Cheap dates for college students
Most college students don't have any money. Some don't even have a car. I know at least for me every time that I go out on a date I'm racking my brain for something to do that is cheap and fun. So I have made a list of different things that college students can do for cheap dates, and if you're single you could do most of these things with your friends too.
1. Play a sport.
- Most college campuses have places available where people can play sports. These range from basketball and tennis courts to huge open fields. Many people enjoy Frisbee golf or ultimate Frisbee. These are a very low-cost activity that can provide hours of entertainment.
2. Go to the movies.
-Go to a matinée movie at a lower price, and check for low price movie theaters near you. We have a $1 theater here, and back home we have a $2 theater. That is cheaper than Blockbuster! Just be sure not to spend to much on snacks and drinks there, because that's where they make their money!
3. Play a game of Laser-Tag.
-Thinking back to high school, Laser-Tag can be fun for just about anyone, and it doesn't cost that much either.
4. Bowling.
-Bowling is a great date! Also fun with a group of friends. Also try going at night and see if they have blacklight bowling. Most of the bowling alleys near me do, and that is pretty fun also.
5. Play Miniature golf
-Watch for good deals, often times putt putt runs specials or you can get coupons.
6. Spend an evening playing board games
-or not by candlelight, whatever floats your boat! Board games are a great way to be easily entertained for hours. And after the upfront cost of buying, they are free! If you are too poor to buy a game, ask friends. Almost everyone has a game or two stuck in the closet.
7. Go window shopping.
- this can be a good or bad idea, depending on your money habits. My favorite way to do this is put $20 in your wallet and leave all your cards at home. That way you have a spending cap. An interesting variation to this is going to flea markets and places where used stuff is sold. That can be very entertaining.
8. Take a hike.
-Lots of places here to go hiking, ask the locals to see if there is somewhere near you to go hiking. You may also be able to get information from your school as to where there are some good trails.
9. Check the university schedule for school-sponsored activities.
-So basically, check your school home page for free events.
-There is almost always some type of sporting event going on, and if you are enrolled in the college they are often free. Even if you aren't interested in the sport, this can be a good place to hang out.
-Also watch for debates. Occasionally a school will host a debate on an interesting topic.
10. Visit the zoo or museum on a free or lower admission day.
-Good idea if there is one near you. Be on the lookout for discounts!
11. Star gaze. Ponder the mysteries of the universe.
-Really good idea.. free and romantic! also try sunsets.
-Probably one that you only want to do with your significant other.. your friends probably won't think this is too cool
12. Dance lessons.
-This provides entertainment for years to come. Once you've had dance lessons you can randomly just dance anywhere, which can be a fun or romantic activity.
-This is very entertaining. It does cost money, but is very fun.
13. Take a stroll through downtown.
-Window shop, people watch, make random conversation, talk to random people. Don't be scared, it'll be fun!
14. Play around: Visit a quiet playground (without kids). Share secrets or interview each other..
-Random stuff is fun, and it's free!
15. Take a walk.
-The ultimate free date. Just walk around and talk. Provides exercise, conversation, and scenery if you walk through an interesting area.
More ideas for college students...
Watch people. This basically can be a lot of fun. Go to Walmart or a mall, and just observe the people around you. There are some very interesting people everywhere, and I'm sure you will be entertained if you watch them.
If you get bored, do random stuff like sneak stuff into people's carts at Walmart, or glue a quarter to the floor and watch people try to pick it up.
There are infinite options for free entertainment available to you, you are only limited by your creativity. So be creative and go have some cheap fun!
How to have a great amount of fun for cheap
As poor college students, my friends and I have had to discover ways to have fun without spending money. Normally, if we wanted to go out and do something we would go out to eat, go to the movies, do things that cost money. But now that we're in college, we don't have hardly any money and can't afford to do that much. So we have had to develop ways to have fun for free. Or at least cheap.
