Poor college students, need help.

[cavingjan]

It sounds like you need money now and not two or three years from now (which is where you'd start to see your pay off from an internet idea).
Since you are adamant about keeping the car, get a second job for the weekends. And I'd consider selling the audio system and reinstalling the original to help pay your credit card bill. That should be your first priority.
And over the summer get a good full time job and save all the money. When I went to college, I worked 60+ hours a week so I only had to work 20 hours during school.
Line up some work for spring break.

 

[BD2003]

Aside from whoring yourself on a XXX site, youre SOL. My typical weekly expenses include:

$20 for weed. $10 for the train if I decide to go home.

I'm on a meal plan, but since you live with your parents, you can easily buy food to cook, so that shouldnt cost you more than $30 a week. Every single person I know that has a car in college is either getting it from their parents, or wishing they never bought their own.

Besides, if I had an easy way to make money over the net, would I tell you?

 

[sciencetoy]

Okay, you want in internet idea? Put up a website where you ask people for advice on how to survive as a poor college student.

It's as good an idea as any these days.

The kicker is, how do you make a profit from that site? You gotta sell something. What do you have to sell? Well, if you're really good at PR, you can get a lot of publicity, get a lot of people coming to your site, then charge for ads. Hasn't been profitable for very many webbies yet, but you might be one of the first to make it work.

Or, you can write a book about your poor life and sell that. Sell a book-and-tape "multimedia" package for a hundred bucks. Nobody would buy it? Aha. Throw in some sex tips, diet tips, or get-rich-quick tips and they might. "Sex Life of a Poor College Student" - geez, I might buy that, if I read some juicy excerpts that ended just as they were getting really hot and I knew it was a really secure, private transaction.

Affiliate sales? You could probably come up with something to affiliate to. You might even be able to write good enough ad-copy to become successful at that. But it takes time & skills to manage that kind of program well enough to cover your expenses, let alone pull in a profit.

What else you got to sell that people using the internet will pay for?

 

[Ultima]

I am a college student too, I don't work but am tryig to find a job, no heavy payments other than the $15 US Subway and bus pass, and I probably spend another $15 US in food. Nonetheless, my bank account is almost dry right now and I'm trying to get a part-time job, no luck so far though.

All I can say, is that if I were you, I'd sell off the car, get a used car and pay it off, use whatever money's left over to clear my credit card debt, and cancel the credit card! You may even want to get rid of the cell, I mean, do you really need it? It seems 90% of people have cell phones these days but only 10% actually have a use for it. The rest just play games on it in class or have it beep in class only to turn it off. Yeah.. its really useful.. lol. A friend of mine is one of those people who got a cell phone to be "cool" and has finally realized the errors of his ways He's gonna cancel it in a month or so...




<< Hello, I am 19 and a freshman at Northern Kentucky University. As my name implies, I am a poor college student. I work at Staples.com, as a phone/internet/chat customer support rep (I handle all the price matches that those anandtech Hot Deal guys try to throw at us, hehe). I work about 25 hours a week and make $10 / hr. I also goto school full time (15 hrs) and I am not making enough money to "enjoy" my life.

I pay a $276 car payment monthy, $110 insurance, $30 cell phone, $50 credit card, etc. After taxes, my typical paycheck is $185... and with all those bills I usually have like $20-30 a week to eat/pay gas, etc. That is not enough money! How am I supposed to eat, pay gas, buy presents, and go shopping for myself every once in a while with $20 a week.

Soooo, my friend and I (he is in similar situation) are willing to spend some money investing in a small/home/internet business. We know we need to come up with a unique idea, build a fast/fun/friendly website, and target an audience. We do not have many funds to do it with, however. We hear about college kids getting rich off the internet all the time, so there the opportunity must be out there.

Basically, I'm asking for suggestions to make some $$$ on the internet... something study, not camping Hot Deals and then selling stuff on eBay. Thanks in Advance! >>

 

[iamwiz82]

<< Okay, you want in internet idea? Put up a website where you ask people for advice on how to survive as a poor college student.

It's as good an idea as any these days.

The kicker is, how do you make a profit from that site? You gotta sell something. What do you have to sell? Well, if you're really good at PR, you can get a lot of publicity, get a lot of people coming to your site, then charge for ads. Hasn't been profitable for very many webbies yet, but you might be one of the first to make it work.

Or, you can write a book about your poor life and sell that. Sell a book-and-tape "multimedia" package for a hundred bucks. Nobody would buy it? Aha. Throw in some sex tips, diet tips, or get-rich-quick tips and they might. "Sex Life of a Poor College Student" - geez, I might buy that, if I read some juicy excerpts that ended just as they were getting really hot and I knew it was a really secure, private transaction.

Affiliate sales? You could probably come up with something to affiliate to. You might even be able to write good enough ad-copy to become successful at that. But it takes time & skills to manage that kind of program well enough to cover your expenses, let alone pull in a profit.

