Just For Poor College Students

Check Out Our New Website!

2008-09-22T21:22:00.004-04:00

We now have a new up and running website! 4 Poor College Students is the place you have to check out!

Don't waste your money instead get it free!

2008-08-14T18:26:00.001-04:00

Here is the perfect reason to do the freebie sites!
Back to School: What you don't need : Alexander Yoon : Yahoo! Tech

Technorati Tags: money, free

Textbooks Not Always Cheaper Online!

2008-08-14T17:40:00.001-04:00

According to a recent study by the Florida Office of Program Policy & Analysis and Government Accountability textbooks are not always cheaper when you buy online.

They found that students purchasing new college textbooks online saved an average of only $2.15 per item. It also states that students are facing a great risk buying their books online, because of unknown, unidentifiable sellers. The article can be found at: Marketwatch

The article is pretty revealing and worth reading.

Freebies Galore!

2008-08-10T00:34:00.001-04:00

So I am going to devote an entire post explaining how these freebie sites work, you know the ones that you see around saying FREE Ipod, Free XBox 360, Free PS3, and etc. Well they are a great way to get some hot items for free but many sites offer cash as well. It can become a nice lucrative side business.
Well there are a lot of sites to choose from, but I have stuck to a select few that are proven. Here are the ones I am working on at the present.

Free XBox 360 Elite!

Free Playstation 3

Free I Stuff

Free Ipod Touch

Free Digital Cameras

Free Video Ipod

Forcebucks (Cash, Xbox, PS3, Wii, Iphone)

Cash Prize Oasis (Just cool hard cash! Can Cash out with just 1 Referral!)

How do I get something for free?

Almost all freebie sites work the same way :

Create an account at the Freebie Site
Try an advertiser's offer.
Refer a certain number of people to sign up using your "referral link".
Get your freebie in the mail! Shipping and Handling included!

Where does the Freebie Site get the money to pay for the freebies? Freebie Companies get PAID by advertisers to direct new customers to their offers. Every person who signs for a freebie must complete an "Offer" - and the companies who provide the offers will pay the Freebie Site for referring new customers. The average amount that an Advertising Offer will pay for a signup is $40-$50. Remember, advertising is expensive, and if the Offer Company can get a new customer out of the deal, it is worth it!

How do the Freebie Sites make a PROFIT?

The Offer Companies pay about $40-$50 to the Freebie Site per signup. You'll notice that we mentioned referrals. To get your freebie, you will need to get some people to sign up using your "referral link". This is a special web link which will allow people to sign up for the same freebie as you - and you will receive a credit for each person who signs up using your link and does an offer! Once you have the required number of people signed up, you will get your freebie. If everyone who signed up for the Freebie Site completed all the requirements (tried an offer and referred enough people), then the Freebie Site would break even and wouldn't make a profit. So how are they making money?

The Freebie Site makes money when they don't have to give a freebie to someone who signs up. This can happen for a few different reasons :

Someone signs up and does an offer, then forgets about the site.
Someone signs up and cannot get enough referrals.
Someone signs up and breaks the rules.

So basically say 1 person signs up and gets 3 more people to sign up under them. More than likely only one person will finish the site and get their free reward. Most people tend to just give up because they think it's too hard. I won't lie to you it takes some work but hey if it didn't it would be a scam! We are talking about getting free cash or some of the hottest items free!

If you do think that it's too hard well then keep moving, because honestly it just takes a little time and effort and you will be enjoying the fruits of your labor! I use Myspace, Facebook, and other social network sites to promote my links and get referrals. Colleges are the goldmines though and with a classic paper campaign you can expect to finish a site in a week easy! Also if you contact me I can help you out with anything you need answered. So all you have to do to get started is choose which site you want to do and click on my link! You can do all of them if you want but you can only sign up for each site once. So here are the sites again!

Free XBox 360 Elite!

