Let’s be honest for a moment here: as college females, we aren’t so good at managing our money. Sure, we’d like to be…until we walk past Anthropologie and have to have every dress in the window and those adorable throw pillows for our bedrooms.

The truth is, money management and financial mumbo jumbo is boring and spending all that hard earned money is fun! Who wants boring when we can have this?

But it doesn’t have to be that way, which I learned after reading So Many Shoes, So Little Money: A Girl’s Guide to Finance. Lisa Serwin, a girly girl to her core, breaks all that budget business down in a way that is easy to understand and, even more importantly, easy to incorporate (realistically!) into the college girl’s life. Serwin doesn’t tell us to eat ramen and wear our leftovers from middle school; she explains how to save and how to spend in a way that won’t send us back to our childhood bedrooms when the money (inevitably) runs out.

Naturally, I needed her to set my budget to talk to her. And I did! Here is a bit about my new financial hero and a lot of useful information that all of us can benefit from!

5 Questions We Ask Everyone:

1. What’s your most hysterical/ridiculous college memory?
That’s fit for print? I accidentally locked myself in a second floor bathroom during a fraternity party.  The door handle broke off, and no one heard my pounding. (The one and only time in history there wasn’t a line for a ladies room!) I climbed out the bathroom window onto the roof – high heels and all, shimmied down a tree, and walked back in through the front door. However, apparently everyone had been watching my descent through the window.  When I walked back in I was greeted with cat calls and applause.

2. What are the five things you can’t live without?
In no particular order:
Great shoes
Chocolate
My family and friends
Books
A good night’s sleep (otherwise I’m really cranky) Read More »

Living in the dorms is one of the most essential college experiences. Years from now, you’ll tell your friends and family of all your adventures and mishaps. You’ll never forget those obnoxious fire-drills at 3 am, the industrial blue carpeting, how hard it was for you to climb up into your bed…whilst drunk.

Most of all, when you look back you’ll remember the people you spent these times with, and all the friends you made. But when it comes to dorm buddies, there are the good friends (they don’t steal your shampoo and they grasp the concept of hygiene) and then there are your dorm BFF’s…

The Aspiring DJ: As annoying as his incessant Facebook messaging may be, the DJ is a good dorm friend to have. Not only does he have vast knowledge of the hottest clubs in town, he knows the cheapest best nights to go. His iTunes shared library is effing awesome and he’s always happy to demo his spinning skillz at whatever event you’re hosting (AKA whatever themed pre-party you’re having in your room, he’s happy to bring an equally festive mastermix). Not only is he the life of the party with his hilarious and entertaining personality, but he has a special place in his heart for nightly AYCD party buses. He wants as many of his friends at all his gigs as possible, so you’re always on the V.I.P. list when he MC’s at da club. Read More »

The New York Times is a journalistic institution, arguably the best newspaper in the world. So to see it scraping at the bottom of the barrel for stories – especially in the always over-hyped Education section – is disconcerting, to say the very least.

The Times recently published an article about colleges remaking the college tour. You know, rattling off facts and figures while walking backward (and skillfully avoiding tree root death-traps). However, the article focuses not so much on the content of the tours as the way the tour guides walk – backwards, as is traditional, or forward, the direction in which many colleges are now heading (no pun intended).

The article does explain how colleges are abandoning the fact-based approach in favor of anecdotes and personal experiences, but the bulk of the story is about the merits of walking forward on a college tour versus walking backwards. Isn’t this the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever read (well, besides the Times’s investigative report on hugging)? Read More »

"Oh, I'm kicking that guy's ass? Poor guy..."

There are some things you should always apologize for, like being late to meet a friend, bumping into someone on the street, or accidentally running over your ex-boyfriend’s foot with your car (whoops).

But there are also some things that, as a woman, you shouldn’t have to say sorry for.  I don’t care what anyone says, but you should not be left feeling guilty for any of the following.

Beating a Guy at Sports: Sunk the winning shot in a battle of the sexes?  Poker faced your way to a win?  We’ve all been told not to beat men at sports so we don’t bruise their precious egos, but this is also not 1950, so don’t hold back and don’t apologize.

Bypassing Lines at Clubs: Don’t let the haters have you giving looks of remorse as the velvet ropes are lifted.  Flaunt it if you’ve got it! Read More »

Check out Britney’s performance on Letterman last night.

Madonna gets weirder by the day.

Put Whitney Port on your face. No, really.

Michael Jackson’s doctor speaks!

How much do women cry? A lot a lot.

I want me a loaded Corona!

I’ll be honest – if I didn’t read CollegeCandy, I never would have known about MTV’s new show, House of Jazmin. I’d like to say it’s because I don’t bother with the dribble on MTV, but the real reason is because I get so engrossed in the drama on MTV shows that I am forced to fast-forward straight through the commercials and miss everything that is comin’ up.

So I watched this new show, AKA MTV’s answer to the loss of Lauren Conrad. MTV’s attempt at another show that might possibly gross as much money for the network as The Hills. MTV’s response to people who complained about how scripted/fake/annoying The Hills is.

And what did we get?
A real girl who is driven and talented and adorable.

And boring! Read More »

Sometimes I love a band so much, I just sit and wait for them to come out with something new. Well, I don’t literally sit and wait, but I do get really excited when I know a release date is near. And this week, my long and painful wait was over.

Well, for two of the three bands, at least.

Had I actually sat around and waited for Third Eye Blind to release a new album – yes, it took them six years – I would probably be dead by now. And even though it wasn’t an eternity, waiting for Mute Math felt like forever. I was thisclose to completely wearing out their original album. Now, I wasn’t exactly falling off my seat waiting for Cascada to release something new, but they did I listened and enjoyed it nonetheless.

They say distance makes the heart grow fonder and I’m pretty sure that can be said for this week’s new releases: Read More »

Do I even have to ask what you think?

Hey, LiLo – put on a bra!

American Idol is really scraping for some judges.

Brad Pitt likes the pot.

Brett Favre really needs to make up his damn mind.

Can Keri Hilson save R. Kelly’s career?

So as I spent another long summer day mourning the loss of LC from my biggest guilty pleasure (yeah, I’m still not over it), a promo for a new MTV show, House of Jazmin, caught my eye. I don’t really get the spelling of her name, but Jaz is young, cute, and bound to have messy, dramatic hookups every week…

It’s no LC, but can Jazmin be the new reality superstar sent to fill the void The Hills has left in my heart?

Maybe we should first establish the fact that no one will ever be able to fill the very chic shoes of Lauren Conrad. As a reality star, she was God. Not too much of a pushover, but not too catty. A serial dater, providing endless opportunities for me to indulge my monogamous self in first date after first date with sexy, California men. And she chose perfect friends, as they gave her loyal friendship for just long enough to have me invested in the relationship… before completely betraying her and shattering both of our hearts.

I think you get the picture; I was basically living an imaginary life as Lauren Conrad’s best friend. (Cry during the Audrina/ LC fight scene with mascara tears…me? Noooo…) Read More »

So as I write this, I’m sitting on my lanai (balcony) overlooking the beautiful, blue Maui ocean (yes, I’m on my first “real” vacay in years), which means I’m not particularly keen on scouring the internet for under $20 deals for long periods of time (not to mention, they’re only giving me an hour of free wifi). So where did I head?

The mother of all cheap & trendy spots: Forever 21.

And no, she did not disappoint. Checking out the website or a store near you is a necessity before you head back to school, as there are loads of insanely awesome deals on ridiculously cute clothes.  What are you waiting for?  Read, set, GO!

Here are a few things I know I’ll be grabbing up. You know, when I get back to the mainland. Read More »