Whether you are in  college or not, you know how easy it is to spend money and how hard it is to save it. Trust me, this coming from a girl who would buy absolutely anything her paycheck could possibly afford her. From an abundance of unnecessary cell phone cases, to drug store make up I didn't even need, I of all people know how hard it is to save money.

Lucky for you I have gathered a couple tips during this adventurous and confusing journey I like to call college. If you're anything like me, you love Starbucks and Dunkin donuts; I mean let's be honest, who doesn't?

Unfortunately I live close to both of them. I even worked for our local Starbucks. Why am I saying unfortunately? Because I used to go to Dunkin Donuts every morning before school, that is until I figured out how much money came out of my pocket each week. On average I would spend around $3.62 for a medium iced coffee and a small order of hash browns every day. If I were to go to Starbucks every morning I couldn't imagine how empty and sad my wallet would look. So let's do the math shall we? I spent $3.62 every morning before class and it would cost me a total of $18.10 per week, that's almost twenty dollars every week that I was spending on food and drinks that could have been used for gas; and okay, I'll admit, I did use a calculator. Don't judge me.

This brings me to my first tip, stop the little morning run at Dunkin, Starbucks or anywhere else you go to get your coffee or tea every morning. If you have coffee at home, make it. It's cheaper and a lot less time consuming. If you have the same taste in drinks as I do than you like the different flavors that a coffee shop offers to  put in your coffee, don't you? Well, I learned a little trick during my employment at Starbucks and, sure since you're here I'll let you in on the scoop. If you like a certain flavor like, oh I don't know, the pumpkin spice or vanilla flavoring you can actually buy it by the bottle. After doing the math (Not with a calculator this time) I figured out that it is actually cheaper to buy the 1 liter bottle of flavoring for $12.95 rather than buying a drink every morning before school or work.

Now I'm going to ask you all a very important question. When entering college what are the most needed  items for all of your classes? School supplies! Are you the kid that everyone goes to for a pencil and then get it back with bite marks in it? Gross. Well don't fret my friends. I know school supplies can take a lot of money out of your pocket especially if you are in college. What with all the books, notebooks, pens, pencils, high lighters; the list seems endless. Here's where we discuss tip number two. Never buy school supplies from the school store even if it is easier to access. If you need school supplies and the office depot or staples is a couple miles down the road, make the trip. During my freshman year of college I was constantly running out of school supplies. Yes, I was the kid that everyone asked for a pencil and piece of paper; luckily I didn't get any back with bite marks. I found that it was much cheaper to go to Wal-Mart or staples to get my school supplies. While Wal-Mart was selling a fifty count pack of number two pencils for $2.95 the campus store was offering a pack of three number two pencils for the same price. Can you believe it? School stores can be very expensive so watch what you spend and make sure that what you are spending it on will last you a long time, if not your whole semester.

There is an ongoing rumor that college students only eat Ramen noodles.  My friends, I am here to tell you that it is the truth. For a while all I ate where Ramen noodles because it was inexpensive, tasty and very easy to make. That's something to consider as well if you are on a strict college budget.

If you haven't entered college but are going to within the next year or so, you might want to start off small. There are no movies that glorify a two year college I know; it's all about the experience and the parties, but you will be saving a ton of bucks if you chose to wait a couple years and then transfer to a university. Rumor has it you will save thousands maybe even hundreds of thousands on tuition every year. According to some recent studies, 80% of Penn State students aren't even sure what they want to major in. Speaking from experience, going to community college has helped me decide what I want my major to be and has helped me have a better understanding of what college actually is.

Books. Every student dreads buying those heavy, expensive looked down upon books. On average a student spends about $200-$800 on books every semester of college. If you are looking to save a little bit of money, don't do what I did. I waited until the last minute to buy my books and had to pay full price for all of them which came out to be around $400.00. If you are computer savvy you can always find deals on Amazon and eBay for the books you need. You will be able to save hundreds of dollars and trust me; if you aren't the one buying your books, you're parents will be very happy. So happy that they'll buy you that new lap top you really want! No? It was worth a shot.

While entering college it is important to consider - on average - how much you are putting into your bank account every month. One mistake I made was putting money into my account and spending it all right away without even glancing at the numbers. There was a point in my splurging mess where I was minus four hundred dollars. That was no fun and if you have ever experienced the same thing you know how stressful that can be especially on a college student. Whether you are in school or not, good luck on your journey. College has it's ups and downs but it is up to you to make the most out of it and save as much money as you possibly can. It may seem hard at first, and when you see that really cute bag that you've always wanted it feels like torture knowing you can't buy it, stay strong my friends and don't give in!