Easy Recipe Friday

2008-08-09T01:33:00.000-04:00

Bagel Pizza

4 bagels, split
1 jar pizza sauce
Cooked sausage
Pepperoni
Mushrooms
Olives
Mozzarella cheese

Top each bagel half with 2 tablespoons of pizza sauce, then top each with your favorite pizza toppings and 1 ounce of shredded mozzarella cheese. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or if you're in a hurry microwave each half for 1 minute until hot.

Another Freebie Offer!

2008-08-03T17:07:00.000-04:00

This is another site that you can earn many different free items through social networking. Here is how it works.

Click Here for Forcebucks

How Does It Work?

Welcome to the wide world of ForceBucks, where all our members get great products and cash for free! Yes, that’s right. ForceBucks gives ALL our members FREE products and cash. You don’t have to spend a nickel. EVER! We even ship the prize to you for free. Sound good?

A site like ours is mainly a result of the exploding trend in online advertising and marking (some call it incentive marketing). Traditionally, large vendors would hire sales people to get their products out to the public and get people to sign up for free trials. Guess what–we don’t do sales people. The vendors and advertisers pay us to get the customers and we share the money with people like you and your friends. This money is how we give the great stuff that we do away! It’s easy, its even fun, what are you waiting for? Read on!

So how does this work? What’s the catch?

No catch. It’s simple really.

* First, you choice the gift you want to receive for free.

* Second, you try one or more of our pre-selected, easy online offers. Most of them are free, take only minutes to complete, and credit instantly.
* Third, just refer some friends! You get your friends to select a gift and offer through your referral link. The number of friends you need to sign up varies from gift to gift. Some items take 1 referral, some take up to 14. It really depends on the cost of the item you are going to receive from ForceBucks. Despite what some people may think, this step is actually the easiest, and in most cases only takes about one hour total time! Not bad for a brand new Wii, huh?

Let’s do a recap:

1. Pick your Prize

2. Complete the Offer

3. Refer your Friends

4. Get your Prize

Once you have completed these steps, we will ship your order out promptly, just like you ordered your free product on any other online store. The only difference is, here, you won’t be paying a dime. Shipping is also 100 percent free! So, what are you waiting for? Don’t miss out, and sign up on ForceBucks today!
Click Here for Forcebucks

Get a Free XBOX 360 Elite or $480

2008-08-02T12:32:00.000-04:00

Well my goal is to help college students survive college. I am not talking about the academics side of things, but rather the social and economics side of college life. I am currently in college myself and have learned many different ways to attain the things I wanted even though I was a poor college student.

Well for my first money making tip that actually produces and works. Freebie Sites! Everyone sees them and everybody thinks automatically SCAM! Well there are scams out there but I have done extensive research and have learned which ones are legit. In the beginning I am just going to provide one to get you started. First you have to understand how these work and then you have to truly appreciate the opportunity that lies before you. The fact you are in college provides a huge opportunity for you to network. Over 80% of college students already belong to some social networking sites. That translates to an incredible opportunity to make money with very little effort! Well here we go, here is the first opportunity!

Feel free to ask any questions you might have and I can explain how these work or give you helpful tips and ideas on how to promote your own program!

The following site allows you to pick your prize from several 360 Elite Bundles or $480! I also have another site that lets you choose several cash options or prizes. The links are above! Just please make sure you follow all guidelines.

Here are the quick and easy steps

Step 1: Click on the referral link below.

FREE XBOX 360 ELITE!

Step 2: Choose which Xbox package you want FREE
(I have listed all the package types below for your convenience)

Step 3: Sign up and choose an account type
(Referral method is the easiest and best option)

Step 4: Complete just one offer.
(You must complete 1 offer. Click on ‘Most Popular’ and you will see the best offers. There are plenty of cool offers to choose from such as Blockbuster online, Netflix, Gamefly and more which are services you would regularly sign up for anyways and their all secure networks, why not use them to get a free Xbox 360 Elite or cash! Alot of them offer risk-free trials, and come from legitimate businesses, so you don't have to worry about being scammed. I personally signed up for Blockbuster. I never have to go to the Blockbuster store again! This is NOT like other sites where you need to complete one offer on 2 or 3 different pages, or complete many offers to qualify. You only need ONE, and a lot of these offers are FREE trials with nothing else to buy... and No commitments!!!

