There is one thing that doesn’t change after college though. In fact, no matter what stage of life you’re in, the sun seems to put everyone in a better mood.

The sunny weather finally got to me last week. I bought a grill and threw a barbecue over the weekend. The sun must have gotten to my friends too, because a bunch of them showed up. We enjoyed lots of food, music, drinks, and fun.

We were having so much fun that a couple of our neighbors came over to see what was going on. They’re both college students and just moved into one of the units in our complex. Talking to them about their summer jobs and internships made me feel like a young lad again and, of course, reminded me of what it was like when summer still meant vacation.

Because this first barbecue turned out to be such a success, a few of my friends mentioned making it a weekly event. The crazy thing is that it sounded like a good idea to me, and it still does now. I think my new goal for this summer is to throw as many barbecues as possible.

What are you doing this summer?

The good news? I finally made the switch from PC to Mac. I’m typing this post on my shiny, new 15-inch MacBook Pro, and it’s awesome. I’ve had it for less than a week, and I’ve already decided that I’m not going back. In addition to looking way better than any PC laptop I’ve ever used, everything I’ve tried on my Mac has just worked. My mom (the most technologically challenged person in the world) could probably even use it.

Anyway, here are some of my favorite personal finance articles from the past couple of weeks that I’ve read while trying not to cough on my new MacBook Pro.

• The Government’s Student Bailout: Federal Loan Changes at Poorer Than You
• Financial Guru Review: Suze Orman at Green Panda Treehouse
• Moving into a New House at Spilling Buckets
• Does religion make you better with money? at Living Almost Large
• How To Be A Millionaire? Start Thinking Like One! at The Digerati Life
• Avoiding Spending Is Not The Same As Saving Money at The Simple Dollar
• Common Car-Dealer Tricks at Get Rich Slowly

Also, be sure to check out some of the carnivals from the past couple of weeks. My article on the average student debt by state in the United States was featured as an Editor’s Pick in the Carnival of Personal Finance.

• Carnival of Personal Finance hosted by Living Almost Large
• Festival of Frugality hosted by Stupid Cents

One summer I managed to land a full-time job as well as a part-time unpaid internship. As if juggling two schedules isn’t tricky enough on its own, I worked the graveyard shift for the full-time job. Fortunately, I only had to go in a couple times each week for the part-time gig, and since they weren’t paying me, they were flexible with the scheduling. Getting off at 7 AM from my full-time job turned out to be pretty convenient for making it to morning meetings for the internship.

Even though I’m done with college and grad school now, the broke student mentality has stuck around. I have an awesome full-time job with normal work hours, but I still do work on the side. I’m not struggling to make ends meet, and I don’t really need extra spending money. So why am I working two jobs? Because I enjoy it.

My second job is part-time independent contract work for a company that I worked for one summer during college. Since it’s not related to my full-time job, my second job gives me an opportunity to develop and improve my skills and knowledge in areas that I don’t use in my other job.

One could also argue that this blog is my third job. It’s yet another job, completely unrelated to the other two jobs I have, so I get to explore even more realms of knowledge. I think that’s why I like it so much.

The only downside I can think of to all of this is that there are only 24 hours in a day, so you have to give up some of the time you could have used to do other important things, such as spend time with your friends and family. Like most things in life, the challenge is finding balance.

It’s interesting to note that the Northeast has higher student loan debt averages because more students attend private colleges. In fact, I got into a private college in the Northeast for grad school, but I declined in favor of a way more affordable public college in my state of residence. Otherwise, this blog would be something like Extremely and Utterly Broke Grad Student.

I find it a little surprising that Iowa has the highest student debt average at $26,208. I would have expected a state with a higher cost of living, like New York, to top the list. I’m guessing it has something to do with the state of Iowa not having enough funds to provide sufficient financial aid to students at community colleges and public universities.

On the other hand, it comes as no surprise that Utah has the lowest student debt average at $13,266. In case you didn’t know, Utah is filled Mormons, and guess what? Mormons don’t drink. Just think of all the money they save by not buying booze every weekend (which, in college, also includes Thursdays and occasionally, all of the other weekdays too). Just kidding.

