1. Coffee and Tea.
Do you find yourself shelling out at least $2 a day for tea or coffee? Or one of those freaking Lattes? Ok, to the latte drinker: start drinking coffee. Now, Starbucks coffee is great, in fact they know it because they try to market beans and grounds to you in addition to made-to-order drinks. So what you can do to cut how much you pay on those drinks is to actually buy ground coffee, a coffee-maker (traditional or, even cheaper, a french press) and the cream and sugar you need. The initial cost will be more than you're used to, but what you spend will be next to nothing compared to the chumps who go to Starbucks every day. Same goes for the teas. They sell boxes of all the Tazo teas for $4.95. You get 24 bags. That's about $48 of venti teas. For just 5 bucks! Now, you may feel self-conscious about not having that cute little Starbucks cup, but actually, the mugs and thermoses rock from there. A little pricey, but hey, totally worth it. There's even one that looks like the paper cups with the whole logo and drink description shindig. That's what I have. You can do Starbucks for a fraction of what you pay now. All it takes is a little startup money and half a brain.

2. Cereal
Tired of getting ripped off at every freaking store in Ann Arbor? Well, there is Meijer, which is cheap. But for the kid in the dorm, there is the dining hall. Take plastic bags with you, get a bowl of dry cereal, put the cereal in the bag when back at your table, and place in your backpack. Repeat as necessary. You can also do this with bread, desserts, and veggies.

3. Food in general
There are a lot of campus organizations that provide food at their events. Start looking at the newspaper and you will see a lot of places you can get free meals just from hearing what these people have to say. I must say, I'm not really big on this tip, but a lot of my guy friends will go to anything just to avoid another dorm meal.

4. Gatorade
For the actual athlete who needs it and for the chumps who are just thirsty, get the powder and mix it in a Nalgene. You save cash AND space... YES!

5. Books
Easy: talk to your friends. I got $400 worth of books last semester for $170. How? I asked my friends if they were willing to sell. I paid them about 60% of what they paid for theirs, and they had bought them used. They got more than they would have for the books if they'd sold them back to the stores, and I paid way less than if I'd bought them there. Everyone wins.
Oh, and if you're that kid who takes the really weird classes no one has ever heard of, do a little facebook stalking and find people who took the class the semester before. Post notices in any book trading groups. If you can't find someone on facebook, go ask the prof if they can give you names of kids who took the class. Look them up on the directory and email them what you are willing to pay. Most people don't mind being stalked if in the end they will get money. Just be polite.

6. Toiletries
Simple. Get a ride to Target. Don't waste your money on campus. You will get ripped off.

7. Gifts
Ok, so your friend has an upcoming birthday. You're broke. Bake something. If you don't have a kitchen, ask someone who does to use theirs for two hours. Also, homemade picture frames are a cute idea.

8. Booze
With a vagina, you should almost never have to pay for booze. Period. I think the only times I've had to pay are when my friends and I decided to do a group shot at Necto (Yeah, I hate that place too) and once when I bought a bottle of liquor for my guy friend on his birthday (And I'm not 21, FYI). Now, my advice to everyone is just don't go to bars. If you go to parties, the booze is almost always free. You may be asked to chip in for a new keg. If you've pounded 10 beers, you may want to help out with a dollar. If you sip one or two, don't feel obligated. You can also have some cheap liquor at home for pregaming. Bottom line: You can always get drunk for less.

9. Copies
It's about 10 cents at the library per copy. What's a whole lot easier is actually scanning whatever it is then printing it out on the laserjets. This way it just comes out of your printing allotment.

10. Pizza
There is no substitution for your favorite pizza. If you like NYPD, lucky you. I personally love Pizza House. Kinda pricey, I know. Only advice is save your coupons, kiddies. And do takeout whenever possible so the amount you have to tip is minimal compared to delivery and dining in.



This post was originally written by E3
University of Michigan · Undecided · 15 Feb 2007