Step 5: Refer friends, family or strangers to do the same thing
The number of people you have to refer depends on which free package you want. I am getting the Xbox Elite package, so I only had to refer 12 people. Posting an ad like this one will net you fast results. You can post it on your MySpace, facebook or blog or personally tell your friends to sign up by word of mouth. The choice is yours. The Xbox's are paid for by companies who compensate advertisers for providing them with new customers (you & me).

Step 6: Receive your Xbox 360 Elite.
This is the best part!! You don't even pay for shipping!! Honestly there is no reason not to try it. I wouldn't be wasting my time if this didn't work. I don't work for some company trying to sell you something. I'm just a guy trying to get a free Xbox and show other people how to do the same.

THIS IS NOT A SCAM! It is 100% real. But you don't have to take my word for it, feel free to do your own research! The company behind the deal is Transcendent Innovations or TraInn for short, and you can read testimonials at the link below:

TRAINN PROOF!

Need more proof? Looking for more reviews? Search “Transcendent Innovations Proof” or “TraInn Proof” on Google!

This method is probably one of the easiest ways to make money online out there and it is perfect for the students!

Just click below and you're on your way!

FREE XBOX 360 Elite

Just make sure you don't break any of the company guidelines or rules. That means NO SPAMMING!

Quick and Easy Recipe Friday

2008-08-01T16:38:00.000-04:00

Mexican Casserole

1 lb. ground beef, turkey, or chicken
Taco Seasoning or Your favorite Salsa
Tortilla Chips
2 cans refried beans
2 cups shredded cheese
Sour Cream
Spanish Rice

This dish will make enough to feed yourself for a few days or if you have roommates feed them too!
Preheat oven at 350°
1. Brown the meat in a pan add seasoning or salsa just as it finishes browning, let simmer covered for 5-10 minutes.
2. Cover bottom of casserole dish with chips.
3. Cover chips with a layer of the meat.
4. Cover meat with refried beans.
5. Put rice over beans
6. Cover rice with cheese.
7. Repeat the above steps for another layer and you can continue until dish is full.
8. Put in oven for 15-20 minutes.
9. Garnish with Sour Cream.

This is really easy and very good. I still make this for dinner every now and then for the family.

Learn a Small Trade = $$$

2008-07-24T16:43:00.000-04:00

I am going to try and show you at least one idea each week that can help make you some decent side income. The first one is going to mostly apply to those that live in coastal areas. Rope splicing is very easy to learn and with a small investment in the tools needed you can make a nice profit, were talking $30-$50 or more just for one rope! I can tell you that this may sound intimidating but it's really easy as I learned to do it in the Coast Guard.

Double Braided Rope is where you want to concentrate your efforts, that's what people pay the most for. The following steps are for making an eye splice used mostly for docking lines. You can post advertisements for your services at local marina supply stores, yacht clubs, and fish and tackle shops. People pay big money to get their ropes spliced because buying it pre-made is very expensive.

The following easy to follow steps can also be found at Ropes Inc.

Splicing tools can be ordered online or at your local marine supply. I suggest the Samson splicing kit it will cost about $25. Note: You don't need to buy a bunch of different fids, just use a smaller size but use the measurements for the size of the line.

Step 1

From the end of the rope, measure back one full fid length, and make Mark "A".
Using Mark "A" as a reference, form the desired size eye and make Mark "B" on the rope directly opposite to Mark "A", as shown below.
From Mark "B", measure one long fid section (down the body of the rope) and make Mark "D".
From Mark "D" measure down the rope approximately 5 full fid lengths and tie a slip knot or figure 8 knot in the rope.
From Mark "A" count eight consecutive left or right strands toward the end of the rope and make a heavy mark completely around the rope. This is Mark "C".

