How To Manage Your Money In College

Design Your Dorm presents a series of back to school blogs. Check out our 3-D dorm room designer, to see and design your dorm before move in day.

5666Managing your money in college is tough. There are so many books to buy, so many concerts to see, and so many drinks... to drink. But you don't want to graduate buried in debt, right? We didn't think so. Here's ten tips on how to manage your money so Louie the Fish doesn't have to break your kneecaps.

1. Keep an eye on it

Try checking your money for at least four weeks and find out where you are spending it. Sometimes we spend way too much on little things that we don't notice and go overboard. When you know where your money is going, it's easier to figure out where you can cut back and save some of it.

2. Start Planning

The best way to manage your money is to make a simple budget. List all your expenses from dorm payments and loans to a single bus fare. See how much you spend, and decide if you could be spending less in any category. Then plan your expenditures for the future and stick to the plan!

3. Allocate money for fun

Saving money doesn't mean you have to deprive yourself of fun. Buy music, Starbucks, video games, but just make sure you budget it out and don't go overboard.

4. Pace yourself

Some students tends to spend cash right when they get it. Just because you just got paid doesn't mean you should run out and buy a plasma screen. Make sure you have some money at the end of the semester so you don't have to give your parents construction paper dolls for Christmas... again.

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How To Meet People When You Move Into College

students1Design Your Dorm presents a series of back to school blogs. Check out our 3-D dorm room designer, to see and design your dorm before move in day.

Moving into the dorms. Going to your first college class. This is a very exciting time for college freshmen across the country. So before move in day here is some advice on how to meet people:

Say Hi

Though this seems really simple, it is often the hardest thing to do. It is especially important the first day in the dorms. Even if it's a bit awkward, take a second to remember that everybody feels just like you, and then say, "Hi."

Join a Study Group

Study groups are a great way to meet new people. If you are lucky enough to meet smart people you will make new friends and make your life at college that much easier.

Rush a Fraternity/Sorority

The Greek system is an excellent way to meet new people. It is not right for everyone, but if you are curious we recommend that you rush. At most universities fraternities and sororities are built-in social networks, that get you out from life in the dorms.

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Dorm Room Link Party - Summer Inbox Edition

Happy summer, DormDelicious readers! Hope you are spending your time productively, by which we mean browsing DormDelicious while bored at your summer internship.

As you may guess, we here at DormDelicious get a ton of e-mails all the time about college products, dorm decorating websites, and on and on. Well, we just started sifting through them, deleting the ads for male enhancement products (or saving them for later?) and we're ready to present to you our first Dorm Room Link Party of the summer: The Summer Inbox Edition. For this edition, we checked out all the links we've been sent over the last few weeks and picked out some gems we thought you should check out. Without further ado...

What would summer be without... an inflatable beer pong table?

PortoPong thinks no pool should be without beer pong (or beirut if you want to be a jerk about it). Well, we here at DormDelicious say, why not?! Unless of course, you are under 21, in which case you should be playing water pong. But not with the pool water. Never with the pool water.

BenQ is giving away GP1 Mini Projectors and gift cards until August 19th!

The company behind the Joybee GP1 compact projector [read our review] is giving some away, along with ten gift cards, to people who share a story about how to have fun economically. And if there's anything college students should know, it's how to have fun on a budget!

Also, as a special bonus to DormDelicious readers, use the code COL0001 if you buy one of these projectors and get a free 2 year warranty.

Design Your Dorm lets you, uh, design your dorm

We've seen a couple products since launching DormDelicious that help you lay out your dorm before you get there, but DYD definitely has the most curb appeal (and is the most aptly named). The interface is slick, and lets you see a 3D model of your dorm. You can add products and then it lets you know where to buy them. Definitely worth checking out.

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BenQ Joybee GP1 Review

BenQ Joybee GP1 Projector FrontThere are lots of reasons to get a projector for your dorm room. Obviously, it's cool to play movies, TV, and video games on a big screen. Believe me, the ladies will love watching Steel Magnolias and seeing Tom Skerritt's lovable face larger than life. Also, a projector is great for parties - we've projected movies, music videos, and other cool visuals on the wall with the sound off and it's always a hit.

When we received a request to review the Joybee GP1 Mini Projector, we jumped at the chance, as we spent both junior and senior year of college enjoying having a projector in our dorm, and then in our off campus house.

It all started junior year, when one of our roommates brought home a rented projector and screen over the weekend that he needed for a presentation. After spending nearly every hour that weekend watching movies in awe of the size and quality we never turned back. We immediately turned to eBay, but there are a number of problems with projectors that are within the college budget.

First, most of the worthwhile projectors you'll find in this price range are used so the lamp will have quite a few hours of use on it, and lamps are insanely expensive to replace. Second, the technology is old so the hardware is large, runs hot, won't have a lot of video connectivity options, and likely won't be very bright. We ended up with a decent projector, but it took a long time to warm up, and if you didn't have it positioned perfectly the image looked warped.

Luckily, the BenQ Joybee GP1 has come to the rescue! It's small, lightweight, extremely bright, comes loaded with input options, and solves a number of problems that plague lower cost projectors. Read on for our full review...

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How To Plan The Perfect College Party Or Event

Jay Rodrigues is the Founder and CEO of DormNoise

Some of the best memories in college come from the events and parties that make up your social calendar through the four or more years you spend on campus. Whether it be a fraternity party, charity fundraiser, or just the “rager” Party-Guy Steve throws in his dorm room every Thursday night, events are what keep you going between classes, projects and exams.

Of course, events of all shapes and sizes take planning, and even Party-Guy Steve will tell you that he has a list of things he keeps in mind. Even if you’re not the Social Chair of your sorority though, you can plan an event without overloading your already busy life. Once you decide to take on the party planning responsibility here are some good tips follow.

Make a Checklist/Timeline

It sounds simple, but laying out your timeline/checklist is an important first step to keep you on track. For small events and parties you can get away with a 4-6 week planning window. However, for big events, especially those that will require you to organize committee members, allow yourself at least 3-6 months.

Choose Your Venue/Date

There are a number of great places to host events right on campus – game room, function halls, the college pub, lounges, etc – but you’ll want to check the campus calendar when choosing a date to make sure you don’t have a lot of competing events happening at the same time as yours.

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