User Post: The Art of Saying 'No'

I am preparing myself for my soon to be 'poor student' status. I am returning to school full time after 9 years! And, this time, I'm going in with an actual goal and a single mom of an almost 7 year old. I am starting to think the hardest issue I will face is saying 'no' to my friends. We're now in our late 20's and we all have had stable lives for a while now, meaning, we have money to spend. Now that I'm going back to school, the money I have will have to be spent on surviving for the semester. Since I need to get used to being a full time student and full time mom, I won't be working for quite a while unless I find a great work study or part time job that will work with my schedule.

Though I'm usually a very anxious person, I don't feel worried about what I'm stepping into. I have a great support system that I know will be there if needed. I'm mostly afraid of telling people I can't do the same things I used to. Dinner, drinks, movies, traveling. I've never thought of myself as someone who is well off but, compared to the life I'm entering, I've lived a pretty lavish life. I have never been a person to say no to anyone...I am a complete push over. And, really, I should have started practicing the art of rejection a very long time ago. I'm hoping this weeds out those friends that only like you when you have time and money. I have experienced that in the past when I was young, single and pregnant. You think all the people I partied with stuck around once I wasn't able to go out? No way. So maybe this is a good thing. We will see which friends can handle the fact that I am going to be financially limited for the next 2 or 3 years. Let's see how they handle me finally telling them no...