From Mark"C" count five consecutive left or right strands toward the end of the rope and mark the 5th left and right strand pair. From this point, count another four consecutive strands and mark the fourth strand pair. Continue counting and marking in this 5:4 sequence to the end of the rope.
Step 2

Bend the rope sharply at Mark "B" and carefully spread the cover strands to expose the core. Pry the core braid out from the cover. Use care to avoid pulling any of the cover strands. Pull the end of the core braid completely out of the cover.

Tightly tape the end of both the cover and core braids. Holding the exposed core, slide the cover braid back to the knot. Then hold the knot and slide the slack cover back down the core in the direction of the end of the rope until all of the slack has been removed. Mark the core at the point where is exits from the cover. This is Mark "1". (Below)

Once again, slide the cover toward the knot. Measure one short fid length from Mark "1", toward the knot and make two marks that go completely around the core. This is Mark "2".

From Mark "2", measure one full fid length plus a short fid length toward the knot and make three marks completely around the core. This is Mark"3". (Below)

Step 3

Using masking tape place two wraps of tape around the bitter end of the cover. Taper this by cutting the end at a 45 degree angle. Attach the Uni-Fid hook through the cover and tape the tapered point to the fid as shown below. Insert the fid into the hollow core at Mark "2" and out at Mark "3". When exiting of entering the braid with the fid, always go between strands.

Pull the Uni-Fid, with cover tail, through the core until Mark "A" on the cover is exposed at Mark "3" on the core. (Below) Remove the fid.

Step 4

Remove the tape from the end of the cover. Cut and remove the marked strand pairs, starting at the end of the cover and working back to Mark "C".

Pull cover back out of core at Mark "2" until Mark "C" on the cover is aligned with Mark "2" on the core. To prevent the cover tail from disappearing inside the core, tie a loose overhand knot in the end of the cover. Vise grips or a long piece of tape may also be attached to the cover tail to keep it in place.

Step 5

Attach the fid to core tail using the procedure described above. Insert the Uni-Fid into the cover at Mark "C" and out at Mark "D". Pull core tail through at Mark "D" until all the slack has been removed. Remove the Uni-Fid from core tail.
Notes

1. The rope may be extremely tight where the fid is traveling between Marks "C" and "D". To create more space in this area, grasp the core as it exits the cover at point "B" and pull extra core out of the rope. This will cause the cover to "pucker" and give you some extra space.

2. If the distance between "C" and "D" is longer than the length of the Uni-Fid, hold the fid in place by squeezing it through the cover braid. Slide the cover slack back from the fid to Mark "C" to draw the core tail into the cover. Then continue working the fid through the cover to Mark "D". Repeat as necessary.

3. Avoid snagging the core with the tip of the Uni-Fid when it is passing through the cover in the vicinity of Mark "B". To check if the core has been snagged, pull on the exposed core where it exits from the cover at Mark "B". If the core moves freely, it's OK to proceed. If the core appears to be stuck, pull the Uni-Fid back until the core is no longer snagged and continue.

Step 6

The crossover is the point where Mark "C" on the cover and Mark "2" on the core meet. To tighten, hold the rope at the crossover point and alternately pull on the free ends of the cover and core. Continue this process until the crossover is approximately the same diameter as the rope.

To bury the cover tail, untie the lose knot (or remove the tape or vise grips used in step 4). Hold the rope at the crossover and smooth the core toward the cover tail, which will disappear.

To bury the core tail, hold the crossover and smooth out the slack in the cover braid from the crossover down to Mark "D". Repeat this process several times to remove all cover slack. Most of the core will disappear, however, some of the core tail will still remain at Mark "D" after this process.
Mark the core tail where it exits from the cover at Mark "D". Then mark the core tail at Mark "B" by inserting the marking pen into the opening at Mark "B".

Pull out the core tail at Mark "D" until the mark made at "B" appears. Cut off the excess core tail at the first mark (the one nearest the end of the core) and unbraid the core tail back to the second mark. Fan out the strands. Cut the strands at a 45 degree angle starting at a point about halfway back from the end.

