1. Go For a Walk – Ever tried walking leisurely with your special someone under the stars in a serene place with a beautiful view, on the beach side, or in a nice mountain park? If not
then give it a try for once and you’ll surely not regret it. There’s something about nature that imparts the best ambiance of romanticism infused with mysticism that brings people closer.

2. Cook For Your Date – There’s no better way to make the other person feel special than to show that you have put in the time and efforts to bring a smile on their face. Cooking for
them is a great way to let them know that you care. Sure, many of you don’t know how to cook. So what? What’s the Internet for? Search through the videos for his/her favorite recipe and get started. If you’re staying in a hostel, you may request the kitchen staff to help you out a little and give you the permission to cook, under their vigilance, of course!

Want to earn some bonus points? Put on a tidy sheet of cloth on the dinner table, dim the lights, put on some romantic music and light on a few candles to create the ambiance. Old school, yes! But it still work wonders as there’s a good chance that your special someone has not been swept off their feet this way before.

3. Have a Fun Movie Night – Rent out your favorite DVDs and watch them together all night long. Have some cupcakes and popcorns stacked with you and you’re all set! Spending quality time together can be so much more fun than simply visiting an extravagant restaurant or going to the theatres that offer lesser privacy and comfort.

4. Reminisce – Looking back in time to the day you first met, or the beautiful moments that you shared together can make your hearts melt in seconds and bring back the sweet
memories that has led you two to where you are today.

Finally, spending quality time with your special someone is a lot more important than any material gifts or lavish outings. Do not feel compelled to buy an expensive gift on a credit card or by borrowing money from anyone when you’re broke and are not sure if you will be able to pay back in time. The consequences of unpaid credit card debts can be negative credit reports of the credit card holder and credit repair may take a while, ranging from a few months to sometimes even a few years.

If you really want to gift something, you can always start saving now and give them when you’ve saved enough funds. There doesn’t even have to be an occasion. Just make your loved one feel special in your own way and your gesture will surely be appreciated.

Lisa Godreche is a finance expert and specializes in busting credit repair scams.

Feeding the Mind and the Body

One of the best ways to save money is to buy your necessary class textbooks secondhand. Colleges always have at least one bookstore on campus that sells used textbooks, usually for as little as half the original price. Checking the online bookstores can also lead you to textbook bargains. You may also want to check with friends or classmates who have already taken the course. They may be willing to sell you their books at a reasonable price.

Classes, sports, walking – you will be burning a lot of energy when you go to college, so being able to eat right and spend little is paramount. Having the right meal plan for you, whether it is one of the campus meal plans or one of your own making, will help ensure you eat right and keep your budget in check. To save extra money, avoid eating out too often and, when you do, take advantage of discounts and coupons. While it is usually very inexpensive, fast food should be a treat and not a regular part of your diet.

Choosing the Right College for You

When it comes to choosing a college to study at, the almost limitless choices and destinations around the country can seem overwhelming. Keeping your budget and desired school lifestyle in mind may help you focus your search more effectively. State universities and colleges offer special lower tuition rates for state residents, and some even let state residents attend for free. Private schools are more expensive and, generally, their degrees carry more prestige. Career colleges and technical schools are more locally oriented and focus on diploma and certificate programs, aimed at getting students trained and into work quickly.

Urban or rural, large or small, private or public are all factors than can have great bearing on your day-to-day costs which can eat up as much money in the long-run as tuition and room and board. For many students, the best location is a suburban one. Suburban colleges and universities have the advantages of being away from the noise and crime rates of the bigger cities, yet within easy reach by train or car. Long Island, for example, has many good schools, public and private. If you are craving fun in the sun while you study, the well known state universities and career colleges in Miami offer higher learning within easy reach of the beach.

Ways to Earn Extra Money

There are many options for making extra money while attending college, but certainly the best is getting a part-time job. Not only will you build up your wallet but you will also have valuable job references when you graduate, a real trump card as you search for work after school. Whether your job is off-campus for a local business or on-campus as a part of work-study, you will be building connections while you earn some extra spending cash.

Tailored specifically for college students, all job posts on Confidently are entry-level. That means you can search for internships without worrying about experience requirements or if you’ll be competing against more experienced applicants. In addition, all the job posts need to pass an approval process to make sure they aren’t a scam. This could save you a lot of headaches and valuable time when it comes to finding your internship. An important consideration for a stressed college student!