What else you got to sell that people using the internet will pay for? >>



LOL, that funny!!

I think the funniest thing is that he MUST have the cellphone and car. I have a 2000 Neon and a pay as you go phone. I havent used the phone in 2 months, its only for emergencies. I seriously doubt you are so important to the world that you MUST keep a phone. In fact, i know your arent that important.

BTW, this is coming from a 19 year old college student working full time(40+ hrs a week) and between 16-20 credit hours of school. I also have an apartment which i pay for. You will survive.

 

[IgoByte]

Hmmm...you pay for a car, insurance and cell phone and you're complaining. . .

Be realistic dude....living on your own is tough...or maybe you could take out some loans and go gamble.

 

[Mister T]

Lets do some math.

You "work" 25 hours a week.
You go to school 15 hours a week

Thats 40 hours. Did you know that there are 168 hours in a week?
Start working weekends buddy. You can add another 15 hours on the weekend.

Also, here is another suggestion. Quit your current job and get 2 other "better" jobs.

Get a job working at the university in the library or something so you can study while you work. When I was in school, I was the supervisor of a weight room. I sat it a chair watching people work out for 6 hours a day. 2nd job was DJ. I would make anywhere between 100-200 bucks a night, averaged 1.5 times a week in gigs. Here is what I did:

Per week:

worked 24 hours a week (4 days x 6 hours x $8/hour) as supervisor (could study 90% of the time in the job ---> 192
DJ on average 1.5x a week at 125 a pop ------> 188
---------------->TOTAL = 380 a week.

BTW, It is possible to work 40 hours a week and go to school full time. As long as you get the "right" job.
And, no I did not go to some bullsh!t school where classes were easy.... I went to MIT.

 

[IgoByte]

<<

<< Okay, you want in internet idea? Put up a website where you ask people for advice on how to survive as a poor college student.

It's as good an idea as any these days.

The kicker is, how do you make a profit from that site? You gotta sell something. What do you have to sell? Well, if you're really good at PR, you can get a lot of publicity, get a lot of people coming to your site, then charge for ads. Hasn't been profitable for very many webbies yet, but you might be one of the first to make it work.

Or, you can write a book about your poor life and sell that. Sell a book-and-tape "multimedia" package for a hundred bucks. Nobody would buy it? Aha. Throw in some sex tips, diet tips, or get-rich-quick tips and they might. "Sex Life of a Poor College Student" - geez, I might buy that, if I read some juicy excerpts that ended just as they were getting really hot and I knew it was a really secure, private transaction.

Affiliate sales? You could probably come up with something to affiliate to. You might even be able to write good enough ad-copy to become successful at that. But it takes time & skills to manage that kind of program well enough to cover your expenses, let alone pull in a profit.

What else you got to sell that people using the internet will pay for? >>



LOL, that funny!!

I think the funniest thing is that he MUST have the cellphone and car. I have a 2000 Neon and a pay as you go phone. I havent used the phone in 2 months, its only for emergencies. I seriously doubt you are so important to the world that you MUST keep a phone. In fact, i know your arent that important.

BTW, this is coming from a 19 year old college student working full time(40+ hrs a week) and between 16-20 credit hours of school. You will survive. >>



Dude, you work full time while taking 16-20 credits per semester? Good jeeebus...

 

[Mister T]

Oh, and by the way, my parents paid for everything:

Full tuition, room and board, car (payment + insurance) and even threw me spending money every week (80 bucks /week).
Why did I work so hard anyway?

I am a capitalist pig

I currently work in a job that requires 80 hours a week minumum and loving every minute.

 

[Shalmanese]

Well, I got this email from this Nigerian dud the other day and he said he was some prince or something and that he had to flee his country. He said something about him having a lot of money and he would give me some if only I would give him my credit details so he could wire it. I was just ready to send the email when I saw this thread and I thought that you would be more deserving of the money. Just PM me for the details!!!

And I guess that just proves to you sceptics that you CAN make money off the internet! *superior smirk*

 

[darkjester]

There's no money to be made off of investments on the internet right now (and for quite a while, actually). I've got some ideas of my own that I hope to one day put together, but not in this market.

...besides, if any of us had a million-dollar idea, it'd be kind of silly to just pass it along to someone else.

 

[Kev]

<< Well, I got this email from this Nigerian dud the other day and he said he was some prince or something and that he had to flee his country. He said something about him having a lot of money and he would give me some if only I would give him my credit details so he could wire it. I was just ready to send the email when I saw this thread and I thought that you would be more deserving of the money. Just PM me for the details!!!

And I guess that just proves to you sceptics that you CAN make money off the internet! *superior smirk* >>


NO NO NO Send it to me!! I want to help this Nigerian guy!!