You're going to end up paying for food unless someone invites you over and cooks for you. A good way to get food for cheap is to get a bunch of people to go to the park and chip in some money, and then grill out on the grills that they have there. You have to be smart about getting everyone to pay though or you can lose money on this deal. That's food and fun for cheap, and you can get hours of entertainment from a park.
Another way to have fun is to have people over to a house, and order pizza and play games. The more pizza you buy, the cheaper it is. And you can get pretty good deals, like the 5-5-5 from Dominoes. The key to having fun for free is to be creative. You don't always have to spend money to have fun.
If you cut food out of your time with your friends, you will save a significant amount of money. You can eat something you cook at home, or eat on campus for free if you have a meal plan. There are many things you can do and make it fun that are completely free, like going to Wal-Mart and goofing off.
Check this page for more ideas on fun stuff to do for free or cheap.
How to get books for class for free
Many of my classes require a subscription to a magazine or journal. For this semester I have to have the Wall Street Journal and Fortune magazine. I have found that I can access these through the school library online for free, or go into the library and flip through them whenever I want. This is an easy way to save some money!
Some of my large lecture hall classes have notebooks required to fill out. Since these are classes that almost everyone has to take, I started asking around and am going to try to get them for free or significantly cheaper. There are 2 upsides to this: 1) save money, 2) already filled out notes make class easier.
I still haven't purchased any books, except for one for my web class that I absolutely had to have to pass the class. I got an international version of that book, so it was much cheaper, and I am sharing it with another guy so it saves money.
By following these tactics, you can easily save 50-100 dollars a semester on books and required reading.
I hope everyone has a great, inexpensive semester!
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I'm not going to buy textbooks
Last semester I bought books for all of my classes and ended up not using some of them, so I got ripped off. I think this is a system set up by professors to make them more money, since they write the books (sometimes). Granted, I did get good deals on some of my books and have already made money on 2 of them. This semester I decided that I am not buying a book until I am for sure that I have to have it.
I am going to go to class through the add drop period before I buy my books, because by the end of that time I should be able to tell whether or not I will need them. If the teacher puts everything online that I need, why should I buy the book? If the quizes and tests come from lectures, not the book, then why do I need the book? I am not paying 4-500 for books again this semester.
Like I said earlier, I think the teachers write their own books and then require them just to make money. Obviously they do, but this is ridiculous. College students can't afford to pay the outragious prices of textbooks nowadays as it is, especially if they aren't going to use the book!
I am going to try to get by with as little as possible this semester, which should save some serious money. I recommend that you try this also, unless you just like throwing money away on books you will never use.
And when you buy your books, DO NOT buy them at the campus bookstore. Look on facebook, many students list books there at decent prices. Also try ebay, half.com, amazon, and other online book sellers. You can save a lot of money by doing this also. This is how I make money off of some of my textbooks.
A great site to buy textbooks is Textbook X, and they have FREE SHIPPING on most book orders over $49!
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Best of 2007
Everyone is writing the best of their blog for 2007, and I will do that eventually, but right now I want to sum up some of the best posts from around the blog-o-sphere from 2007.
J.D. over at Get Rich Slowly has had a lot of great articles this year. His summary is here, but I picked out the ones that are most useful for college students.
How to Feed Yourself for $15/week:
The Power of Yes: A great article about how saying "yes" can change your life
List of good personal finance books: If you like to read these books can help transform your finances!
If Personal Finance is easy, why isn't everyone rich?
The Road to Wealth is Paved with Goals: Kind of long but has some really good points in it.
Jay at Dumb Little Man has had so many great posts this year I can't list them all! All I can say is go to the site and browse through it!
Grad Money Matters has a page devoted to top posts here. They are not all 2007, but they're useful so I'm including them anyway.
Hustlerama has had the best bank and credit card bonuses on its site, and many are still available. So if you are looking for a credit card or bank account or anything related check out Hustlerama.
