Living on a budget

After living in my residence hall for about five days now, and I have discovered some very useful tips for living in the residence halls, especially Cambridge Commons. Being a college student, you must use your resources to get by. I found out how to use objects in these residence halls for other things than what they should originally be used for.

Starting in the bathrooms, you may use the shower to un-wrinkle clothes; Not perfectly, but it works well enough. While you are taking a warm shower with the door closed (of course) hang your wrinkled linens on the towel hooks that are provided, and while you are showering, the steam from the shower aids in un-wrinkling your clothes. You get a shower and dry cleaning service in one!!

Next, if you live in Cambridge Commons, the bottom portion of your window opens. This gives you the ability to lay your clothes on the open portion. (Don't worry, there's a screen and your clothes will not drop out of the window.) Here, you are able to air out your clothes, spray febreze fabric cleaner on them, or just dry them using the breeze if you so wish to. It's easy, energy efficient, and a good use of your resources.

Lastly, the box your food comes in is your best friend when trying to make food for yourself. If you are making a pizza, for example, in a kitchen in Sandburg, Riverview, or the floor kitchens in Cambridge Commons, you can take the pizza out when it's done and place it back on the cardboard box it came packaged in; especially if you don't own a huge plate, or a pan to cut your pizza on. Simply just put the pizza back on the box, put it down on the counter and use a pizza cutter.

Note: The pizza cutter from the UW Credit Union some of you may have recieved from New Student Orientation works very well and clean well with some soap and water.

Also, if you are making a microwavable dinner and the container is too hot to touch when you take it out, AND you don't own a pot holder, use the box it came in as your potholder. It really works by taking the dinner out of the microwave with your hands and putting it back on the box. The box becomes a good barrier to protect your hands from getting too hot and dropping your meal.

I hope these nifty ideas help you in living the life of a college student. It's not glamorous and it's not easy, but these ideas make it you a little more resourceful and hopefully these tips can make you feel as if you can work around living on a tight budget.

Hope to see everyone in the residence halls soon!!

- Lauren -