Moving into temporary student housing (dorms, student apartments) is quite different from moving into an apartment. Often times basic furnishings are provided but nice-to-haves are not (carpeting). After living in student housing for five years and moving twice a year, I have become a pro at balancing minimal, affordable furnishings that are easily mobile.

Keep practicality in mind when going dorm room shopping. Here are some rules:

• All items should easily fit into a car (not necessarily at the same time, but just size-wise). You will not need a moving truck.
• You should be able to carry everything by yourself. You will not need a moving crew.
• Small rooms and shared spaces. You cannot have a lot of stuff, period.

Keeping those rules in mind, here are my tips for practical, cheap items to furnish your student space.

1. First Aid Kit. Stock up a small container you already have at home with multi-sized band-aids, neosporin, gauze, and antiseptic. Keep it in a common area and let all roomates know where to find it.
2. Collapsible Laundry Storage. I don’t care if you use a pop-up hamper or a laundry bag, but whatever you do, do not buy a laundry basket! This takes up too much space and is not convenient to lug to the laundry area or carry out to your car.
3. Hanging Decorations/Photo Frames Do not bring knick knacks, photo frames that you cannot hang, or anything that is going to take up space without adding any value. Instead, use hanging photo frames to keep your memories near-by without adding clutter. Make your own with just string and hot glue!
4. Rugs/Curtains Your dorm is probably not carpeted, so add some comfort with a few cheap throw rugs (I bought ugly ones for $2/each but even prettier ones can be cheap). For “curtains”, I simply thumbtacked some muslin over my windows. It’s dirty but cheap and temporary! Both of these items are easy to transport, too.
5. Extra Storage Your dorm room and apartment should be furnished so I would not waste too much money buying extra furniture. If you do want to add something, look for multi-purpose items like this ottoman that doubles as a storage container.
6. Desk Lamp Bring one, good desk lamp that is small, easy to transport and adjustable. I bought a lamp similar to this ten years ago at Walmart and I still use it today.
7. Power Strip Bring a few of these and you won’t have to fight with your roomate over the only outlet near the bed. You should be able to get some on Freecycle.
8. Collapsible Organizers. Your closet is going to be small, even in an apartment. Use collapsible hanging storage for shoes, outfits, or any small miscellaneous items. Use collapsible drawers that fit right in your closet under your already-hanging clothes. It makes for a easy transportable dresser. Take advantage of any extra space possible with under-the-bed containers. Put your seasonal clothing there or even extra food (soups, snacks).
9. Bathroom Supplies. If you are using a community bathroom, you will need a little shower caddy to carry your items back and forth. You will also need a few towels, just bring some from home. There really is no need for anything special.
10. Mini Fridge Purchase one from Craig’s List or check bulletin boards at your college. At the end of the semester, a lot of people sell theirs.

What are your cheap must-haves for college living?

Every Friday I will list personal recommendations of movies that are available on Netflix Instant Watch so you can enjoy a frugal weekend instead of buying that $10 movie ticket.

Weekend Picks: July 23-25

X-Men
Genre: Superhero, Action
Mood: Mindless action fun
104mins; 2000
Leslie Rating: 3/5

District-B13
Genre: Foreign, Action
Mood: Parkour with subtitles
84 minutes; 2004
Leslie Rating: 4/5

The Evil Dead

Genre: Campy Horror
Mood: Zombies
85 mins; 1981
Leslie Rating: 4/5

We learn a lot from our parents. Life lessons and skills but also their mannerisms and habits; both good and bad. If your parents have poor spending habits, is it more likely that you will?

Watch and Learn

As a child, I learned how to avoid creditors. In fact, I normalized the fact that creditors called the house at all. I was not the only child to have learned this behavior. My mother’s spending habits have been passed down to my brother. He is in his mid-40’s, yet his credit score is still suffering from the years he spent paying the minimum balance; something he learned from our mother.

Keep Digging

Having parents with money troubles is difficult for three major reasons:

You are without support. I am not referring to financial assistance, but simply asking my mother how to negotiate an interest rate is not an option. Asking her to help me set up a budget is futile. This makes it very difficult to learn new habits.

They can drag you down with them. It is a very odd emotion I feel when my father asks me for money. I know it is slightly embarrassing for him so part of me feels obligated. However, I am not in a position of having a ton of disposable income and have to make sure that I do not get too far under while trying to help my father out. I know his goal is not to put me in the same situation as him but if I am not careful, it could happen.

You have less access to money. The temptation of credit is greater because you cannot simply ask your parents for money/to buy you something. To keep up with peers whose family’s are in better financial situations, you will be tempted to use credit to keep up the appearance. This is likely how your parents got into debt in the first place.

