Weekly Feature

Hey my fellow readers, here is Thursday's deals for college students who are low on dough. There are ways that us financially challenged students can get more bang for our buck. Here are 5 ways to save: 1. Reduce the amount of times you eat out and try to stay home and make a meal. Usually you can buy more food with the money you would spend out at restaurants and the food will last for days. 2. Walking instead of driving saves on gas and money. If you're headed to a place that isn't too far, try to use what you got. Your legs 3. Buy off brand items. Most times buying items with a name brand has a fee, but those good 'ol off brands are cheaper and may be just as good. 4. Save bottles and cans for cashing in. Cashing in recyclables is helps saves the environment and you can save the green you get from it. 5. Get a cheaper cell phone plan. You don't need a huge amount of data. Find out what you need, and then let go of the rest. I hope these tips find you all well. Let me know if any of you use one of these tips or all and how it went? See you all in the pages.

How to focus better for finals

With finals coming up we are all either getting stressed out with the massive amount of work to finish OR feeling like we should just not go to school anymore. Either way, we need focus to help finish off our last couple days left. Mycollegeandcareers.com lists a couple ways to help you focus. Some of the ways are to find a quiet place to study, turn off your cell phones and block distracting sites from your computer, get a tutor and reward yourself after you finish an assignment. All of these are listed on the website along with others to help! Here is a video that gives a couple other tips of how to focus better while studying.

Poor College Students And Their Poor Eating Habits

          Every one has heard that saying, "I'm a poor college student," well this statement shouldn't be taken lightly. Students, nowadays, are poor. Tuition hikes have caused students to resort to horrible eating habits. One food that remains the poster child-food for college students is Ramen Noodles. This food, high in sodium, but low in cost, is the staple nourishment many students depend on. Especially for on campus students. Costing .99 cents a package, this affordable meal has become so common that an array of recipes have been created by other students. On the web site, Daily Emerald, an article titled Ramen Noodles:Creative Recipes for the College Student's Best Friend, offers diverse mixes to liven up the otherwise boring noodles.
          In keeping with the cheaper food for college students topic, another article titled, Saving Cash In College gives helpful tips to the student who is light-in-pocket. Tips such as buying generic foods or eating fast food to save money are explained further. Although, many of the options listed in money savers aren't always the best ways to go nutritionally, they still promote cheaper living. And to a college student, nothing is better than a good deal of good deals.

Textbooks Too Expensive to Purchase

          College students are told on the first day of school to purchase textbooks. Some classes have multiple textbooks that are required of students and say that having them is integral for their success in the class. In spite of the initial promptings, less and less students are shelling out the dough for them. An article done by Edward Nawotka titled Are College Students Buying Required Textbooks? 75% In US Say No talks about this in detail. One statistic that is listed in the article is that 75% of US students don't buy textbooks. I can definitely see the truth in that number. As a student, I try my absolute best not to purchase books or if I have to I will rent them on Chegg.com or buy the old editions off Amazon.com.
          Every quarter I begin with the mindset that "I probably won't need a book," and then see how things go without one. I don't really need to explain why I choose not to buy textbooks because it is obvious. Tuition costs are crazy. I like to wait things out. Sometimes I even barrow another student's book if I desparately need some information. What I have gathered from the many years I have attended CSUSB, is that buying books are a waste of money. If you go to class and are a good note taker, then earning that A won't be hard. Books don't guarantee good grades. If anything they are unecessary and are just another way to gouge money out of students. It's not right. It is upsetting to think that these book publishers redo a few chapters in a book and then charge more. Students are hip to this and have found ways around paying for brand new books, that they will only use for a quarter.
          I was in class with a student who gladly announced that he had never bought a textbook. He was close to graduating and said he got amazing grades and had been very successful in his dealings. He claimed that he had never needed a textbook and thought they were a waste of money.
          It truly makes you wonder. How can a student survive without the one thing instructors force down your throat every class? It is very possible to make it without buying textbooks. There are many ways around this routine as listed above. If worse comes to worse, you can buy the book and then resale it to another student who will take that exact course with the exact instructor and hope they'll be using your book.

Where is our money going??

Classes at four year universities are becoming more expensive and scarcer. I started out as a transfer student from a local community college to commute to a California State University. The community college I attended was Riverside Community College, there I had no problem getting the classes I needed AND I was able to pay for my classes, parking, and books without breaking my bank. When I transferred to California State University of San Bernardino my luck changed. My first quarter was alright and same with my second, but my third quarter was not the case! My third quarter I had the toughest time enrolling in classes I needed and fit my schedule. There is the argument where maybe I need fewer classes, therefore it is going to be harder to fit it in a two day schedule; I see that as being partially true. The argument that I think validates this case more is the fact that classes are being cut. Chancellor from University California, Riverside said in an article from NY times “I’d be lying if I said what we offer students hasn’t been changed and that there hasn’t been a degradation of the learning environment”. This should make my peers angry with concern of where our money goes. If our money was going towards our education, making it the best it can be by promoting the professors or congratulating them with rewards, new books or parking structures, then I’m sure the students will be more accepting to the increase of tuition. But when there is an increase with tuition and an increase of classes being cut is when students need to have a voice protesting against the way the administrators are spending our money.

weekly feature

Since college student's pockets usually aren't very deep, here are some websites that are FREE to sign up but have GREAT deals to purchase. Groupon and Livingsocial have specials available for local businesses around you! Have fun and save at the same time!!

No Jobs For College Graduates

          The reason every student attends college is to land a great job in the career of their choice. The large amounts of money spent on books, racked up loans, late nights spent studying, will all be worth it once the student receives their degree, which in turn will get them that awesome job they've always dreamt about. Although, this is the fantasy for many students, waiting for the pay back might have to be added to the list. Jobs have become more and more scarcer since the economy took a hit. This has forced graduates to take jobs that are lower level such as bartending or waitressing, to provide them with enough means to live until they land a job in the career of their choosing. The article In Weak Job Market, One In Two College Graduates Are Jobless Or Underemployed goes more in depth about this phenomenon.
          Achieving the "American Dream" is the goal students work for, but as the years go by, that concept becomes more like a mirage. The article Half of Recent College Graduates Lack Full Time Job Study Says  talks about students having a hard time finding full time work, let alone a job that allows them the chance to utilize their degree. A graduate from Cal State Fullerton talks of her embarrassment dealing with the reality of having a degree and working at a bank. The article also goes more in depth about the statistics of graduates and jobs. Check out these articles. Hopefully they will be interesting to you all.