The Student's Life

Valentine’s Day: The Good, The Bad, and The Costly

thestudentslife — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 13:06:03 +0000

It seems like for every person that does celebrate Valentine’s Day, there’s another that claim it’s nothing but a corporate invention – designed to exploit your emotions and guilt you into buying material goods. My opinion is that it’s a bit of both sides. Couples want a time to go the “extra mile” for their significant other (I don’t buy the “you should be acting like this all the time” argument – having a specific day to do extra things makes it out of ordinary and more memorable). At the same time, companies are certainly not blind to people’s willingness to spend and take full advantage of it. Stores are lined with decorations a full month before the 14th and articles about getting the perfect gift start coming out at around the same time. Whether or not you agree with the corporate side of the holiday, there’s not really a good reason to be against the idea of setting aside a certain day to really show someone how you feel, and there’s plenty of ways to do it for cheap or even free. Here are some ideas for having a frugal and “anti-corporation” Valentine’s Day:

- Cook dinner. A roasted duck is simple, cheap, and elegant. The same is true for many pasta dishes.

- Make your own card. In my opinion, store bought cards are lifeless and dull. Making one yourself will give them something to hold on to and remember. Be sure to include a message or story on the inside, not just “Happy Valentine’s Day.”

- Get a board game, rent a movie, and spend the night inside. Not only is it more private than going out to a movie or restaurant, but it’s a lot cheaper and you’ll probably end up having a better time.

- Give them a coupon book, fill it up with free massages, doing the dishes, etc.

Do you have any ideas for cheap Valentine’s Day activities? Leave them in the comments!

Cheap Food: Oatmeal

thestudentslife — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 19:27:02 +0000

If you enjoy the taste of oatmeal even slightly, it’s a food that should be added to your daily diet. Not only is oatmeal extremely cheap (I can get a 2lb 10oz container for under $2), it’s extremely versatile and extremely healthy.

There are many different ways you can use oatmeal, from eating it by itself or using it to bulk up a recipe (such as hamburgers). A quick internet search (I recommend www.recipezaar.com) will get you thousands of recipes that use oatmeal.

My favorite way to prepare it is simply cooking it in the microwave and then slicing a banana in it while it’s warm. It’s extremely cheap (bananas are less than $0.50/pound here), filling, healthy, and delicious. Adding spices and/or some kind of sweetener can also help makes the fairly bland oatmeal more exciting. Cinnamon, nutmeg, maple syrup, brown sugar, honey, etc. are all great choices.

Other ideas:
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Oatmeal Cottage Cheese Pancakes

Amish Baked Oatmeal

Tired Of Paying For Software? Try Ninite.

thestudentslife — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:33:33 +0000

The cost of software has led a lot of us to pirate software – something that not only hurts the companies, but you as a user. Downloading any kind of file from an unknown source is opening yourself to all kinds of viruses, not to mention that it’s illegal and your ISP could easily detect it. A great alternative to both paying and pirating is simply choosing free software. A lot of times these applications will have a strong user community, meaning that extensions, supports, etc. are often just as good as their paid counterparts.

With Ninite, you can simply check off what software you want and have it all downloaded in one simple step. Some suggested programs are: Firefox, Pidgin, VLC, Songbird, OpenOffice, FoxIt Reader, Microsoft Security Essentials, and CCleaner. Have any other free apps you like? Post them in the comments!

Welcome To The Student’s Life!

thestudentslife — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 12:16:41 +0000

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my new blog, The Students Life. My goal for this site is to help fellow college students deal with the common problems we all face, such as studying, keeping a budget, cooking, etc. If you’d like to contact me, just send an e-mail to the.students.life@gmail.com.

Thanks!