Money Smart Life has a list of best posts here, but I have picked out some of the best of the best and here they are in no particular order:
How 5 minutes can save you $120. This is about how to reduce your monthly bills like cable, phone, etc.
10 ways to cut your resturaunt bill.
10 ways to ask for a lower price or better deal.
How to ace a job interview.
How to get the promotion you deserve.
How to use leverage to make money on eBay. This is about how to make money on eBay without taking losses. It's a really good idea, I highly recommend this!
These are some of the best articles around the Blog-O-Sphere. I know there are more out there, but I can't include them all. You may want to bookmark this page so you can read some of these later, because there is no way you can retain everything at one time.
Happy New Year!!!
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What I learned being homeless
As I mentioned in a previous post, I had to stay at school for part of Christmas break because of work. I was not able to stay in my dorm because they were doing maintenance on it, so I had to find another place to stay. I used this as an experiment to see how cheap I could live for a week.
*Note: This was only a week. It would not be possible to maintain this lifestyle permanently*
I was able to get 3 offers from people for me to stay at their house for free. This was big, because if it weren't for them I would have been paying big bucks for a hotel. So I got housing for free.
I figured out how to eat for free or cheap every meal. The way I got food for free was to a) get someone else to take me out, b) get someone to invite me over for dinner, c) get free food at work.
I got food for really cheap at sheetz and McDonald's. You can get a double cheeseburger and a 32 oz Sweet Tea for $2 + tax at McDonald's. Sheetz, just eat off the cheap menu posted above the screen. You can also eat for cheap by buying stuff like frozen fish sticks at Walmart or Sams and then cooking them later. I drink all water, so I didn't have to pay for that (except when I get tea at McDonalds).
Since I didn't have anything else to do, I picked up extra shifts at work and made even more money, thus easily clearing as much if not more as I usually make during school without living on dining hall food and dorms.
The main thing I learned through all of this is that the most important thing is who you know. By knowing lots of people and letting them know my problem, I get free housing and several free meals. I also have friends in high places that I use to pull strings sometimes when I need something.
When you have a friend helping you out, make sure you don't take advantage of them. If you take advantage of your friends, you won't have many friends. If they scratch your back, make sure you scratch their's later, in other words, always help out a friend in need and when you need something you will be taken care of.
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Good deals for the Christmas presents
Before buying any presents for Christmas this year, always look online for a coupon first. There are coupons available for almost every major retailer. I recommend reading http://www.mydealsblog.com/
This is a good website with some really good coupons and good deals on it. I have recently started reading it, and he has some really good stuff there.
Once again, buying Christmas presents can break the bank, so you need to be careful when you buy them. Check out this post for more on saving money over the holidays.
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Limit your spending over the holidays
Almost everyone falls into the trap of spending a ton of money around Christmas time. You always have that struggle inside of you to decide who to buy a gift for and who to leave off your list. Many times that list can be very long, which equals very expensive. There is an easy solution to this problem though: just remember its the thought that counts!
Just because you feel obligated to get someone a gift (which is stupid anyway) doesn't mean that you have to buy them an expensive one. They will appreciate much more a gift that actually means something than just something that is expensive. Try to buy gifts that either remind someone of a good time you had together or of a special occasion. You could also give them something you made, and you can be as creative as your brain lets you be with that one. It could be as simple as several desktop backgrounds you made in photoshop all the way to handmade furniture. Another good option is to listen closely to what they say and figure out the things they really want besides the obvious things, because if you give them something they didn't specifically ask for then they will appreciate it much more and know that you care enough to listen and figure out what they want.
Some tips for choosing the right gift:
-Think about your relationship you've had with that person and make a list of all the memorable times you've had together, then try to think of something that will always remind them of that time.
-Think of a way to solve one of their needs by making something yourself instead of buying it. They will know you put a lot of time into it and appreciate it more.
-Don't give junk. No one needs anymore stuff to put in their attic or garage.
