10 Lifehacks for Broke College Students

College is the best time of your life—or so they say. It'd be better if, you know, you didn't have to deal with being in the middle of an existential struggle involving making ends meet while drowning in student loans.

Personally, I had better times when I actually had money available to me. I thought college was a needlessly painful experience that was only made worse by the fact that a goddamned textbook costs as much as $600.

If you're having a hard time managing your money while in college, I feel you. That's why I'm going to share with you some of the things I actually learned: Lifehacks for broke college students.

First things first, choose your friends wisely.

One of the best lifehacks for college and life is to learn how to befriend people who matter. People can either drain your bank account or make your life a lot easier. At the very least, you should look for the following friends:

• The friend with a car. Yours may break down. Consider having a friend who's skilled in auto repair, too.
• The friend who throws kickass parties. Free booze, free connections, possibly free crash space if you need it.
• The friend who can sneak you into the cafeteria for free. Free food is always a perk.
• The friend who pools resources with you and helps you save money. A thrifty friend who can help you save money and find gigs is a must-have.

Avoid the following:

• Druggies. They drain bank accounts like no one's business.
• The Trainwrecks. Trainwrecks always bring disaster with them, and that can be a financial problem as well as a legal one.
• Mooches. This should be a resource pool, not you giving them everything.

Pad your GPA with easy classes.

Universities will not let you graduate if your GPA dips below a minimum, and that means that some students end up being seniors with GPAs that are way below what they need to graduate. Translation: You just wasted $60,000 in unforgivable loans.

A good quick fix (and one of the best lifehacks for broke college students that actually want to graduate) is to choose classes that are naturally "gimmes" as a way to ensure you'll graduate later on.

Fill up collapsible jugs or bags with milk or juice from the cafeteria.

Ever notice how much milk and orange juice tends to cost despite using the number of tips for saving money on groceries in college? Why should you have to pay for that when you could just snag some using your college food plans?

Get a collapsible flask, and load it up with the non-alcoholic beverage of your choice. Tuck it away in your backpack, and leave. Now that's getting your money's worth!

For a quick speaker, put your iPhone into a cup—or cut a hole in a two-liter bottle.

Back in the ancient Greek days, people would use bowl-shaped architecture to create natural amplification in their theatres. These days, we can use the same principles to increase the volume that comes out of your phone's speakers.

These makeshift amplifiers are surprisingly powerful. Maybe even powerful enough to send music through a whole room.

Many, many lifehacks for broke college students can be found in the right cookbook. Most students do not realize how powerful a microwave can be in terms of cooking healthy food and keeping yourself well-fed.

Grab a microwave meal cookbook, and you'll be able to make cakes, soups, scrambled eggs, baked potatoes, and more using it. You will thank yourself later, I promise.

Learn to go dumpster diving right after semesters end.

Want to score a free mini-fridge? Get some new furniture? Most seniors will throw out perfectly good items or advertise "curb alerts" to underclassmen who may want to get some free stuff.

As far as lifehacks for broke college students go, this one's a bit grimy. If you clean everything with Lysol though, you'll be surprised at how many goods you can get on the cheap.

Get stale bread moist again by heating it alongside a glass of water.

Reheat your bread (or pizza) by placing the bread on a plate, then putting a glass of water next to it. Add a pinch of salt to the water so the glass doesn't explode. Microwave for 45 seconds.

The evaporated water will add a little bit of extra moisture to the pizza, which in turn, will give you breads with a longer shelf life.

Ask about the textbooks you need before class starts.

Sometimes, the best thing you can do with professors is to be honest with them. Tell them you're broke. Tell them you're struggling and need to cut wherever you can. Then, ask them straight up which textbooks you can avoid buying.

Assuming that the professor isn't a prick, they'll tell you.

Talk to a counselor to find out if you can talk to a social worker that specializes in welfare.

Wait, what? For real! If you are really, really broke, you may actually qualify for government assistance while you go to college. A lot of people who actually qualify for welfare don't get it because they don't feel they are poor enough to deserve it.

Being a broke college kid is hard enough. Use it if you need to.

Get free meals (and party invites) by offering to be a campus mom.

A campus mom is someone who hustles through lifehacks for broke college students—and let's face it, who doesn't love a little help from time to time? Offer to cook meals for others in exchange for a share of the groceries, some hand-me-down textbooks, or party invites.

Bon appetit!