Most of this is common sense, but a lot of people my age really don't know. Here are some good ways to save money, clean house, and maybe gain some respect. I hope that somebody finds this information useful.

Money

Budgeting helps, especially when you’re not sure where all your money’s going. When you really need to keep track of money for rent, it’s good to know how much money is going towards food, and what’s going towards frivolous things like video games. Keep money in envelopes around the house, or if that is too risky, subtract your rent/food/gas total from your money at the beginning of the month. When you think you have no money, it’s easier NOT to spend it on things.

Don’t got a job? Ask your school for help. Can’t get a full/part-time job? Do small odd-jobs for people. The newspaper and Craigslist is a good place for that local stuff. Selling your possessions is good too, as is selling art.

Food

Ramen is the staple diet of students, but can easily get tiring. I suggest having a friend or family member purchase a ramen cookbook to spice up the breakfast/lunch/dinner of champions.

Stew is an excellent dish to cook, it can keep for a while and it comes in a variety of flavours. Want the meal to be fuller and last longer? Add rice.

Meat, fish, eggs, and dairy products are budget killers, and all have a habit of spoiling fast. To preserve meat and fish, either invest in one of those air-sucking machines or freeze it. Wrapping it up in aluminum foil works well, and remember to date it! Aluminum foil has a habit of sticking to frozen meat, running it under water solves that problem effectively. Eggs spoiling too fast? Buy less eggs, and always crack 'em open a bowl/glass that isn't going to be what your preparing the meal in, just in case you get an early spoiler. Always smell dairy products before you eat/use them, sometimes stores aren't so great about "sell by" dates. If there's a tiny bit of mold on your block of cheddar, cut it off and quickly finish off the rest. It won't hurt ya.

Beverages

Coffee can be very important to a student, very important indeed. Don't spend a lot of money on brand-name coffee, buy the cheapo stuff, or get some at the school's cafeteria. Sugar and cream can make even the cheapest brand of coffee taste great. Also invest in a mug that keeps the coffee toasty warm all day long. Also good for hot chocolate.

Milk. As said before. Smell, then drink.

Juice is usually the only fruit intake a student will get, because fresh fruit is expensive and the only fruits that taste good are organic fruit (trust me). Don't go for the V-8 Fruit, or Welchs' drinks. They may taste great, but are actually just sugar water with some vitamins added in because they took out the rest of the good stuff. Frozen juice concentrate is the best, as long as it says 100% juice, such as with the Dole stuff. It's usually less expensive to get the frozen stuff, because you have to make the juice on your own. Large chain-stores often have frozen juice sales all the time, just remember your coupon.

Water. It's fresh, and it's free. Unless you're living in an area where there is bad water on tap, then it's best to buy water from stores or better yet, invest in a small water purifier.

Alcohol. If you're gonna be boozin' do it in the company of people you trust. Don't push your limits, liquor before beer, and please eat first! If you drink on an empty stomach, you'll feel like you're gonna die later. Be careful with what medicine you take, some headache medicines react badly when taken too soon after drinking. A good way to avoid hangovers, have a decent meal first, don't drink a stupidly large amount, and drink lots of water. Oh, and don't drive when under the influence AT ALL. If that lady/dude's looking super attractive, when he/she's not, then you're gonna have a hard time seeing the road. Lastly, men have an enzyme in their stomach that's specifically for processing alcohol, ladies don't. That's why men can drink more.

Cleaning

Funky odor coming from the garbage disposal? Buy a lemon, cut it in half, and grind it up in the disposal. Cutting it up smaller is also recomended, and make sure you save the other half for later. The rotting food smell will be conquered by the zesty lemon, and will make the whole kitchen smell nice.

To get an area properly cleaned, don't clean AROUND objects, move the objects and THEN clean as well as cleaning the objects themselves.

When cleaning glass, know your products. If you use a product on glass that's not meant for glass, you might ruin it. The cleaning solution will eat away at the glass and fog it up permanently, in addition to ruining the structural stability of the glass.