How To Overcome Family Debt Problems

1. Educate. If you are reading this, that is a step in the right direction! You need to be pro-active by educating yourself about personal finance, interest rates, savings accounts and balancing a budget. Use personal finance blogs, books or any other informative guide you can to best assess the direction you should take.

2. Resources. If you cannot use family as a resource, take advantage of the other resources you can use. This includes emailing blogger’s for advice or more general information and chatting with close friends about how they learned about investments. Try to gather as much information as you can from the sources you trust.

3. Support. Have a friend remind you weekly to check your budget. Find a positive person you trust talking about your money issues with, to help support you emotionally as you get started. While being in debt is a financial problem, it has a huge emotional affect on one’s life. Having someone to talk to about it will be very helpful.

4. Confidence. You will not always be in debt, if you do not want to be. It is possible for you to pay it off. Don’t believe me? Take a look at several of the personal finance blogger’s who have dug their way out of hundreds of thousands of dollars of credit card debt! With a plan it is possible. You also need confidence to negotiate payment plans, interest rates and contracts. The more you learn about those topics, the more confidence you will have in knowing when company’s are taking advantage of you.

5. Patience. Although it might have taken you less than a day to spend all that money, it will definitely take you a while to pay it all off. It will be difficult at first because the improvement is a slow one. However, when you pay off your first high-interest bill, you will feel great, I promise! Having support is key for you to continue being patient instead of losing all hope.

6. Think Long-Term. Credit Cards have always been about the “now”; that is the entire idea of credit. So while you may be very happy right now, in a few years you will become miserable. If your parents were in credit card debt, it should not be too difficult for you to see how unhappy they were buried under bills, even if it made for a comfortable lifestyle. Always remind yourself of that and keep thinking of your long-term goals. Sacrificing to pay more than the minimum payment may not be fun now, but it will lead to many more years of less-stress and better investments.

Readers: Have you been influenced by your parents’ spending habits?

Quesadillas are not only quick and easy, but also flexible!

What You Need (Core)
2 Tortillas
Shredded cheese (cheddar, pepper jack, your preference)
Mexican seasoning (you better use mine!)

What You Do (3 Options)
1. Toaster Oven: Put quesadilla in toaster oven and toast until cheese melts
2. Oven: Put quesadilla on a baking sheet and bake at 350 for 10 mins or until cheese melts
3. Stove Top: With olive oil on a pan, place your quesadilla and cook for ~10 minutes then flip

Add-Ins
Chicken
Rice
Corn
Peppers
Onions
Black beans
Anything!

This recipe is so flexible it’s ridiculous! You can add pretty much any vegetable inside your quesadilla, just allow for longer cooking times. I suggest sprinkling the mexican seasoning on any of the additional items you prepare. Rub it on the chicken, sprinkle over peppers, etc. If you get the quesadilla pretty stuffed, just one or two triangles will be more than enough to fill you up. Feel free to serve with sour cream and guacamole as well.

Share your favorite quesadilla combinations!

Every Friday I will list personal recommendations of movies that are available on Netflix Instant Watch so you can enjoy a frugal weekend instead of buying that $10 movie ticket.

Weekend Picks: July 16-18

Good Will Hunting
Genre: Feel Good
Mood: Matt Damon with a boston accent
126mins; 1997
Leslie Rating: 4/5

Futurama
Genre: Animated
Mood: Animated sarcasm
13 episodes; 1999
Leslie Rating: 5/5

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Genre: Foreign, Suspense
Mood: Subtitles
152 mins; 2009
Leslie Rating: N/A (I plan on watching it this weekend!)

Every weekend, I will detail my activities and expenses to provide an example of how to implement a frugal mindset while still having a fun and active life.

Friday

I had plans to meet up with some friends for dinner on Friday night. I fixed myself a grilled cheese after work and snacked on some cashews on the way over. I did not purchase anything at the restaurant but still enjoyed myself. It was nice chatting with friends, some who I had not seen in a while. After dinner, we went to a local ice cream shoppe. I ate a delicious chocolate chip ice cream cone and socialized some more with friends.

Friday Total Cost:$3

Saturday

My friends were married on Saturday, so I spent most of the day getting ready for and attending to wedding things. They had an open bar so no money was spent!

Saturday Total Cost:$0

Sunday

On Sunday, I went to the mall to see if I could get my dress fixed. The final result was a $140 credit and my dress was sent off to the seamstress. Afterward, I had lunch at Chipotle, then walked it off at the Ken Lockwood Gorge. Then put it all back on with some ice cream at Gronsky’s Milk House.

Sunday Total Cost:-$130.80

Total Weekend Cost: -$127.80!

