College is tough, not just academically but as you know it can be seriously tough financially as well. One place where college students tend to spend a lot of money is food. Face it, we love to eat out, we love our chipotle and delivery pizza, but you’re looking at about $10 a person for either of these options. Then there’s the cafeteria, somehow professors love it, I say eww. I’ve got a few cool, delicious, and super cheap recipe ideas to hit you with. Try them and let us know what you think.
1. Mom’s tomato Mac – serves 4 for less than 2 dollars!!
Ingredients:
- 1 Box Macaroni noodles
- 1 Can, Diced tomatoes
- Sugar, salt, pepper
Boil the macaroni until it is tender to your liking then a teaspoon of sugar, salt and pepper. Stir, and then add the diced tomatoes. Simmer for about 1 min, cool and serve.
2. Totino’s Pepperoni Chicken Pizza
I know what you’re thinking… It can’t be done, Well it can be. Heres the recipe.
Ingredients:
- 1 Totino’s Pepperoni Pizza
- ½ pack of Chicken Flavored Ramen noodles
Just cook your pizza in the oven and crumble up the dry noodles. When the pizza is complete add the noodles and ½ of the ramen chicken seasoning packet. Bam! The Totino’s Pepperoni Chicken Pizza.
3. The Seanwich
Yeah, I invented this one. When I was 8. It stuck with me until college and thankfully so, it super cheap and easy.
Ingredients:
- 2 slices of your favorite bread
- 1 slice American cheese
- 1 Banana
- Peanut butter
- Jelly
Toast the bread and add peanut butter and jelly. Next, add the cheese to the peanut butter side. Slice up the banana and add it to the jelly side. Sandwich the two together and cut in half. Serve with your favorite Doritos.
For some other ideas check out this book by Jamie Oliver: Jamie’s Food Revolution: Rediscover How to Cook Simple, Delicious, Affordable Meal
SeanJohn
I’m reading Marketing
Here at eCampus.com we know about reselling things that people don’t want, like textbooks, but think about all of the stuff people throw out every year when moving out. Borrow a truck from your Uncle Jerry, get some friends together, and try to pick up some of these items you might find on a curb. Then use Craigslist.com to make some loot or furnish your apartment with some “new” stuff.
Some quick tips for safe dumpster diving
-Carry a flashlight/headlamp, there might be some sharp/disgusting stuff you want to look out for
-Gloves, you can never be too safe. And if you cut yourself, a dumpster is the last place your hands should be
-Don’t go into any restricted areas when dumpster diving, you don’t want to find any alien bodies or confidential FBI documents that could lead to a nationwide manhunt for you.
-Hand sanitizer – self-explanatory
-Shy away from food*
*Unless you’re going to seven eleven, check out this clip from Undercover Boss, they throw away tons of bagels and donuts, mmmmmmm…
Undercover Boss
A few items to keep a lookout for.
Couches – What’s better than free furniture, not much, but make sure you carry a black light so you can check for mystery stains.
Textbooks – People throw away books that their campus bookstores might not buy, pick em up and sell them to us. Maybe clean them first, thanks.
Mini refrigerators – People throw these out all the time, I snagged one from the hallway of my freshman dorm that I still use to this day.
Some additional reading on the matter: Dumpster Diving: The Advanced Course : How to Turn Other People’s Trash into Money, Publicity, and Power
SeanJohn
I’m reading Exceptional Learners
How To be a CheapSkate
As I’ve finally reached my senior year in college I get a chance to look back at some of the extremes I have gone to save a little extra cash (anything helps!). I’ve always made any effort to save that seemed like a decent option. With that said I’ll let you in on a few tips for making it out of college with some cash.
Firstly, don’t eat out if you can avoid it, you can save tons by just going to the grocery store and you can create anything you want.
Buy or even rent your textbooks online at eCampus.com you can often save over 50% and you never have to wait in a line or even leave your couch.
Ride a bike, don’t get caught spending 200 dollars for a parking pass when you can ride, get exercise, and usually park right next to the door you’re entering.
Find the cheap or free entertainment options around your campus. Concerts, comedy shows, and free movies are often part of your campus’ activity schedule. Also rent movies if your trying to save its either $9 a person or $2.50(or FREE from your library!) for the movie, you decide.
Use Freeware instead of paying for software when available, programs suites such as OpenOffice (similar to MS Office) are compatible and work well. Downloading freeware can be dangerous though so research thoroughly before downloading.
The best tip I have to offer any college student trying to figure out money problems is to BUDGET. Set a plan and stick to it. Try something like Judy Lawrence’s The Budget Kit: The Common Cents Money Management Workbook. It will help you get your spending under control and create a budget, and trust me the sooner the better.
SeanJohn
I am reading Communicating at Work
Today is eCampus.com’s Ten Year Anniversary Celebration! How the time has flown, it seems like just yesterday that we first sat down, January 20,1999 to be exact!, and discussed the possibility of opening a company like eCampus.com. We began writing code in February and the rest is history! If you are wanting to play one of the games developed by eCampus.com or watch some of our old commercials, make sure to visit our Anniversary Celebration page! Thanks for helping eCampus.com stay alive for all these years!!
SeanJohn
I am reading You May Ask Yourself