-Be creative. Don't go to Wal-Mart and buy the first thing you see. Be creative with your gift and if it doesn't have any meaning make up something that makes it seem special.
-Always remember, its the thought that counts
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Cyber Monday Deals
There are many deals this coming monday which has been named "Cyber Monday." It is basically Black Friday online. You can check out this site for a good list of merchants participating in Cyber Monday.
You can also google "company cyber monday" and replace "company" with whatever store you want to see. This should bring up some good deals also.
Another idea for shopping on this day is to use coupons. These are deals in the stores, but you can still use coupons. So search online for coupons before making a purchase. By doing this you can get some really really great deals.
Here are some great deals from our affiliates! By shopping through them you get great deals and also support this site!
From Office Depot:
Seagate 250GB FreeAgent External 3.5 Hard Drive - $79.99 After $20 Instant Savings!
D7460 Photosmart Printer - $144.99 After $35 Instant Savings!
HP R742 Digital Camera - $149.99 Before $20 Instant Savings!
HP A526 Photo Printer - $79.99 After $20 Instant Savings!
SanDisk 1GB CF Ultra II Card - $24.99 After $10 Instant Savings!
Linksys® WRT54G Wireless-G Router - $89.99 After $10 Instant Savings!
Overstock is having a huge sale this weekend, including Cyber Monday. It is free shipping plus huge discounts on everything. Check it out through the following link.
10% Off O-Day Sale plus Free Shipping at Overstock.com! Offer valid 11.23.07 to 11.28.07 Only
Then my favorite store, Wal-Mart, is also doing the Cyber Monday thing here:
Huge Cyber Monday Savings at Walmart.com
I hope you are able to get the deals you want through these links! There are some really good deals on here, and once again I encourage you to try using coupons on top of these promotions! You may get deals so good you can resell on Ebay and make a profit!
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Black Friday Deals
Here is a list I have made from our affiliates of good deals for Black Friday, so you don't have to waste your time searching for them I put them all in one place! A lot of these are online deals, so you don't have to deal with all the confusion and getting up early. I highly recommend doing all of your Black Friday shopping online. Anyway, here's the list.
Champs Holiday Sale! Take 20% off $100. Use Code LKS17N6B. Valid through 12.1.
Take $15 off $90 at ESPNShop.com. Use Code LKSP7N59. Valid 11.1-11.30.
Footlocker Black Friday Sale! Take 20% off $100. Use Code LKS17VCP. Valid through 12.1.
Take $15 off $90 at Footlocker.com! Use Code LKS17CN5. Valid 11.1-11.30.
Save up to 50% on Last Minute Fares at Hotwire!
Save up to 90% + Free Shipping and No Tax at Magazines.com! Shop Now!
Netflix - Only $4.99 a month. No Late Fees. Try it for Free!
HP Pavilion dv6628us 15.4 Widescreen Notebook Computer With Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core Processor T2310 $499.99 - After $100 Instant Savings & $200 in (2) Mail-in Savings!
Maxx Digital PN3000 Portable GPS Navigation System $99.99 - After $100 Mail-in Savings!
Motorola® Bluetooth® Enabled Headset H300 $9.99 - After $30 Mail-in Rebate!
Save $50 After Mail-in Savings on Select Cameras of $199.99 and Over!
Westinghouse 42 HD LCD TV $799.99 - After $250 Mail-in and Instant Savings
Black Friday Product Deals from Overstock.com! Valid 11.22.07 to 11.25.07
Get all your holiday shopping done at Prep Sportswear! SHOP NOW>>
Save Big this Friday at Walmart.com
I hope you get some really great deals, but remember, be frugal! Don't waste your money on junk you don't need!
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7 ways to make money
Everyone needs a little extra money. It doesn’t matter how much money you have, you still want more. Hey, I’m just being honest, I mean its true isn’t it? Don’t you want some more money?
