Happy Good Friday, everybody! Really, Fridays are always good. It’s the weekend! But since today is Good Friday, we’ve been thinking about some ways for you to make this day extra good. Great, in fact. So whether you’re at home celebrating Easter or Passover with your family, or heading out tonight with friends, we’ve got what you need.

Here are 7 free or cheap ways to make your Good Friday great.

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Garnet is a student at Columbia University in New York City. She is “that person” who starts dancing at a party when everyone else is standing around, and if there were a Facebook stalking Olympics, she would be a gold medalist. She also loves cheesy 90s music, and almost died of happiness when Vanilla Ice retweeted her. Once. Follow her on Twitter @garnethenderson.

[Lead image via auremar/Shutterstock]

Yesterday, Adobe released an updated version of the favorite product of the internet age – Photoshop. They’ve unveiled the beta version of Photoshop CS6, which includes all the new features that will be available when Photoshop CS6 has its full release within the next few months. It’s full of new enhancements that will increase performance and help you create polished images that pop.

Photoshop is a great program for college students, whether you’re using it for class, to jazz up your resume or for making hilarious photos to put on the internet. Because let’s be honest, we all spend more time on the internet than we spend on homework. The best part of this news is that you can download the beta version of CS6 now! Adobe is looking for feedback on their new product, so download it here and tell them what you think on their forum.

As college girls our cell phones are our lifelines. Our way to contact our friends. To Google nagging questions. To check our e-mail and update our Facebook. We utilize them as much as we possibly can in every way we can. From scheduling to shopping.

Shopping?

Yes, shopping. Cell phones improve our lives in a lot of different ways but I bet you didn’t know they could improve the way you shop too. Well…we did, but don’t worry, we’ve decided to share our wisdom with our lovely readers. Here are seven shopping apps that will better your shopping experience!

1. ShopSavvy. Scan the barcode of that blouse with your cell phone and ShopSavvy will compare prices from over 20,000 different stores, while also providing product views. You’ll never buy a dress only to see it for 50% off somewhere else ever again! (Don’t you hate when that happens?) Download it here!

Read More »

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Finally — summer’s over! It’s time for sweaters, boots, Starbucks’ signature fall drinks, and for those leaves to start falling. You could spend all fall hunched over your computer worrying about mid-terms, or you can get in touch with your seven-year-old self that took time to relish the changing leaf colors, the local pumpkin patches, and of course, the cooler weather.

Here are five things that you probably enjoyed during your childhood that you can still enjoy this fall. (Editor’s Note: especially if you add a little spiked apple cider.):

1. Go Apple Picking: Throw on some jeans, find a cardigan, and head to the nearest apple orchard. Now that fall is here, apple orchards should be open to the public. Not sure where the closest apple orchard is? Check out Pick Your Own for all the details of the farms and orchards near you. Not only will this get you outside to enjoy the nice fall weather, it will give you a reason to bake. Once you pick out those perfect apples, call your mom and ask for her apple pie recipe, make some caramel apples, or brew cider (feel free to add alcohol, of course). Baking isn’t your thing? Well, you know what they say: “An apple a day keeps the doctor away,” and that can’t hurt either. Read More »

It doesn’t matter if you go to an Ivy League school or a community college, there’s one thing that all colleges have in common and that’s FREE STUFF. Namely, free t-shirts. My dresser is currently overflowing with them (of varying sizes) and there’s no need for all of that cotton getting in the way of the cashmere and the silk.

But I don’t want to throw them away! That’s wasteful and with Earth Day coming up, I don’t think I could do it. So I’ve started looking for fun ways to reuse my t-shirts. There’s the obvious pillows, bags and blankets, but now I’ve discovered a super chic new project: t-shirt scarves! Scarves are the easiest way to add some oomph to an outfit, and now you can do so for free.

Below are two different types of t-shirt scarves – pick the one you like best, or make ‘em both. Lord knows you’ve got plenty of material to work with. Read More »

Whether we like it or not, January is quickly approaching.  And we all know what that means.  Yup, that’s right – it’s New Year’s Resolution time.  While self improvement is a noble aspiration, it is also an excellent way to make you feel like ish come February when you haven’t made any strides toward your goal.

