5 Ways to Make Extra Money at College

So, The Broke Student Guide typically covers ways to save and get things for less money. But what about when you need to make some money - fast? Here are a few tips to help you out! Try one, two or all of these next time you need to make a quick couple of bucks.

1. Donate plasma. Donating plasma is just like donating blood, except you get paid for it! Most cities have a plasma donation center. Donating plasma is fairly easy - as long as you don't mind needles - and you can do it up to twice a week after you pass a screening and fitness exam which takes about 2 hours (additional visits take much less time). You can make roughly $200 or so extra a month donating plasma. Plus, as a bonus, you'll be helping out patients who need plasma for medical reasons! For more information and to find a donation center near you visit this site: http://www.bloodbanker.com/plasma/ or try googling "Plasma Donation [Your City]"

2. Paid studies and experiments at your university. whether Most universities that do academic research host paid studies that you can participate in for cash. For example, the psychology department at Indiana University offers up to $10/hr for certain studies, and they are always looking for demographics like people who smoke pot, drink often, don't drink at all, have good hearing, etc. You'll be helping with ground-breaking academic research AND earning cash. To find these studies, try looking around your school's Psych department building or Googling "Paid Studies at [My University]." The link to Indiana University's paid studies can be found here: http://cognitrn.psych.indiana.edu/busey/PaidSubjects/

3. If you have a marketable skill, earn money by offering your services. Marketable skills can be anything from tutoring in a subject you're great at, to cleaning houses, walking dogs, babysitting, making websites, creating artwork, or mending/hemming clothing. If you can't think of any skills, how about helping people move for $8/hr? I guarantee you'll find some takers at the end of the semester. Or how about putting up flyers around campus for clubs and organizations? You can advertise your skills online at put up an ad on your local Craigstlist or school classifieds - and while you're looking around in the classifieds, try to respond to any ads for "odd jobs" that you could do. You can also put an ad up at http://www.fiverr.com/, a website for exactly the purpose of getting people to pay you $5 for whatever random skills you may possess.

4. Sell any extra stuff you might have lying around. Some things you might sell include clothing, textbooks, CDs, video games, DVDs, action figures, key chains, jewelry, unused makeup, purses, or shoes. There are loads of ways to sell your extra stuff. You can have an old fashioned yard sale, or sell your items to stores that buy used items such as Plato's Closet or your local comic book or video store. If you have access to a camera and can take pictures of your stuff, you can sell it online at Ebay, or Craigslist . If you're absolutely desperate and have low standards, people will also buy your used underwear. (I've never tried this, but apparently you can get $30 for a pair of your panties on Craigslist. Hey, if the demand is there, why question it?)

5. Paid-To Sites Online. I talk about these a LOT, and even though they are not the fastest way to earn extra cash - typically it takes about a month or so to get the first check from each site - there are so many options available to anyone with an internet connection! Here is a list of the ones I use (they are all legit).
- Treasure Trooper. Get paid to do offers, take surveys, and click links, as well as get cash back for shopping online.
- SendEarnings. Get paid to click on links in emails, take surveys, complete offers, use grocery coupons, get cash back for shopping online, and more.
- InboxDollars. Get paid to click on paid emails, watch videos, complete offers, take surveys, complete tasks, and more.
- SwagBucks. Earn cash and gift cards by taking polls, watching videos, searching the internet, playing games, using grocery coupons, taking surveys, and completing offers.
- MyPoints (comment to request an invite to this one). Earn points by clicking on paid email links, playing games, taking surveys, and shipping online.
- CashCrate. Get paid to complete offers, take surveys and shop online.
- Mturk. This is a website owned by Amazon where you get paid to complete simple low-skill tasks such as identifying whether or not photos are blurry, or verifying an address of a company on its website.
-YouData is a site where advertisers target paid ads to you. Fill out a profile answering questions about yourself (try to be as open to everything as possible - the more things you're into, the more ads you'll get!) and then you'll be given some videos or text ads tailored to you. You'll get cash just for looking at the ads. They pay out via paypal with no minumum!

And there you have it. 5 easy ways to earn extra money in between sleeping and studying. For a few more suggestions, check out this link: http://www.walletpop.com/2011/03/03/college-students-guide-to-making-money-online/
Did I miss something? Comment with your experiences earning extra money at college, and any suggestions I can add!

