I love going out with friends for drinks or dinner, but unfortunately, it’s something I haven’t been able to do very often due to my minuscule college student’s budget–until recently, when I found out about SpecialsAgent. SpecialsAgent is an amazing site that helps you find great deals on food and drinks in your area, making it the perfect resource for poor college students everywhere.  With a BFF like SpecialsAgent, you to still go out and have fun with your friends—without going completely broke.

SpecialsAgent has over 20,000 deals and specials from more than 60,000 bars and restaurants nationwide in their database. By simply typing in your location (city and state or zip code) and the date into the search bar at the top of the site’s home page, you’ll get access to every single deal that exists in your area.  The results list tells you everything you need to know about each deal, including: what the deal is (such as, 1/2 off beers or appetizers), what time it’s available, distance from your location (good for when you want something that’s within walking distance) as well as the name and address of the bar or restaurant offering the deal.  And, SpecialsAgent is always looking to include more deals, so if there are any specials that you know about that aren’t listed, make sure you e-mail them to get it added to the list!

The SpecialsAgent search engine also gives you the ability to search their database by keyword, which is pretty awesome.  So you can just type in whatever you’re in the mood for—for example, “brunch,” “tacos,” or “Ketel One”—and SpecialsAgent will find any deals in your area that fit your search.

For some locations, SpecialsAgent also has a feature on the site called “SpecialOps,” which is featured daily on the front page of the site.  A SpecialOp is a super-discounted deal or coupon (like $15 for $30 worth of food at a restaurant) that you purchase in advance that works through cooperative buying—meaning the more that people purchase the deal, the cheaper it’ll be.

What’s more, they’ve also recently launched a free app for iPhone with a search engine like the one on the site as well as available SpecialOps deals, so you can find great deals no matter where you are!

I’ve already found so many great deals on SpecialsAgent that I can’t wait to try with my friends.  I love knowing that I can still have a fun night out – and get exactly what I want – without having to worry about spending too much money!

College can be the greatest place on earth… that is, until the cash starts running low. And since right after you read this you are going to head to Urban Outfitters “just to look around”, and you are bound to find that rug/lamp/’80s drinking game/hip wall art, and you just “absolutely have to have them all because they are all so cute and will go perfect in your room,” you might not be the most frugal shopper on campus.

College can become a pretty expensive place for a lot of different reasons. Now, we know you aren’t paying for drinks at the bar (ahhh… to be a girl in college…) but next week is your BFF’s b-day and then your MFF’s HY b-day (most favorite friend’s half year birthday) and you are way past making them a friendship collage. Also I’m pretty sure season two of Gossip Girl comes out on DVD soon so there are some big purchases in the near future you cannot avoid.

With all these costs racking up, the 300 person line to that cheap franchised burrito place isn’t looking too long anymore (even though you know it only tastes good after 7 Slippery Nipples) and the Golden Arches seem like the right option to squeeze every penny. But we are here to convince you of another option. It’s called cooking. For yourself. With real ingredients.

Wait… wait. C’mon, at least let me explain before you go check Perez and go watch The Bachelor choose the skanky girl with the tongue ring.

My brother Max and I are professional chefs who wrote a cookbook that’s just for you. It’s a step by step guide starting with incredibly simple recipes that you don’t even need an oven or microwave for and then gets progressively more challenging with each chapter. By the end of our book you will be whipping up three-course meals for your BFFs, MFFs, BFs, GFs, RAs, TAs, roomies, your big sis, and maybe even the ‘rents. You’ll be like Monica from Friends, but without having to deal with Ross’s constant bitching about his lady troubles.

We want to help get it in your mind that cooking isn’t really all that difficult, time consuming, or expensive. In the cookbook we have tips on how to set up your kitchen, how to grocery shop, and even how to boil water and cook perfect pasta. So any possible cooking question you could have, we answer it. And if you come up with something we don’t answer in our cookbook, email and ask us and we’ll get back to you the same day. Technology is really an amazing thing.

Here’s a great healthy recipe below that isn’t too heavy so you can eat it before you go out. It will be so much more delicious that any fast food dinner option, too. We suggest having a few girlfriends pitch in so the overall cost is REALLY cheap. Grab a bottle of wine, crank up the Gaga and get cooking. We know you’ll feel a real sense of accomplishment once you finish making this. And hey, isn’t feeling a sense of accomplishment what college is all about?

[Freshman in the Kitchen, published by Huron River Press available now. For more information and to order visit www.freshmaninthekitchen.com.]

Have you heard? The economy is in a downward spiral! People are losing their homes, their jobs, and all of the money they’ve been saving forever! And here we are, a bunch of wide-eyed, “the world is our oyster” college kids who can’t wait to get out into the real world!

Oh yeah, and we are poor.

Between those student loans we are gonna have to pay back and the fact that we may not be able to get a job upon graduating, we gotta start eating canned goods saving now. So, how are our writers handling this economic situation (A.K.A. sh*tstorm)? Here are their tips for saving money and stretching a dollar.

Elisabeth – UA Hunstville: I have dehydrated food!! My fiance got some MREs (Meal Ready to Eat for all you non military peeps out there) from a Marine friend of his. Now when the economy completely crashes we can live off of Pork Rib, instead of just Twinkies!

Sara – NYU: I’ve been thinking about which of my friends I’ll eat if push comes to shove.

Lauren – University of Michigan: I’m doing everything at home: manicure, pedicure, eyebrows… even my bikini line. God, I hope the economy turns soon; no one should have to inflict that kind of pain on themselves.

Megan – Brown University: I’m rocking the shaggy sheepdog hairstyle to avoid paying an absurd amount of money for a haircut.

Lyndsey – University of Michigan: Procuring an extremely generous Irish bartender loverboy. I know it’s working wonders for my unemployed ass.

Kathryn S.: I’m loading up on jobs that each have their own perk. My full-time job provides free coffee, so I drink about four cups a day because I can. Now I just need another job that will pay me AND give me free alcohol.

Erica – Kent State: Befriending or re-friending people I know who still live on campus with meal plans = FREE LUNCHES!

Suzanne – Tulane: 2 words – Dollar Menu

Marissa – High School Senior: Giving my parents those cute doe-eyes so they’ll buy me things. Works like a charm if you know how to work it!

K-NYU: Pregaming and sticking to a no-bars-with-cover policy. Also, going through my friends’ wardrobes saves tons on shopping…

Amber – Old Dominion: Before I buy that cute top at Forever 21 I ask myself, “Do I really need this, or do I already have 3 of these at home?” It only works 10% of the time, but I’m making progress.

Conan – Columbia College: Eat Oatmeal Every Day

Carly – Grinnell: I reuse Ziploc bags — I know that is pathetic, but they last forever that way.

Kelly – UMass: I have stopped buying packs of cigarettes and instead have resorted to becoming that annoying person who bums them off you – at 7 bucks a pack, I will go broke!

J-NYU: Give up smoking weed — you’ll save on grocery bills.

Kari – FSU: I took all of my money out of my personal savings account and put it into a MUCH higher interest credit union that my parents opened for me when I was little. And I changed the account access so that only my mom can get to it…because “emergency” for me qualifies a new pair of boots. Additionally, I sneak a flask into my purse for the bar and order water or tonic with lime (FREE!) and spike my fun juice surreptitiously.