College Econ 101: The Art of Cheap

Even when you've only been a college graduate for 3 months, looking back on those four years of your life evokes a powerful sense of nostalgia. Some of my friends spent that time being voluntarily swamped with work from challenging majors, and others took advantage of the fact that until you put on that mortarboard, you're technically not an alcoholic. The one thing most of us have in common is that college was a time when we turned cheapness into an art form and learned to get by on as little money as possible.

For me that was especially true; although my scholarship spared my parents and me from being haunted by the specter of student loans until the year 2030, it made me ineligible for campus work study jobs and left me bereft of spending money.

Here are some of the things I learned from four years of being an academic peasant:

Food

Well-fed freshmen don't need any advice here, but if you're a starving upperclassman, do your best to get cozy with as many freshmen as possible--and mooch all you can off their decadent meal plans. If that's not an option, you can always rely on the three most economical food groups: cereal, pasta, and pizza. And remember, buying organic food is a great way to throw away money. Preservatives aren't going to kill you, I promise.

Media & Entertainment

Although piracy is second nature to most of the MP3 generation, one of the first things your college will tell you is not to illegally download music, movies, or TV with the school's internet connection. They aren't kidding--I got caught by a private anti-P2P company during my freshman year--and when a certain movie studio asked where to mail their cease-and-desist letter, my school's information services department sold me right down the river.

If this sounds a little scary to you, try installing a less-dangerous music sharing program like Mojo, which allows you to connect to and download from other users all over campus. As far as I know, colleges have yet to crack down on Mojo usage. If movies are your thing, find out if your film school offers advance screenings of feature films. Not only are they free (and legal), but you don't have to wait four months for the movie to come out on Netflix.

You can also get your music fix from the reformed and legitimized Napster or Pandora.

Laptops

One of the best parts of college is the ability to kill time on Facebook when you're bored in class (this comes with the obvious caveat that you should always keep your grades in mind when doing so). That said, desktop computers, although much cheaper, are a bad idea for the ultra-mobile college lifestyle. The best laptop advice I have for you is simple, but it will get me some serious flak from WiscoVixen and stella.louise: beware the forbidden fruit! Unless your major is film, music, or graphic design, there's no reason to spend money on a Mac when you can get a much more powerful PC for much less. You can save even more with one of our many PC deals.

Even as an ardent PC user, I'll admit that Vista is an atrocious operating system, but that dark era ends when Windows 7 arrives this October.

Books

Unless it's a book you'll need for future reference (and let's face it, "Revolutionary Dreams: Utopian Vision and Experimental Life in the Russian Revolution" is probably a book which will start gathering dust as soon as you turn in your term paper...), buy used. Or skip the hassle of buying and then reselling by "renting" your textbooks. Chegg.com lets you bypass the traditionally overpriced campus bookstore and you can save even more with our Chegg coupons.

Dorm Furniture & Decor

Not digging the rock-hard futons at Ikea? Try four comfortable dish chairs instead of a sofa. You can save 15% with one of our Target coupons. If you're worried about missing out on the, ahem, intimacy provided by a futon or loveseat, trust me when I say there is no better excuse to get close to someone than having only a single dish chair available for seating.

If you're trying to fill up wall space but don't want to be limited to the discount Bob Marley and Scarface posters they're selling at the bookstore, you can find 3x5 flags on eBay for about $5 each. Nothing screams "COLLEGE" (and worries your parents) quite like a Soviet Victory Banner and a Jolly Roger hanging over your bed.

Clothes

Sweatshirts, t-shirts and jeans are the basic college student uniform. If you're on a budget, don't bother buying the logo-emblazoned gear at the campus bookstore where the mark-up is 200%. Instead, use one of our IvySport coupons to look like an Ivy Leaguer on a community college budget. Or eschew the whole school spirit conformity and create your own design (like the sweatshirt pictured above) with our Zazzle coupons.

For more college budget tips, check out Young Money's How to Make $50 Last 10 Days as well as all of our Back to School deals.

I bet you're feeling smarter already!

Do you have any good college budget tips? Share them in the comments.