This holiday season, I urge you to make a resolution that you will actually keep, and that is to take better care of your environment.  Not just because it’s a good thing to do, but also because it’s a gosh darn easy resolution to stick to.  Having a greener existence is all about baby steps, which translates into easy success without all of the leg work.  Here are some of my favorite tips to get you going to a greener and happier you!

Potential Resolution #1:  “I will get all of my books from the library.”
First of all, this is probably something most of us do on a regular basis anyways.  Second of all, it saves you money and storage space.  Buying books not only wastes a lot of paper and binding materials, but it also takes a lot more energy to package and transport.  If you absolutely need to have a certain book at hand, such as a textbook for a class, see if any of your friends are in the class and ask them to go halfsies on the book.  You’ll save money on those ridiculously expensive textbooks and you always have the option of checking it out at the library if you get in a bind. Read More »

We have a lot of freedom here in the wonderful U.S.A. Freedom that people around the world would die for. Freedom that people around the world do die for. But do we appreciate that freedom? Not as much as we should. In fact, being that we’ve been raised to be independent and fearless females, there are a lot of freedoms we have that we don’t recognize often enough.

Tomorrow we celebrate Independence Day and in honor of that, I’m going to enjoy my freedom from my diet and eat 2 hot dogs I asked the ladies of CollegeCandy what freedom they appreciate most in their lives. Me? I love the chance to share my opinions with the world. And to eat ice cream for breakfast now that my parents aren’t watching me.

What about you? Read More »

I’ve mentioned this in recent posts, but I always use my summer vacation as a catalyst for next fall’s budget.  Many of you are saving money by living at home, or earning extra cash by taking on a summer job.  However, when the sun comes out, it’s a lot more tempting to go out and spend money.

You might have said “No” to 1/2 price happy hour during the winter, but now your friends can twist your arm to drink overpriced margaritas at a trendy beach bar.  Cutting costs doesn’t have to mean cutting down on fun, however, and if you play your cards right, you can have a kickass summer and barely spend a dime.

1.  Hang out at the lake.

Big beaches can actually cost a pretty penny, when you factor in overpriced parking costs, expensive surrounding restaurants, and the gas money if it’s a major tourist trap that seems worth a 2- to 3-hour drive.  You can still soak in the sun and go for a dip at your local lake.  If the lake is part of a community park, you might have to pay a couple dollars to park, but that money usually goes towards keeping the park clean.

2.  Go fruit picking.

Check out local farms and farmer’s markets and stock of on all the fresh produce that’s yours for the picking.  Whether you visit a strawberry patch, a blueberry field, or stock up on a harvest of tomatoes, you can spend a few therapeutic hours away from the commotion of our high-tech world, and maintain your bikini bod by eating healthy.  Then, go home and conjure up some gastronomic experiments, such as homemade caprese salad (tomatoes layered with fresh mozzarella and drizzled with balsamic vinegar) or a genuine strawberry daiquiri. Read More »

How’s that free ice cream treating you? What, you didn’t know it was Free Cone Day at Ben & Jerry’s? Oh, I’m sure you knew about Iced Coffee Day at Dunkin Donuts then? No? Well, you need to get on that because today just might be the best day ever!

The only thing that would make today any better would be if today was Friday, and the last day of classes, and maybe if I had a hot date tonight. Okay, so today could be better, but this ice cream and coffee certainly aren’t hurting my mood. Honestly, anytime someone wants to give me free or discounted stuff I’m going to be incredibly happy.

In fact, my perfect day would revolve around freebies.  My perfect day would start with my Dunkin Donuts coffee and a free makeover at Sephora, where  they would send me away with a bag of free makeup and spa goodies. Then I’d swing over to Ihop for some free pancakes, served to me by the hottest waiter Ihop has to offer. You know what? Let’s just say Zac Efron will serve me my short stack. And he will be shirtless. I know shirtless isn’t the most sanitary condition for the food industry, but he’s just so damn pretty, I don’t even care. Read More »