College

Dust off your comically over-sized sombrero and load up on your favorite color of Zinka sunscreen; spring break is just around the corner. While the ideal destination of this vacation usually involves soaking up sun on the beach, coming up with the money to make such a trip possible is a serious challenge for your average college student.

Begging mom and dad and scraping couch cushions for change are always options for assembling the necessary funding, but they'll only get you so far. If you're dead-set on doing something special this spring break without spending a small fortune, try a few of these cost-cutting tips.

1. Use Your ID
See how far you can get on your student ID. There's no harm in asking a hotel or rental car company if they offer an additional student discount. Also, don't be shy with your ID when you're out of town. A student discount should apply to any student, no matter what state you come from. Check out this list of 81 student discounts for a few ideas.

2. Shorten Your Stay
Traveling mid-week is almost always less expensive than traveling over the weekend. Instead of booking from Saturday to Saturday, schedule your spring fling between Tuesday and Thursday. This means less spending on airfare and accommodations and still allows a few days of free time to tackle homework assigned by unsympathetic educators. Read more

September is National College Savings Month. Did you know that many students are turning to PDFs to avoid the cost and physical hassle of textbooks and handouts? It makes sense, as the typical student spends $300 - $400 per semester on textbooks (at least!) while their electronic counterparts can cost 50 percent less.

PDF software such as the free PDF reader from Nitro PDF do much more than just allow students to "read" documents. Students can take notes on the PDF, copy text for writing papers, and search for important facts without having to "dog-ear" text books. Using PDFs is a greener solution, too. According to the environmental consulting firm Cleantech, the typical book generates almost 17 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalents. Textbooks release more than double the CO2 equivalents of the average book. So not only will college students save money by using PDFs – they will help the environment too!

Want to know more ways to save money? Here are Nitro PDF's 5 Tips on Cutting College Costs with PDFs:Read more

The countdown has begun to move on from your parents' basement. You can eat pizza and cookies for breakfast, lunch and dinner. But before these dreams become reality, there's a lot of work to be done with the whole relocation thing. To help you combat packing panic, here are 12 moving tips to get you smartly on your way.

1. Start Sorting
Before you begin loading up boxes, go through all your stuff and weed out items you don't want. There's no point in adding this clutter to your new place. Remember, one person's trash is another's treasure. Before dumping and donating unwanted items, give friends and neighbors a chance to dig through for hand-me-downs. They'll appreciate the thought and it's one less thing for you to move.

2. Run Down the Damage
College houses are not always in the greatest condition. Since you don't want to be on the hook for other tenants' wild times, get together with the landlord before you move in and do a walk through. Document any existing damage, snap a few photos and get the landlord to sign off on a list of problem areas. This will ensure you don't get nailed for pre-existing issues. Read more

Sure, an all-expense-paid trip to Europe seems like the ultimate graduation gift. However, college students who face thousands of dollars in academic debt may need to jump on the job hunt sooner than expected. With new financial responsibilities looming, recent grads will appreciate whatever help they can get.

To help soften the real world blow, here are seven practical gifts job-seeking college graduates will appreciate.

Resume Service
The first thing employers see is an applicant's resume and cover letter. Unfortunately, the style of these documents has become more complex in recent years. Graduates won't get noticed using the old method of simply listing experience by date. Cover letters are now approaching works of art, mentioning much more than that applicant is interested in the job and is a good team player, trustworthy and a hard worker. Read more