Know you need an internship, but not sure where to begin? Check out Confidently’s Job Search Timeline. It walks you step-by-step through each phase of the entry-level job search. Everything from developing your personal brand to what to do after your interview is covered in detail. Registered members can also get discounts on services, such as a mock interview session, from their Confidently Certified job search experts.

Confidently can connect you directly with employers. They’ve included an Employee Search feature that recruiters use to find and contact members based on information in their profile. So even if you’re not looking for a job right now, you might be contacted by a potential employer that is interested in you. This could be a great way to get ahead of the game in the hunt for internships.

Register for Confidently here. It costs $7.99 to join, with no recurring fees ever after that. But, if you’re one of the first 25 to register, you can use the code “PoorCollegeStudent” to get in for free!

One area in which many people will be tempted to cut costs is on medical supplies. This is fine, providing the patient does not choose to stop taking essential medications completely. Savings can be made by shopping around and, for this reason, Canadian pharmacies are becoming increasingly popular.

There are several reasons why a Canada pharmacy may offer a better price than a US one. One of these reasons is that the cost of medications is strictly regulated by the government in Canada. When buying prescription medication in the US it is often much more expensive than it would be in other countries; this is because there are no price controls in place. This is the reason why more and more US citizens are opting to purchase from a Canada pharmacy. The price of medication in Canada is negotiated with the manufacturers, which helps to keep it down. Discounts at Canadian online pharmacies can be as much as 80%, depending upon the product.

The marketing of medications in Canada is also subject to strict regulations. The products are not permitted to be marketed directly to customers, so this also helps to keep the price down. In the US, vast amounts of money are spent by drug companies on marketing, which can inflate the price of the product to the point where people will want to look for cheaper alternatives.

Shopping at a Canada pharmacy will also reveal that there are more generic options available to the patient. Patents do not last as long in Canada so generic alternatives can reach the market much earlier than they do in other countries. This ensures that a cheaper alternative is usually available to the branded product.

A generic product is cheaper because all the expensive work has already been carried out. The development and testing of a product can take a long time and cost a lot of money, but by the time a generic alternative can be produced, the companies involved no longer need to pay out as the original developer has already done this.

College students should always make themselves aware of when a cheaper alternative is available. Generic brands should not be considered to be inferior products – a brand name on the box is not necessarily a sign of top quality. The ingredients will be the same and the savings that can be made can be high. This is a rule that can be applied to almost anything that you buy!

College-Based Award
Much like undergraduate programs, colleges and universities do award partial or full scholarships for graduate programs if the student is especially promising. While not as common as undergraduate scholarships, it’s worth looking into whether your school offers them and what, if anything, you need to do to apply for them.

Career-Specific Scholarships
Depending on your chosen career path there may be scholarships to help you pay for the costs of taking classes to get into the field. Nursing and teaching career choices can often present with scholarships to help pay the costs of classes and certifications that are necessary to enter the field.

Research Fellowship
If research will be of particular import to your field there may be fellowship opportunities to help pay for your schooling. Technology, science, and even some math studies can provide scholarships based around the research that you will do and assist in doing while you study for your degree.

Professional Organizations
If you belong to a professional organization as a result of your current job they may offer scholarship money to help you advance your degree and become an even more valuable member of their organization. A little research into what benefits are afforded to members of your organization can result in savings on your degree.

North American Interfraternal Foundation
And you thought joining that fraternity or sorority was just about being social. This foundation awards scholarships to former members of fraternities and sororities that desire to enter into post-graduate studies and need help covering the costs.

Fulbright Program
A government funded program to help relations between us and other countries, the Fulbright program will allow you to study, research, and even teach in your area of discipline in other countries, allowing you to learn and experience the world at the same time.

Rhodes Scholarship
Specific to Oxford College, this scholarship is one of the most prestigious available to graduate students and allows the recipient to study at Oxford and even includes a stipend for living expenses paid by the Rhodes Trust.

Federal Government
The federal government offers numerous scholarships beyond the Fulbright program that can help eliminate or defer the costs of attending a graduate program to get your Master’s degree.

State Government
Your home state may also offer scholarships to potential graduate students, though typically it’s only available to those planning to attend a school within the state.

Minority Scholarships
Available for both ethnic and gender minorities, there are a plethora of scholarships available to help defer the costs of attending school to achieve your Master’s Degree

Ashley V Gause is a teacher that got her masters of teaching online. To learn more about how you can get your masters of teaching visit: http://mastersinteaching.org.