15 Best Freebies at Indiana University

The 15 Best Freebies at Indiana University
We all know that going to call-out meetings means a free meal. But aside from those 2 weeks at the beginning of the year where call-out meetings are plentiful, how can you get free stuff on campus? Read on.

1. The Kroger's on College Mall has a yummy Mediterranean bar with little cups and spoons for free unlimited sampling. Grocery shopping + free dinner, anyone? (If you're really cheap, this can double as a romantic date. Bring candles.)

2. The health center offers great freebies including free condoms, free consultation with a nutritionist, and free counseling sessions. Read more about IU health freebies here.

3. The SRSC fitness center is free to use for students. They also have free 2 hour parking and free group classes. Gyms cost $40/month on average, so take advantage of the state of the art facility as much as possible!

4. Career fairs are goldmines for freebies. Most booths have piles of promotional schwag intended to raise awareness about their company, so it's like you're doing them a favor by using their free water bottles, bags, pens, and highlighters. Also, any excuse you need to convince yourself to attend a career fair is a good one. (Is it just me, or are they terrifying events filled with judgement and rejection? Thank goodness there are freebies!)

5. Festivals and events at IU are rife with freebies. A good example is Collinsfest on April 16. Free burgers, chips, cookies, cotton candy, and snowcones? It's like all of your dreams come true. Another good one is the World's Fair in the fall, which has free food from every ethnic group represented on campus!

7. You can find free pens at almost every departmental office on campus. Free pens may sound boring, but when you no longer have to shell out $3 every couple of months on BICs, you'll thank me. Think of the things you could buy with $3: Starbucks. Booze. 'Nuff said.

8. There are free postcards at the entrance to the SOFA Gallery in the Henry Radford Hope School of Fine Arts. The postcards are typically prints of the art pieces currently on display. I have a collection of these decorating my apartment!

9. The Aver's Pizza van is a like mana from heaven to broke college students. If you find the van parked on campus (listen for the loudly blaring music) you will be given a free slice of delicious Aver's pizza, and frequently also a free cup and a free t-shirt. Last semester the van appeared Thursday afternoons outside of Ballantine, but it could pop up unannounced anywhere at any time, so keep an eye out and let all your friends know if you find it!

10. Print out your free Aveda sampler coupon and sign up to receive a free full-sized product on your birthday. Redeem these at Les Champs Elysees on 10th and College Ave.

11. Sign up for the Noodles & Company E-club and get a free meal on your birthday at the Kirkwood location.

12. Sign up for free frozen yogurt on your birthday at Campus Candy on Kirkwood. Keep your eyes peeled for free coffee and hot chocolate promotions from them as well, especially during finals week.

13. Stop by the Career Development Center for free resume and job search consultation. Boring, maybe... valuable? Incredibly.

14. Free Chipotle Burrito day! It's usually October 31st, but kept a tightly guarded secret until just before the actual day.

15. Free Denny's Grand Slam day! It's usually the day after the Super Bowl, but it's also kept a secret.

Tips for finding freebies and deals: look closely at bulletin boards, especially in dorms. They often advertise free events and offers. Keep your eyes peeled as you walk around campus - you can find everything from the Aver's Pizza van to free pens and candy at booths in front of Ballantine, and so on. Inquire about promotional offers, birthday freebies and online clubs at your favorite local businesses or on their websites. And read this blog like it's your job!

On-Campus Overview: Top 5 On-Campus Freebies

Because this blog is written by a college student and is read by college students, of course I will be writing about finding ways to stretch your money while on a college campus! Colleges are chock-full of resources (as they should be - your tuition money is paying for them!) but without knowing what resources are available or how to access them, college can seem really daunting and really, really expensive. Here is a short list of some good ways to take full advantage of the services you paid for with your tuition. I'll go into detail about these, and other ideas, in future entries!