The infographic also lists the most expensive colleges based on total cost (tuition + room and board) for the 2008-2009 school year. Here are the 25 most expensive colleges in 2008-2009:

1. Sarah Lawrence College | $53,166
2. George Washington University | $50,312
3. New York University | $50,182
4. Georgetown University | $49,689
5. Connecticut College | $49,385
6. Bates College | $49,350
7. Johns Hopkins University | $49,278
8. Skidmore College | $49,266
9. Scripps College | $49,236
10. Middlebury College | $49,210
11. Carnegie Mellon University | $49,200
12. Boston College | $49,020
13. Wesleyan University | $49,000
14. Colgate University | $48,900
15. Claremont McKenna College | $48,755
16. Vassar College | $48,675
17. Haverford College | $48,625
18. University of Chicago | $48,588
19. Union College (NY) | $48,552
20. Colby College | $48,520
21. Mount Holyoke College | $48,500
22. Tufts University | $48,470
23. Bard College at Simon’s Rock | $48,460
24. Franklin & Marshall College | $48,450
25. Bard College | $48,438

None of the colleges I’ve attended made the list. However, I did get accepted into one of the colleges on the list, but maybe that’s why I didn’t end up going there.

For college students, the summer is a great opportunity to get a head start on financing the upcoming school year — or it can mean frittering away what you’ve worked hard to save the previous year. Hopefully you’re determined to fall into the former category and see the next few months as a building block rather than a stumbling block for your financial future.

If so, here are seven ways you can save money over the summer:

1. Work.

Obviously the best way to keep your cash flow flowing throughout the summer is to get a job and have money coming in.

Whether it’s mowing lawns or working at a friend’s mother’s law office, make sure you have something to do so you’re not only spending money, you’re also replacing it — and possibly even saving up for the fall.

2. Stay away from late night fast food.

Aside from being the healthy thing to do, staying away from fast food is also money-smart. Yes, it’s easy to pull into a drive-thru when you get hungry on a late summer evening, but those overpriced milkshakes and fries add up fast.

Guard against late night fast food binges by making sure you have plenty of snacks in the house — even if you’re still not going to grab a piece of fruit, a bag of frozen french fries will be cheaper than stopping at a fast food place.

3. Volunteer.

If you volunteer, you won’t have money coming in, but at least it’ll keep you busy. One of the big reasons students spend more money than they should throughout the summer is because they have nothing else to do.

Think about it, what do you do when you’re bored in the summer? Go to the mall? Go out to eat? Go grab a five-dollar iced coffee? Stop boredom in its tracks by filling up your time with volunteering at a children’s summer camp, nursing home, or whatever interests you — as an added bonus, you’ll be helping others in the process.

4. Take classes at a local college.

Yes, you’ll be spending money to take the class, but it might be cheaper than taking courses at your university and even help you graduate sooner, saving you money overall.

And again, you’ll be keeping yourself busy between going to class and studying, so that will leave you far less time to be bored and wondering where you can spend money.

5. Travel frugally.

For many students, summer is a time for taking off and seeing and experiencing new people, places, and things — as well it should be so long as you can afford it. Decide first how much money you have to spend on a vacation and then pick your destination.

When choosing where to go, don’t forget all the interesting places close to home that maybe you have never visited, or you’ve only seen as an elementary school student. Before your trip, budget everything (transportation costs, accommodation, meals, admission fees, extras like souvenirs, etc.), and stick to it as closely as possible.

6. Start your own tip jar.

Yes, this is common sense, but a great way to save money is by literally putting it away somewhere and not touching it.

Start your own tip jar by throwing in loose change, or, consider putting in each and every five-dollar bill you receive; you’d be surprised at how quickly they add up.

7. Get school books early.

As summer winds down and you start thinking about school again, consider getting a jump start on the semester buy buying your books ahead of time, preferably online for maximum savings.

Check sites like BigWords.com and AddALL.com for price comparisons, consider renting books at Chegg.com, get free books at FreeloadPress.com, or even start reserving books at your school or local library.