When I first came to Radford, I was well past the legal drinking age. One of my occasional pastimes coincided with Radford's main pastime: drinking and loafing about. As I made my way to some genuine college parties, I had to ask myself: What was this swill I was sucking out of these kegs?

My initial distaste with cheap keg beer was the first step towards becoming a true academic. I soon realized that being a student doesn't pay a whole lot. There also seemed to be a disproportionate amount of free time available for drinking and loafing. The choice was simple. I would either have to lower my beverage standards or start doing something productive. I, like so many others, opted for the cheap booze.

Bottom tier beer and malt liquor isn't so bad once you get used to it. Since arriving at Radford, I've imbibed some hop concoctions most people wouldn't touch. Occasionally, I manage to get my hands on a "high brow" beer, such as Guinness or Samuel Adams. Then it's all I can do to choke down the syrupy wheat-flavored goo. I'm too used to the bubbly yellow goodness that I get with the likes of Keystone Light and Milwaukee's Best.

Not only did cheap beer save me some money, it also gave me a confidence boost. The horrific squeals of "how can you drink that stuff?!" eventually stopped bothering me. I actually started to take pride in my immune system.

This economic logic can be applied to tobacco as well. I once smoked brand name cigarettes, but price increases forced me to go generic. Sure, my smoking companions scrunched their nicotine-wrinkled faces and bared their yellowed teeth when they saw my pack of cheap leafs, but the odds of them bumming a smoke off of me were dramatically decreased. I've also seen people get similar treatment for smoking the poison-flavored menthols.

Fortunately, I kicked the tobacco habit a few years ago. The financial freedom is amazing, and I am now free to waste my unspent cash on beer and lottery tickets. As for what the future holds, I can only envision a day when I will be rich enough to supply my entire family with the name brand vice of their choice.