Every college student knows the deal this summer- there’s a recession and jobs are hard to come by, let alone a job that will pay you a decent wage. However, now that the warm weather is here we all want to get out of the house and enjoy our time off from school. Can you party this summer on a tight budget? 100% YES.

Don’t worry Studenomics is not here to tell you to save your money by not partying at all this summer or by playing board games because that is completely unrealistic & you guys wouldn’t listen anyway. Studenomics is here to show you how to optimize your spending so that you get the most out of life today while saving for tomorrow.

The following are ways you can party with your friends on a tight budget this summer while you enjoy your time off from college:

Park party. Get together with some friends in a public park at night time or during the evening. Most parks require you pay a small permit fee so don’t be cheap and pay it or else you might get a nice fine from the police. If the park doesn’t require a permit fee then your evening becomes even cheaper.

Backyard barbecue. So simple yet so fun. One person brings the beer, one brings the food, another brings soft drinks and you got yourself a party. Remember not to make too much noise after dark because you may get a fine causing this to be an extremely unfrugal party.

Camping. Cottage prices can be very steep in the summer so why not pay the camping ground fee and pitch a tent (I hope you dirty minds are not thinking about something else). Once again one person pays for gas, the other brings the tent, another person brings the beer, someone brings up the food, and you guys got yourself an inexpensive weekend away from home.

Few more tips to save money on partying this summer:

Student discount. College may be out for the summer but you can still use your student discount card when purchasing food or other items for your summer party.

Summer specials. My beer of choice is a Corona with a lime in it and it so happens that there is a summer special on Corona’s this year. The point here is to look around and you will be able to find some great deals on alcohol, food, and possibly even camping accessories.

Pool your money ahead of time. Do NOT leave home with your bank card. Before you guys go out get together and calculate roughly how much money you will need and pull out the cash. If you are going camping then pay for everything in advance (unless you plan on driving 6 hours).

Make sure everyone spends the same amount. Don’t be the guy that’s nervous because you’re stuck paying for the camping ground fee while your buddy buys a little bit of beer and spends the least amount of money.

If the total amount of all expenses comes out to be $400 then make sure 4 people all chip in $100 each. The whole point of splitting up the tasks is to ensure that you guys don’t forget anything and that everyone is responsible for one thing.

Some common summer activities to avoid:

Night clubs in the downtown core. These get pretty pricey in the summer because some night club owners use the influx of college students as an excuse to raise cover price and the cost of drinks. Plus as sexy as it may seem to be surrounded by a bunch of sweaty people it really isn’t. The clubs get stuffy and the whole time your going to want to leave but won’t because you paid your $10 cover fee.

Cottage rental. This can be really fun but from my past experiences and from what I’ve been able to gather from others- it can get really expensive. Most cottage rental places only have a 2 month window where they can earn decent money so they jack up the prices.

photo: shekay

Say what you want about frugality tips and personal finance issues facing college students today, I believe there are still many small ways that college students can save money.

Simply put, there are places & ways that college students should never spend their money, and I’m here to outline a few of them.

1. College book store. You guys know my thoughts on the college book store. There are so many ways to save money on textbooks that it makes no sense to walk into your college book store to shell out up to a couple hundred dollars on a textbook.

2. Library. Your local library or school library is meant to be a free resource for you and the community. Don’t be one of those fools that returns the books late and racks up late fees. Not only could the fees add up but you will definitely annoy a few people.

3. Your bank. Everyone knows the deal by now- find a bank that won’t charge you all kinds of ridiculous monthly and usage fees.

4. Local fast food restaurant. You’re in your 20s, its about time you learned how to prepare your own food. Not only will you save money but you will eat healthier (and no I don’t want to hear the argument about how McDonald’s has healthier options now).

5. Gym membership you won‘t use. I have a gym membership that I try to use as often as possible but let’s be honest many college students will sign up for gym memberships that they will never use.

6. High gas prices. Gas prices can get very steep at times and it just adds to your debt if you are already struggling to cover your college tuition costs. I know some people think riding a bicycle to school is lame but you can always take public transportation to save money.

7. Expensive drinks at clubs. You can always save money by pre drinking before you go out, going out on odd nights, or by hitting the local college pubs where they host student nights.

8. Maxing out your cell phone package. You would have to pry my iPhone off my dead body so I can’t judge others for spending money on a cell phone package but I can tell you that you’re insane if you manage to max out your minutes or text messages. You got the package for a reason, once you start going over I don’t even want to see your cell phone bill.

Time for some ideas from the readers and Twitter followers:

9. Check cashing places- @stephonee.

10. The guys in charge of picking up the keg- @The_Weakonomist.

11. The college of course! And the guy at the dorm party who keeps asking for beer money. And friends who never pay you back- @prosperousfool.

I’ve never been too crazy about social media when it comes to promoting Studenomics. I would rather devote my time to writing great content and interacting with the readers. However, after much kicking and screaming I have spent the past few months actually updating my Twitter account.

I don’t exactly have lots of followers nor do I post the most thought provoking tweets but I’m working on improving both. If you can put up with some pointless tweets and the occasional thought provoking tweet from me then click the link below. As for the rest of the post, I will post some of my favorite tweets form the past few days along with some of my favorite articles.

@StackingPennies: If you have an office, pls close your door when you are talking. Even if there are only 2 of you in there.