Paying For College

A college student’s first step should be figuring out how to pay for college. Typically, there are four options available. The first two are the most coveted as they do not require you to pay back anything. Scholarships and grants are given to students of all ages. They are based upon a wide variety of factors including, but not limited to, age, major, college, gender, ethnicity, location, income and religion. Always check with your employer, local clubs and church for possible scholarships.

The third option is in the form of student loans, which cover anything school related. Some loans are public and provided through government assistance. Private student loans are provided through various banks and even colleges themselves. Interest rates vary based upon the amount and whether a parent co-signs. Luckily there is now a cheaper payment plan available through the College Cost Reduction and Access Act that allows students to repay their loans based upon their income. Most student loans are not due until the student graduates, though some offer a payment plan throughout college to help reduce the debt before graduation.

The fourth option involves paying all fees and tuition during college. This saves hundreds of dollars in interest later on, but can be hard if money is not available at the time. Most colleges have a tuition payment plan allowing students to pay only a portion of the payment upfront and the rest at regular intervals throughout the school year.

Saving Money While On Campus

Once college itself is paid for, there are still other expenses, such as entertainment, books, food and gas. The first rule college students should follow is to avoid credit cards if at all possible. They offer too much of a temptation to simply charge something, thereby increasing the student’s debt. Instead, they should look for a free student checking account. They can then pay for purchases with checks or debit cards without going into debt.

Always take full advantage of your student ID. This card can get you significant discounts at theaters, local restaurants and on campus activities. Students can save hundreds of dollars on entertainment alone by using their student ID and taking advantage of on campus activities. Whenever possible, you should buy used. This includes textbooks, clothes, music and anything else you might need. Used items can be found both online and off. Spending more doesn’t make a difference.

Consider having a night in; a cheap takeout and a rented movie are far cheaper than actually going out. The best way to save is to simply keep track of your expenses and stick to a strict budget that is set at the beginning of each semester.

Buy and Sell Used Books
Though a book with a brand new cover may come with a new level of excitement, if saving money is important to you, you should try buying used books. You can even sell off the books that you’ve already used and you’re sure that you won’t use again. You can use our textbook search tool if you want to find cheap college textbooks. Unless you’re studying law or medicine, you won’t likely need the old books. Sell them off to get money back that can be used for some other future purpose.

Unplug Electronic Devices When Not in Use
Though this may sound really petty, it is often the small things that add up. The entire world seems to be looking for ways to save energy. Unplug your devices when you are not charging them. Leaving a charger in the socket still uses some level of electricity which raises your bills. Obviously, switch off the lights when you’re not using a room. Save electricity and money on your utility bills.

Ditch the Plastic Bags
Nowadays there has been a movement to stop the usage of plastic bags. Despite this, there are many grocery stores that are charging small amounts to use the plastic bags. Being a student, you might feel that paying pennies for a plastic bag is a negligible amount but with every purchase, this amount begins to add up. Instead, you can use tote bags as they’re more reliable and cheaper than the plastic bags over the long-run.

The entire college life is about having new experiences and overcoming challenges. Try going ‘meatless’ on Sundays. By cutting out a day’s meat, you can avoid growing obese and also save your dollars. Keep track of your dollars when you’re living on a fixed income. Don’t let debts hurt your credit score as your future employers will always check your credit score before hiring you into their organization. If needed, you can also get help from non-profit debt management firms to erase your debts and lead a debt free college life.

College campuses are not exempt from this report. Theft on and around college campuses is extremely common. The items you are most likely to unexpectedly be without due to someone’s sticky fingers are laptops, cell phones and flat screen TV’s. While career criminals and even some of your peers are out looking for a five finger discount at your expense, it is important that you protect your financial wellbeing with a renter’s insurance policy.

Don’t Be Caught Without It
Renter’s insurance is an absolute must for anyone renting a home, apartment or condo. A renter’s insurance policy insures the contents on your rented home in the event of fire, theft, water damage, weather related damages such as lightning and natural disasters. You never know when these things will happen. That is why it is so important to insure your possessions. What would happen if lightning struck your home or apartment and your electronics were fried? Would you be able to replace those belongings out of pocket? How would that affect your financial situation? Renter’s insurance provides protection and peace of mind from these types of events. Things like water damage to your property caused by your upstairs neighbor’s apartment flooding would be covered under your renter’s insurance policy. There are a myriad of situations that can occur that would normally have an adverse affect on your financial wellbeing, but having your property covered will make you whole when disaster strikes.