Be careful when cleaning inside of ovens. There is a difference between a self-cleaning oven, and an automaticly cleaning oven. The self-cleaning oven cleans when you tell it to, the automaticly cleaning oven cleans when it feels like it. Cleaning products have chemicals, and chemicals have a tendancy to catch fire/explode when exposed to heat.

Coca Cola is great for unclogging drains when you don't have any Draino.

Maintenence

If you've just stained your carpet, milk is surprisingly good at removing that stain. Just remember to clean that area thoroughly so that it doesn't sour on your floor.

Burned your carpet? If it's just the very top layer of carpet, try snipping of the burned ends. Otherwise, have fun losing your deposit.

For small holes in the walls, any store-bought plaster/caulk/ etc will work fine for small patch-up jobs. Toothpaste is good for pinprick sized holes.

If anything spectacularly bad happens to the walls, you gotta repaint. Better to repaint than to be evicted.

Electric

Electric bill too high? Turn off lights/appliances after leaving the room. Doing that already? Run dishes/washer/dryer after 8-9 pm for a price cut. Most appliances are run during the day, when electric costs are higher and people are awake.

Electric bill -still- too high? The oven might be the culprit, especially in winter. It costs more to run an oven than it does a microwave. Invest in a microwave early on, and enjoy quick-meals!

Know your light bulbs. Halogen lights heat up fast and WILL start fires if they are touching something flammable. Incandescent light bulbs are the conventional light bulbs that we are used to, ignore these unless you have a fixture that specifically needs one. Maxlite light bulbs and the other bulbs in its family cost a little more, but the pros outweigh the cons. They are brighter, use less wattage, and can last years longer than conventional bulbs. Not recommended for fully recessed light fixtures. There are also bulbs that give off true light, but these are only recommended for artists who want colours to be true-to-life and especially vivid. They don't last so long, and are expensive.

Heat

Winters are COLD. To save on heat bills, try renting a house that has a wood stove/fireplace. It takes a little extra work to get the wood, clean, and prevent fires, but the heat bills will be greatly reduced. Don't forget to invest in a fire alarm, and a fire extinguisher. And learn how to use it damnit!

Bundle up! Wear sweaters indoors, wrap up in blankets, and maybe even light a few candles (remember fire safety). Only turn the heat on in rooms you're planning on staying in for long periods of time, or have all heaters on the low setting.

Move around a lot. Exercise, dance, play DDR.

Laundry

Invest in a good laundry basket, or tote and get ready for many long hours in the local Laundromat. Never leave your clothes unattended, unless you’re willing to risk someone touching them, or going through them. Always have a lot of quarters on hand. Laundromat time is good study time, as well as a possible awkward social time.

Separate lights, darks, and coloured clothes. Be careful with bleach, and know what settings the clothes should run on.

After running clothes through the dryer, take them out immediately or they’ll wrinkle. If hanging clothes to dry, iron them afterwards.

If you have your own laundry room, try not running clothes with hot or warm water unless you really need to. It saves the warm water for showers and dishes.

Make friends with someone who has a laundry room of their own, but bring your own products, etc. Make sure to kiss-ass for use of their laundry room.

Hygiene

Please, please, please shower! BO is no fun, but neither is overcompensation of perfume/body mist/cologne/man spray. You can smell this one guy at my school a mile away because of all the man spray he puts on himself. It’s terrible.

If you’re going to shave, don’t shave anywhere you don’t want it to grow back thicker. Because it will, especially if you have dark hair.

Deodorant is a magical thing, sadly, a lot of people in college still don’t wear it. If you use stick deodorant, whatever it is, it will leave streaks. To avoid getting it on your shirt, roll up the shirt away from you when you put it on, or put the deodorant on after you put the shirt on.

Onion and garlic breath comes out of you from your stomach, not your mouth.