So I save money from my living expenses every day. I finally put on my watch in my senior year and spent 120 yuan. (Reporter Li Intern Chen Fengli Tian Lingling)