Renter’s Insurance Costs
A renter’s insurance policy is incredibly inexpensive when you compare it to all other types of insurance. For as little as $10 a month you can insure your home contents. A renter’s insurance policy will even cover the belongings you keep in your car! You will also be covered in the event of a guest being injured on the property you rent. You may think, “isn’t that my landlord’s responsibility?” The answer is yes and no. The injured party can choose to sue the landlord and the tenant is he is injured on the property since it is both parties responsibility for property maintenance and upkeep. Now that you know how important it is to insure your property, you will need to find the policy that is right for you.

Finding the Right Policy
Finding a policy that is right for you is a simple process. First thing you need to do is inventory the contents of your home. Download a home inventory checklist, print it out and use it to document all of your possessions. It is important for you to take pictures or video for proof of ownership. Documenting brand, product name, serial number, cost of each item and receipt if possible also helps to ensure you receive complete reimbursement for your claim. Once you have inventoried your possessions, total the amount you paid for everything. This will determine how much renter’s insurance coverage you will need to purchase. Shop around for the best rate. Contact a local agent or get renters insurance quotes online. Whatever medium you use, make sure to get multiple quotes in order to find the best deal for the coverage you need. With rates as low as $10 a month, you can’t afford not to be covered!

Matt Johnson is the Editor of an online rental insurance resource that provides tips, advise and free rental insurance quotes to renters throughout the United States.

Craigslist Is A Lifesaver
Our first post on the list explored ways to make and save money in college using Craigslist. Check it out!

Fast Fitness for College Students
Need a fast workout that will have real results? Take a look at this post and learn more about fitness for college students!

Ten Tips to Safeguard Your Personal and Financial Information
This was a guest post from an executive from Wells Fargo – the large nationwide bank. It is packed full of tips for college students to protect their identities.

How Much is Student Loan Debt Costing You
This was a neat little info-graphic all about student loan debt and its real cost to you. Take a moment and check it out!

Textbook Search Tool
We also added a search tool for college students to find the cheapest textbooks available to them. It is really easy to use and you should try it now! The new semester is quickly approaching so order your textbooks now!

Well there you have it! Those are just a few of our favorite posts on the website this past year. If you haven’t already, be sure to read them and check out all of the other great posts our website has to offer! We hope you all have a great 2012! Happy New Year!

1. Inspection

The yearly inspection of your vehicle is usually not that big of a deal; unless something goes wrong. The price for inspections varies significantly depending on where you are located, and the laws behind them are always changing. Even having too much tint on your windows can get your car disqualified. No inspection? Get ready for a big ticket.

2. Insurance

Insurance is a colossal cost for almost any driver. Even if you buy a car straight out and get only liability insurance, it still is a sizeable amount. Accidents are a part of life, and insurance typically doesn’t cover as much as you would think. Remember that you are not just insuring your vehicle, but you are also covering other people’s cars- insured and uninsured. Don’t even get me going on the price of medical coverage if someone is hurt in a car accident. In a big city, full coverage insurance (the minimum that auto financers require) can cost hundreds of dollars a month.

3. Registration

Thankfully, you won’t have to get your license plates replaced frequently, but you will have to change your registration sticker yearly. Registration comes in the mail, and you can pay through the mail or at a store; even online in some states. It is just a small fee, but those can add up.

4. Repair

Car repair is costly. If something breaks down, you can get estimates on repairs that vary in the hundreds if not thousands of dollar range. Even if you know someone or have a friend that does car repair, sometimes it just gets pricy. No matter what the age of the car is, all cars will require repair sometime. Thinking about the warranty? Forget it. The moment it expires, the car will break down.

5. Maintenance

Not only does a car need repaired occasionally, but it needs maintained consistently. Oil changes, new tires, fluids changed and topped off. It is an unending battle. Be prepared to pay every ten thousand miles or so for some major maintenance. You can skip it, but remember- you’ll end up paying a lot more for repairs later if you do.

6. Gas

Last but not least, gas prices. At the rate that gas increases every year, investing in a bike sounds like a wise idea. Your car will never get as much mileage as the manufacturer claims. Prepare to spend a lot of money, especially if you live where there’s stop-and-go traffic.

Do you own a car and are in college? What other things would you have someone consider before they bought a car?

Melanie Slaugh is enthusiastic about the growing prospects and opportunities of various industries and writing articles on various consumer goods and services as a freelance writer. She writes extensively for internet service providers and also topics related to internet service providers in my area for presenting the consumers, the information they need to choose the right Internet package for them. She can be reached at slaugh.slaugh907 @ gmail.com.