@TrentTSD: Want to make your house look fresh and distinctive on the cheap? Repaint your front door a bold color. Works like a charm.

@StevePavlina: Talking about the intelligence you can’t apply is like bragging about a car you can’t drive.

Congrats to @StretchyDollar: wow - just realized stretchydollar.com hit the six-month mark today! Never thought I’d make it this far. Thanks to everyone for your help!!!

MoneySmartLife suggest that we start a side business in the lazy days of summer. Well how do you think this article was put together? Any down time I have I spend it working on my blog and this is what you can do with the side business of your choice.

FreeMoneyFinance tells us how to get the most out of a college degree. Read this article, period. Some common advice that I preach here on Studenomics (work during college, grow you career) and some advice that I would have never come up with.

JD Roth of Get Rich Slowly shares his experiences with the book/workshop- Escape From Cubicle Nation. The article is great and apparently as is the book.

Spilling Buckets gives us 10 things they wish they knew as a first time home owner. Important for all recent graduates that are looking into making that very first home purchase.

Last week I discussed some of the setbacks of pursuing a college education online. Anyone that regularly reads Studenomics knows that I try to show both sides of every argument. I find that by seeing the positives of both sides of the coin keeps your mind open. Before I waste any more time, let’s get started with a look at the benefits of obtaining an online college/university degree.

Ability to obtain a Masters Degree while still keeping your full time job

There are plenty of people out there (including myself) that would love to both get started with work in the field and yet somehow earn a Master’s Degree once they complete an undergraduate program. Pursuing an online education is likely the best method for this.

Save money on living & transportation costs

With an online college you probably won’t have to drive anywhere (besides the McDonald’s drive thru when pulling an all nighter) or move anywhere. You have the freedom to complete your assignment/read lectures in your own living room.

Accessible all hours of the day

You don’t have to stress if you miss a lecture because all of the lectures are online. Some people are flat out lazy and don’t want to attend lectures. Others have legitimate reasons for not being able to attend every lecture and online courses would be extremely beneficial to them.

Develop new skills sets

Hopefully you manage to develop some decent time management and self discipline skills while earning your online college degree. This could be the first time in your life where you spend your time online doing more than reading people’s Facebook status updates. With strict deadlines and the onus being on you to study the given material, you will learn how to effectively prioritize and how to juggle a variety of tasks at once.

Easier for a parent to earn an online degree

Once again if you have children and a family life that takes up a large portion of your time you won’t have the energy to have to drive to college every single morning. Online courses grant you the freedom of reading your lectures while you prepare food for your family or while the kids take a nap.

More time to absorb the material

Whether you have a learning disability or it just takes you longer to grasp concepts, you may feel more comfortable in front of a computer screen then you would in an actual classroom setting.

Best of all- no dress code

Most graduate programs require you to come to class in a suit. Most undergraduate programs don’t have a specific dress code but I’m pretty sure you can’t show up in your boxers. As superficial as it sounds not having to get dressed every single morning can be a great feeling.

photo: ambhaims

“Never mistake motion for action.” -Ernest Hemmingway

Do you find yourself always trying to find new ways to save money? If you answered yes then that’s awesome. Unfortunately today I will be discussing financial decisions that are very short sighted and could have more long term problems than benefits.

You may be asking yourself at this point, “how could it be a bad thing if I save money?”

Well let me start off by saying that this article is NOT designed to bash frugality tips, in fact, short sighted financial decisions would not even be considered frugality tips.

Just to clarify the message that I’m trying to get across, allow me to provide you with a few examples of short sighted financial decisions in your 20s: (with thanks to my Twitter followers)

1. Saving money by taking less courses during the semester or by not attending additional workshops/courses that could be extremely beneficial to your career.

2. Cutting up your credit cards into a million tiny pieces just to ensure you won’t use them. Or by canceling your oldest credit card to limit shopping habits as @MoneyMateKate puts it. She also adds that it really hits your credit score. In reality credit cards are not that evil (an article coming to Studenomics this week- stay tuned).

3. Studenomics reader @ssmaia chimes in by saying it is short sighted to buy cheaper but worse quality things that don’t last as long (groceries, clothing, technology, to name a few).

4. An extreme example would be saving money by lower certain types of insurance premiums to save a buck today according to @JeffRoseCFP.

You catch the drift here, short sighted financial decisions are ones that may save you a little bit of money today, but may end up costing you more in the long run.

Now I want to spend some time helping you determine whether a certain financial (or career) decision could be beneficial to your long term growth or extremely short sighted. After answering the following questions you should be able to figure out whether as a college student/twenty something, the money you save is worth it in the long run.

• Am I the only person saving money this way? It’s great to be unique but being the only person you know to not have health insurance isn’t the greatest idea.
• What will I do with the money saved? This is the most important question because if you save money by not taking a course only to go out and get wasted while drinking expensive booze then you may have bigger problems.
• Could this $500 turn into something more? So $500 may be steep for a weekend course but what will the return on your investment be? What if that course teaches something valuable that you could turn around to use to earn an income for many years to come?
• What will I do in case of an emergency? God forbid you ever crash your car but what if you do while having the lowest coverage possible?
• Will I have to make the same purchase 2 months down the road? You can save money by buying the cheapest laptop, but how long will it last?

This article may have been addressed at twenty somethings but I feel everyone can relate to it. Are there certain financial decisions that you feel are extremely short sighted?