 

[Jzero]

Wow....can you REALLY not dump the car? Have you discussed this with your parents?
B/c that's really the only way out. Even if you get more/better jobs, you're still going to be sinking most of your earnings into the car.
College is no time to be saddled with a car loan....especially if you have a student loan (though I don't think you do).

Man...I'm taking home $2200/month and I have $40 cellphone, $50 cable and $600 apartment....and I actually felt nervous about taking on a car payment of $300/month (including insurance)! Further, I use my cellphone exclusively and have no landline.

The key to wealth is living within your means. Avoid buying that which you cannot afford to buy.

If you can't get rid of your car, I'd say your best bet is to just live on a shoestring until you can get out of debt. See if your parents can help...while my parents don't make donations, the "National Bank Of Mom" usually offers much better interest rates than any other lender.

 

[Shalmanese]

<<

<< Well, I got this email from this Nigerian dud the other day and he said he was some prince or something and that he had to flee his country. He said something about him having a lot of money and he would give me some if only I would give him my credit details so he could wire it. I was just ready to send the email when I saw this thread and I thought that you would be more deserving of the money. Just PM me for the details!!!

And I guess that just proves to you sceptics that you CAN make money off the internet! *superior smirk* >>


NO NO NO Send it to me!! I want to help this Nigerian guy!! >>



Well, I looked in your user profile and it said you live in Pennsylvania and I asked if that was okay with him and he said *quote* I would rather my lower intestines were torn our by a wild bush pig and trampled on by a herd of stampeding gazelle with steel tipped horns than to move to that god forsake state, this deal was meant to IMPROVE my living standards *unquote*

Sorry

 

[dullard]

The car is your problem. I'd ditch it if you could. No one ever needs a cell phone. Since the cell phone is the easy thing to ditch, get rid of it. Get a student loan as soon as you can: pay off the credit card and cut it up. The stupidest thing anyone could ever do is to keep a balance on a credit card.

Sorry if I was harsh - but you really need to learn better money skills. You have broken simple rules-of-thumb that only an idiot would break.

 

[imhotepmp]

<< The car is your problem. I'd ditch it if you could. No one ever needs a cell phone. Since the cell phone is the easy thing to ditch, get rid of it. Get a student loan as soon as you can: pay off the credit card and cut it up. The stupidest thing anyone could ever do is to keep a balance on a credit card.

Sorry if I was harsh - but you really need to learn better money skills. You have broken simple rules-of-thumb that only an idiot would break. >>



geesh! no need to be harsh! last thing he or anyone else needs is someone calling them an idiot.

Imhotep MP

 

[Ns1]

just curious, but has anybody noticed that his math is off?



<< After taxes, my typical paycheck is $185 >>



185 x 4 = 740

276 + 111 + 30 + 50 = 467

Which leaves $273 unaccounted for

273/4 = 68.25

 

[urameatball]

you should be so lucky...
I goto school full time...
work 30+hrs/week @ $11 canadian...

and whatever savings I have, my parents take from me because their jobs can't cover all the living expenses. From keeping count right now, my mom owes me $4500, and my dad owes me $4100. Btw, I didn't buy books for the last 2 years because I could save $700/year by going to the library a bit (okay, LOTS) more.
Furthermore, my brother just graduated high school and he's also in university, so it doesn't look like any of my savings are going to stay in my pocket.

you have it good... car, phone, stereo system, and you get to keep your paycheque.
I'm doing mainly charity work for my family!

clearly you have very poor money management skills. so don't be complaining about not making your creditcard payments or your car payments. A truly intelligent person would have figured out such variables before taking the dive.

 

[hans007]

i am well not broke. i sell laptops and parts i get from various sources on ebay basically to support my habits and save a giant pile of money for the future. my parents pay for school since they believe iwill make something of myself and i think i can do that. I drive a 2001 nissan altima, that i got at a insurance frauded salvage auction. i paid for it. i pay insurance for it probably ike $150 a month. the car is the most money sucking thing you could ever buy in your life. but its worth it, there are thing you can do in a car in college that you just cant do.

i figure you have free housing and school expenses since you live with parents. and you work what 25 hours a week at $10 an hour, then you have at least $190 a week for expenses. i dont understand how you are broke... the fact that you have a car and a phone and like $60 a week to spend, you should be like so happy with that. anyways.. enough of me.. i actually save the money i work instead of spending it on sound systems and stuff. Just stop buying stuff... i'm saving up so i can start a business someday. i think there is still oppurtunity to make money on the internet, just it has to actually be a good idea now, instead of just ANY idea.

 

[bandXtrb]

You could start an adult site and maybe make a few hundred dollars a month. The thing is, you'll have to buy a CD of content and pay for a hosting plan which will probably have you needing several hundred to start with. But you could start with a free xxx host till you figure out what you're doing. Then, you go ahead and create a gallery page and submit it to several link lists. If you have a sponsor that converts well, you should start making money. Then you repeat the process until you are making decent money.