How to Save Like a Dirt-Poor College Student: 9 Tips

The recession is hitting all of us hard. In the spirit of this week's theme on saving money and living frugal, it's time to think scrappy and resourceful like an unemployed college student. Here are nine tips to relive those frantically frugal undergrad days--but with an adult twist. ("Adult" in big, finger-air quotation marks.) College: Getting drunk for free at frat parties Post-college: Getting charmingly tipsy for free at art openings College: Borrowing your roommate’s clothes Post-college: Borrowing your neighbor’s power tools College: Convincing your freshman friend who still lives in the dorms to treat you to a residence hall dorm dinner Post-college: Convincing your friends who really know how to cook to throw intimate dinner potlucks at their houses College: Used textbooks Post-college: Used baby strollers College: Crashing on your out-of-state friend’s couch instead of staying at a hotel Post-college: Crashing on your couch and watching the History Channel instead of going out College: Cup ramen Post-college: Cup ramen cole slaw saladCollege: Illegally downloaded music Post-college: Illegally underpaid employees College: Magazine cut-outs of favorite celebrities scotch-taped onto your bedroom wall Post-college: Magazine cut-outs of dream homes scotch-taped onto your cubicle wall College: Going to free, student-run productions and shows Post-college: Eavesdropping on your married neighbors’ passionate argument across the hall