Again, hold the rope at the crossover and smooth the cover braid from the crossover toward Mark "D". The exposed core will disappear completely inside the cover.

Step 7

Secure the knot tied in the body of the rope to a solid anchor point. Since a good deal of tension may be placed on the rope when burying the splice, the anchor point should be very sturdy.

The slack in the cover braid between the knot and Mark "B" will be used to bury the exposed core, crossover and cover down to Mark "A" to produce the desired size eye. This is accomplished by holding the rope at the top of eye and sliding the cover slack back from the knot towards the splice. Milk the cover from the crossover around the radius of the eye to the throat at "B" and pull that leg sharply with a spike to help seat the splice. Flex and/or hammer the splice section to loosen the fibers.

Seize or cross-stitch the eye to finish the splice. Refer to the diagrams at the top of this page.
Note:

If insufficient tension is placed on the rope while making up the slack, the crossover may tend to bunch up. If this happens, slide the cover slack back toward the knot until the crossover is the proper size. (Top image, above) Then repeat the milking procedure. (Bottom image, above)

Should You Have a Credit Card?

2008-07-23T23:08:00.000-04:00

BEWARE! The moment that most people enroll in college they begin receiving multiple offers for Credit Cards. The problem is that many students begin envisioning all the great things they can buy with this new "Financial Freedom". Most students don't take the time to think things through before running up that bill. I can speak from firsthand experience, I can remember buying that Playstation (yes the first one, man does that date me!), and it only took me two years to pay off! The sad thing is that some people can take up to five years or more to pay for their purchases!

Before you sign up for every offer that you get take the time to do some planning and research, you'll thank me!

* Use one card and only for emergencies, unless you can pay it off each
statement cycle!

* Check the APR % you don’t want anything above 15% for your first card

* Make sure there are no hidden annual or monthly fees

* Resist the temptation to take it with you on the nights you go out, bar
tabs can get expensive especially when you’re drinking!

* If you can’t afford to pay cash for something you can’t afford to use
credit!

* Always try to at least double the minimum payment

* Most importantly always pay on time, late fees can turn into a nightmare
very quick

My best advice would be to try and avoid them at all costs, but it is good to have one for an emergency so you have some back up besides calling Mom and Dad! There is an article on the same subject at Credit cards teaching students a costly lesson

Give Some Plasma Make Some Money

2008-07-23T00:44:00.000-04:00

Well as long as you're not afraid of needles you can make some decent cash from giving Plasma. More than likely whether you knew it or not there is probably a Plasma Center next to your College or University. Many college students already give plasma to make some extra money. I did myself back in the day and it was how I made sure I kept beer stocked in my fridge.

What is Plasma? Plasma is a straw-colored liquid that carries the red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets.

Plasma is made up of:

Water (about 90%)
Proteins and clotting factors (8%)
Small amounts of salts, glucose (blood sugar) and lipids (fats)

What do they do with my Plasma? Well the proteins and clotting factors in Plasma are used to make drugs and medicines to help save lives.

It's basically like donating blood with the difference being that the plasma is separated from the blood, and then the blood is returned to the body. Of course the other difference is that you get paid. However you are not getting paid for your plasma, but rather compensated for your time. It usually takes 30-60 minutes for them to extract the Plasma. Then 30-60 minutes before you can leave, just so they can make sure you are fine to drive or walk home.

Anyone over the age of eighteen and weighing over 110 pounds can give Plasma. Of course you have to be in good health. They do conduct a physical and medical screening including urinalysis for drug use history. Also I can personally attest to it being a bad idea to do this if you were drinking hard and heavy the night before. Just trust me and take my word for it BAD IDEA!

The best thing is that you can give Plasma up to two times for every seven day period. Most places pay $20-$25 per visit! That equals making up to $200 a month for doing nothing but taking a nap or watching TV as they do their thing.

All Plasma Centers are required to be licensed by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and they have to comply with all Federal and local business regulations.

To find your local Plasma collection facility go visit Blood Banker.