They always say “quality over quantity” right? That is exactly what I thought when I dished out $300 (the most I have ever spent on an article of clothing) on a dress to wear to some planned weddings later this year. The dress was from London-based company Lipsy. I fell in love with the dress and really liked the rest of their collection, with the intention to purchase more of their clothing.

So Much for Quality

I wore the dress for the first time since purchase, to a wedding over the weekend. It was comfortable the entire time and I received many compliments. I was enthusiastic to tell my friends the name of the company and where they could purchase similar dresses.

Then, I took it off at the end of the night and saw the zipper had broke off.

The Price of Losing a Customer

With receipt in hand, I went to the Lipsy section of Bloomingdale’s to ask what they could do. The manager was not very eager to help. Since I had already worn the dress, it could not be returned. The manager said she would call the seamstress to see how much it would cost, but the entire zipper would have to be replaced. She made sure to say that this type of thing never happens with their clothing and that the zipper must have been forcefully pulled to cause the break.

I shrugged thinking I was out of a dress and said, out of honesty, that I was extremely disappointed and would never buy another Lipsy product. Their quality just did not match the price.

At hearing this, the manager decided she could do something after all. She admitted to not wanting to lose me as a customer so she negotiated this:
I “returned” the dress then, since it was on sale, bought it again at its lowest selling price, $130! I still paid the $25 alteration fee and just hope that the new zipper still looks okay in three weeks.

I was credited a total of $140!

Honestly, I still am disappointed with the quality of this expensive dress but I am pleased with the way the manager handled it. I do not care so much about the money as I really truly loved the dress. I will be disappointed still if the new zipper does not match as well as the original one.

Lesson Learned

I have learned that you do not always get what you pay for but I will continue to look at Lipsy clothing, as it is the only dress I have ever found to fit me perfectly.

Readers: Have you made any high cost purchases that ended up being disappointing?

Every Friday I will list personal recommendations of movies that are available on Netflix Instant Watch so you can enjoy a frugal weekend instead of buying that $10 movie ticket.

Weekend Picks: July 9-11

Airheads
Genre: Comedy
Mood: Brendan Fraser, Adam Sandler, Steve Buscemi
91mins; 1994
Leslie Rating: 4/5

Moon
Genre: Sci Fi
Mood: Slow Paced, Conspiracy in Space
97 mins; 2009
Leslie Rating: 3/5

A Tale of Two Sisters
Genre: Foreign, Horror, Disturbing
Mood: Subtitles, Mindfuck, Dark
115 mins; 2004
Leslie Rating: 4/5

Every weekend, I will detail my activities and expenses to provide an example of how to implement a frugal mindset while still having a fun and active life.

Friday

Since this was a long weekend, I took advantage of the extra day by doing nothing on Friday. I made a small dinner and got caught up with bills and things. Not too exciting, but it had to get done.

Friday Total Cost:$0

Saturday

I spent Saturday at the shore with some friends. I packed a lunch, brought a drink and some snacks. We took a route without any tolls and less traffic. An hour later, we were relaxing on the beach. My friends ate lunch at a place on the boardwalk where a slice of pizza and a drink was $8. I sat at the table with them eating my yummy sandwich.

Later that night, I had plans to watch the UFC fight at Buffalo Wild Wings. I knew I would eat there, which is why I did not want to eat out earlier in the day. Unfortunately, BWW changed their boneless wings into disgusting fried crap so that was rather disappointing. The Blue Moon’s helped washed the ickiness down.

Saturday Total Cost:$20

Sunday

I spent Sunday morning chatting with a friend at Pantera Bread ($2) then lounged around in the afternoon. I met up with some friends to watch fireworks in the evening. We had a great time! I had some pizza and beers there as well.

Sunday Total Cost:$7

Monday

I spent my long weekend day just being a bum. I made beer pancakes for breakfast and they were oh-so-delicious. Since, it was ridiculously hot outside, I stayed in and watched Zombieland on Instant Watch. Then made myself a quick dinner of grilled chicken, broccoli and a baked potato with my seasoning salt.

Friday Total Cost:$0

Total Weekend Cost: $27

These pancakes have the perfect amount of flavor and density. It is more common for me to have beer than milk on hand, so I directly substitute the two. I actually prefer the flavor as it creates a perfect counter to the sweetness. You barely need any toppings on these lil’ pancakes. They melt in your mouth, are a perfect texture and a perfect sweetness.

What You Need

1 egg
1C white or wheat flour
3/4C Yeungling (or any light-medium flavored beer)
1T white sugar
2T vegetable oil
3t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1 capful of vanilla

What You Do

1. Beat egg with a fork until fluffy
2. Beat in everything else just until smooth
3. Grease a frying pan with butter/oil and pour 1/4C of batter into pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon then cook as normal.

Once you try these, let me know what you think!