Anyway, I’ve compiled a list of things to do to get a little extra money on the side. All of these are useful in college, most are useful to anyone. So, here’s the list.
#1. Sell stuff on eBay.
-Everyone has junk somewhere that they could get rid of. In your home, you have your attic and your garage, 2 places that normally have all kinds of stuff you don’t need. If your in college, you should realize every time you move into or out of a dorm room that you have too much stuff and need to sell it.
#2. Check college career center for work.
-Most colleges have a career center place on their website where local businesses can list work they need done. This is a good place to get some work, whether it is a weekend job or a full-time job.
#3. Classified ads.
-Many times people list stuff in classified ads in local newspapers/Craigslist/Facebook that they need done, such as mowing yards or helping move them into a new house, or help paint their house. . Many times you can make some decent money just by responding to these ads.
#4. Sell your books.
-Amazon and half.com are great. You can sell pretty much any book on there, whether it is a textbook or just a random book someone gave you. You can create space and make money by selling books you don’t need. And for future reference, try checking out books from the library instead of buying them.
#5. Free money.
-Get free money by taking advantage of promotions, such as the ING Direct $25 promotion going on right now. Also, you can get a lot of free money by taking advantage of credit card offers, but you have to be careful with those or you can get yourself in trouble.
#6. Get freebies and sell them.
-There are many ways to get freebies, which I will address in a different post. You can either save money by getting useful stuff such as deodorant, toothpaste, and other random stuff, or you can get freebies like laptops and microwaves and sell them. This is pure profit.
#7. Do something you like and make money for it.
-If you have a hobby making stuff, sell stuff you make. Blog about whatever you love. Figure out what you spend most of your time doing or thinking about, and then create a blog about it. Put Google ad words on there and get some passive income rolling in. Sign up for affiliate links. I've heard some great success stories about people doing this.
What to do when emergency comes?
I was driving down the highway yesterday and my truck started making a really loud clicking noise, then it turned into a clanking noise. It got really bad so I pulled over and got it towed. I opened the hood while I was waiting and realized that a spark plug was blown out of the engine. I don't know what happened, as today is Labor Day and the mechanic is closed, but I know this will be expensive.
I have spent so much time saving money and being frugal, and now I just feel like it's all for nothing because something like this happens. I am trying to be optimistic and bring out the good in this though, so I'm going to try to write about the good that can come out of a major catastrophe in your life.
This is when you need to have an emergency fund. Luckily I have one, but it will most likely be depleted after this. I don't have much income as most college students normally don't, and what I get goes to school, so this month is going to be rough. Actually, these next few months will be. My hours at work are cut back now that classes have started, and I don't have near as much free time, so I don't know where the income will come from but I will probably beg my parents for money and cut back my spending drastically.
Problems like this can happen to anyone, and the more you have, ie car, house, pets, kids, etc., the more can go wrong. It is very important to have an emergency fund in times like this so that you don't have to go into debt. You don't want to be stuck paying for years down the road for an emergency that happened just because you were not saving your money properly.
There are many different opinions on how much you should have in your emergency fund, but for me I just have savings. It is my emergency/retirement/downpayment for a future house account. It gets really good interest and is FDIC insured so there is no risk. I don't have enough money to designate it to different areas such as retirement, and I know many people probably disagree with me on this, but I'm just happy to have some savings. Most of my friends have less than $1000 in the bank, and if something like this happened to them they would have to sell the vehicle and everything they own. I'm not saying I won't sell it, because I don't know what will happen, but my point is you need an emergency fund now. I recommend enough to live for one month off of. Then once you get that make it 2 months, then 6 months. I'd say once you have that much you can start retirement and just make sure you maintain the emergency fund.
So basically, create an emergency fund and pray you don't have to use it. You know the old saying, "prepare for the worst and pray for the best."
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5 best places to buy textbooks
Every time I buy my books for the upcoming semester, I feel like I'm getting ripped off by the bookstore. So I have decided that I am going to try to not buy any books there this semester, but find better deals other places. Here is a list of the 5 best places to buy used textbooks besides the bookstore.