Another Simple Way of Making Money

2008-07-20T14:31:00.000-04:00

Freebie sites can be very profitable as I mentioned in my last post. Just as long as you are actively networking your links. A simple way that isn't going to make you rich is doing surveys. I currently belong to two different survey panels. Pinecone Research and Opinion Outpost are two of the best and I would do more, but I don't need to.

I make about $30-40 a week just from those two. Of course everyone is different. A lot of your income depends on the demographic that you fit in. Pinecone is harder to get into because you have to find their banner on the web and then apply. I found it by doing about 30 minutes of research through Google. They pay $3-5 per survey and on top of that I get to conduct trials on free products before they even hit the market. Opinion Outpost is easier as you just register and fill out their demographic surveys. The amount you make per survey has a fairly broad range. The least I have made was $2 and the most was $10 per survey.

Like I said you aren't going to get rich but if you need a little extra money without getting an extra job it's nice. Below is a list of the better survey opportunities:

OpinionOutpost.
One of my favorites pays well and only requires $5 to cash out!

TreasureTrooper.

One of the best out there! Pays well and has great games and prizes.

Clear Voice Surveys.

If you only sign up for one survey panel, let this be the one! Multiple survey opportunities each month with high payouts!

NPD Research.

Make a difference by voicing your opinions and completing surveys for cash & prizes.

Panda Research.

Get paid cash for taking surveys

Synovate Surveys.

Help improve products & services and test new products before they come to market.

LightSpeed Research
.
Lightspeed Research offers panel communities powerful incentives to join and actively participate.

Ipsos.

By participating, you can share your opinions with major companies which will aide in their development of products, policies, and services.

Global Surveys.

Take short, fun surveys for cash, ipods, and other prizes.

Nielsen Netratings.

Take surveys and be entered to win large cash prizes.

ACOP.

Get cash - $4 to $25 for each online survey. (Worldwide)

Your2Cents.

Earn $1-$5 for every survey you qualify for!

ECN Research.

Get entered into big drawings for every completed survey.

MemoLink.

An active survey panel with lots of invitations.

African-American Voice.

Get paid for taking brief online surveys just for African Americans.

NOP Surveys.

One of the oldest survey panels out there. Has paid out over 15 million dollars to date.

Survey Savvy.

New surveys are sent out every few days. Many chances to qualify!

SurveySpot.

Take surveys with the company that has already paid over $10 Million

SurveyClub.

Get paid cash for each survey you complete.

Epoll Rewards.

Take fun surveys for prizes from blockbuster, starbucks, etc

Sneaky Tips for Saving Money

2008-07-19T22:45:00.000-04:00

I know a lot of people like to throw parties at their house, apartment, or whatever you call your domicile. You also want to be known for throwing killer parties. Well one little trick can save you quite a bit of money in the long run.

You basically buy premium liquor once and save the bottles. Once you finish the premium liquor you simply refill it with the cheap store brand stuff as long as it doesn't taste like toilet water. Most people won't notice as they are going to be drinking more than just a couple. You can even charge a couple of bucks for drinks and turn a nice little profit. Pretty soon you will have a nicely stocked bar. Just remember to card people as they arrive unless you're willing to take the risk of serving minors. My roommate and I did this and were known for having a nice little stockpile of booze. We also turned a nice little profit that payed for the booze and then some!

Quick and Easy Recipe Friday

2008-07-18T19:36:00.000-04:00

Here is a quick and easy way that I enjoy using to cook chicken. It's nice because you can use it for a quick meal for one.

First off you need Chicken, duh! I buy the frozen tenderloins, for one, they are cheaper than the breasts, and they cook a lot quicker. Just put a small amount of oil in a pan I prefer olive oil for the taste, but it does cost a little more. Toss the chicken in frozen, pour some balsamic or wine vinegar over the chicken, throw on a little garlic salt and pepper. 10 Minutes later you're done. If you don't like vinegar still give it a try. I hate vinegar but it tastes really good cooked with the chicken!