1. Paid research studies. These are especially relevant if you are at a big research school, like me ( I attend Indiana University.) At any given moment there are thousands of graduate students and departments conducting research into any number of topics, and many of these studies need participation from students. Some of these studies have required participation by certain classes, but some of them are PAID! Not only can you get extra cash (usually somewhere around $9/hr), but by participating in experiments, you can help graduate students and professors with their research.
How do you find these paid surveys? Two ways. First, search online for "[Your School] paid experiments." You should be able to find a link to a site with a list of experiments that are offering monetary compensation.
The second way is to head to your school's main research department building (I recommend stopping in Psychology first) and look around at the bulletin boards for postings of paid experiments. Typically they will list the qualifications needed with information to sign up for the study. Also check on other popular bulletin boards on campus, and even in your school's online classifieds listings.

2. Free Schwag! I am all about the freebies. Walking around on campus, you can score anything from free t-shirts, free food (call-out meetings and awareness raising booths are great for free food!), free pens and pencils (usually you have to check out an office or two to find these), free bags, cups, post-its, and water bottles, (best place to find these is at a career fair), free plastic silverware (dining hall), free sugar and creamer packets (coffee kiosk), free thumb drives (I.T events) and so on and so forth. I'll talk about the best freebie finds on my campus and give some tips for finding your own in future entries.

3. Free lectures, concerts, and other hosted events. I know I'm going to sound like your mom but - DO take advantage of all the events hosted by your college! Or at least, as many as you can. Colleges can pay for musical artists, speakers and seminars that are highly in demand. Some of the musical acts I got to see 100% for free thanks to my school include Girl Talk and M.I.A. Some of the best lectures I have seen free - relevant to my major, of course - were from executives such as VP of Kohl's, JC-Penney, Target. We've had designers who run their own companies, the inventor of trend forecasting, and other really important people in the Fashion industry come and speak, completely for free. It's a great way to get some inspiration and tips about your career and even network! Some other hosted events that I.U has fairly regularly are runway shows, drag shows, festivals about anything from Harry Potter to Nutella (festivals are an amazing source of free food AND entertainment), movie screenings, and on and on. The amount of free things to do on a college campus are endless. Take advantage of everything you possibly can. More on how to find these events to come!

3. Free computer software Indiana University offers thousands of dollars in free software to its students (including Microsoft Office and Adobe CS5!) but even if your school isn't as generous as mine, you can access free software from a variety of computers on campus. Check out your school's library, which should be updated with the best software available. This is especially helpful if your major has anything at all to do with design because most schools will have at least one version of CS5 somewhere on campus, and the program suite costs hundreds of dollars on its own. On a more general level, you'll always have access to Microsoft Office even if you have a MAC or don't want to pay the ridiculous price to install it. (You could even get by without owning a computer in college, but I wouldn't recommend it.)


4. Free books, articles, and other publications. I know, I know, this one is totally boring. And it might not help you much now, but in the future - especially as an upperclassman looking for trade publications or writing research papers - this is a HUGE bonus. Most university libraries pay for access to a ginormous database of publications - everywhere from magazines or trade journals like Woman's Wear Daily, to newspapers like the Wall Street Journal, to published books and articles are yours to access entirely for FREE. Indiana University's library even has a partnership with a training and education website chock-full of how-to videos for everything under the sun, so you can learn new skills without needing to take a whole course. Being able to pick up or access the Wall Street Journal online may not seem useful as a freshman, but you'd be surprised how useful it might be later on!

5. Free career advice and help. Most universities have a Career Development Center on campus to help you with everything from writing your resume to searching for internships and jobs. Career Development Centers are amazing resources: come to them with questions like how to format a thank-you letter to an interviewer, whether or not to change the font on your resume, how to introduce yourself at a career fair, how to handle office politics, and even how to get in contact with alumni in positions that you are interested in to network with them and ask them questions. If you are considering looking for a job or internship, start at your CDC first. This kind of resource is really only available for free in college campuses - no one will hold your hand as you search for a job once you're out in the real world, so good luck getting anyone who is well-qualified to sit down and go over your resume with you in the future! Take advantage of your college's career advice NOW, well before your graduate.

A couple more obvious campus freebies that are worth mentioning are free books/movies/cds from your library, free access to a gym (and in some cases, free gym classes, which are a godsend if like me you are lazy without a group of 20 people all doing the same strenuous activity), free art galleries and museums, and free TV in dorm lounges. Some places, like the dorm I live in, offer free rentals of items ranging from DSLR cameras to canoes. If you really dig into what your college has to offer, you can save yourself a lot of money!

Do you have any on-campus freebie recommendations not listed here? Let me know!