#1. Ebay
What can't you get there?
#2. Half.com
Ebay's textbook website. You don't bid, you just buy it on there. It is competition to Amazon.
#3. Amazon.com
#4. Friends.
Often the best deal, because there is no middle man so you both get the best deal.
#5. Facebook marketplace.
I have recently discovered this. Go to your school's network page and click on it, there are great deals on everything from housing to textbooks on there.
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Should you ditch the landline?
I've been reading a lot on different blogs about whether or not it is a good idea to ditch your land line phone and just use a cell phone. I don't have a land line personally, I just use my cell phone. I move around too much to use a land line. I would have to change my number wayyyy too often, but with my cell I always have it with me, so my friends can reach me no matter where I am on the same number, whether at home or work or vacation or wherever. Another reason I don't have use for a land line is I'm not at home very much during the day. It would only be useful for an answering machine but my cell has an answering machine in voice mail, so that eliminates that too.
To me a land line just isn't practical. Its a waste of money every month when my cell has free nights and weekends, and I'm at work or in class during the day so I don't talk very much. And I text way more than I talk, so I don't really need a whole lot of money. If you're worried about the battery wearing out, get a decent phone, and when you think the battery is getting old buy a new battery. That's a lot cheaper than a new phone.
I charge my phone about once every 3 nights, and it's over a year old and still works fine. The battery seems to last forever. One secret to keeping your battery healthy is to not charge it with it on. I never charge mine with it on, never have and never will. My friends and I have experimented with this, and have discovered that it makes a big difference in the life of the battery. Charging the phone with it on is one of the fastest ways to kill a battery.
When you sign up for a cell phone, just make sure you read the fine print and know what you're getting. Make sure you get enough minutes and texts, because they will stack up the fees if you're not careful. Do you still have a land line? If so, you may want to consider ditching it to save a little money every month.
8 ways to lower your cost of living
#1. Get rid of your cable/satellite.
-Instead of wasting a ton of money every month this, just buy seasons of the shows you watch when they come out on DVD. If you watch a lot of movies, get a Netflix subscription or blockbuster. This will save you a lot of money in the long run
#2. Get a small car that cost under $8,000 and gets good gas mileage.
-Calculate how much you spend in gas every year. I don’t drive very much, and I spend about $1400 every year on gas. Getting a smaller car can reduce this cost, and you can also make money if you sell your expensive SUV or whatever you have.
#3. Get a gas rewards card.
-I recommend either the
#4. Buy everything either used or generic.
-Almost everything you buy can be bought on eBay. Most of the time you can save a ton of money on there. For food and other household items, buy the generic brands. It’s the same product, but you get more for your money.
#5. Pay off your credit cards.
-Almost everyone has credit card debt these days, but most people don’t realize that the card companies are sucking money out of their wallets through interest. Credit cards are not a bad thing if you pay them off every month when you get your statement. If you can’t do this, don’t get a credit card.
#6. Don’t drink or smoke or dip or chew or anything else addicting.
-This includes coffee, alcohol, soft drinks, any tobacco products, or anything else you may be addicted to. Drink only water. Its healthier and cheaper. Don’t drink bottled water, drink tap water. If it taste bad get a filter, it’s still cheaper. You can save a ton of money by doing this.
#7. Make your house more energy efficient.
-Do you have high electric bills? If you do a search online, you can find many things to make your home more energy efficient, from power saving lights to solar panels. Think of this as an investment that will add up in the long run.
#8. Stop eating fast food, and eat out for cheap.
-fast food is terrible for you, and its cost adds up quick. Instead of dropping $7 on a fast food meal every day at work, pack a sandwich or something healthy. Try to eat fruit also. When you go to restaurants, eat cheap and healthy stuff like salad and water.
Also check out How to have fun while living frugally.
