Despite the end of the year being one of the busiest times, it is important to think about giving to others and taking time to make a help those in need. Here is a list of easy and simple ways to get involved in making a difference this season:

Adopt an Angel, Be a Santa
Consider adopting a needy person for the holiday season. Giving Trees are everywhere right now (from your local Wal-Mart to your mall’s JCPenney, and many colleges have them up in their common areas) allowing you to choose the name of a person in need and help them out. You don’t even need a lot of money to do it! Every name comes with a list of wants; you can purchase just one thing off of that list (usually something simple like shampoo or groceries), or gather a bunch of friends to go all out. Your $10 purchase will really make someone’s Christmas.

Ring The Bell
You know those red kettles outside of grocery stores and on nearly every street corner in big cities, often accompanied by a Santa ringing a hand-bell? They are sponsored by the Salvation Army and have been around since 1891, providing homeless and needy with nice sit-down meals for Thanksgiving and Christmas. When walking out of the mall this holiday season, drop some of your spare change into those kettles, because any amount of change will be put to towards hot holiday meals for those in need.

Give an Unwrapped Toy
Toys for Tots simply asks for a donation of an unwrapped toy. This program, sponsored by the United States Marines, has been around since 1947, and all it calls for is you to drop off an unwrapped gift at any of its toy collecting sights. Need to find a donation spot? Click here!

Get Bakin’
Are you good at making gingerbread houses or baking cookies? Put your domestic skills to good use and make a local nursing home a batch of your favorite cookies or drop off a gingerbread house. Since the holiday season is often considered to be a time for presents, children are often the main focus – but it is important to not leave anyone out. Many elderly living in nursing homes are left by their families during the holiday season, and dropping off something to brighten their day would mean a lot. Contact your local area nursing homes and assisted living centers to see how you can help.

Drive Yourself Crazy
Your college is probably having some kind of drive.  In fact, if your college is like mine, you probably have two or three drives going on at once, so pick one drive that you most want to participate in and go all out. Get together with your friends for a stitch n’ bitch and knit the night away – someone out there could really use a homemade scarf. Not into knitting? Go collect cans with your best friends. Pick a neighborhood and politely go from door to door asking if there are any spare cans the family would like to donate this holiday season. Many people will be glad you stopped by, because through your good deed, they will feel like they did something good themselves! Don’t have time to participate? Donate an hour of your time to help sort all the collected items from whatever drive you want. The club or organization will greatly appreciate the help, too.

Eat-Out
As the holidays approach and the semester comes to a close, how many end-of-the-semester Christmas get-togethers are you going to have? You’re going to need a reservation for that big group of friends, and booking through Open Table is the best way to do that.  Open Table has pledged a full meal to domestic hunger-relief organizations (such as America’s Second Harvest) for every dining reservation made through the website. With nearly 49.1 million Americans living in food insecure households (meaning the availability of food and access to it) in 2008, just your reservation alone can provide someone a meal. To make reservations with Open Table, click here!

Give the Gift of Activism
Not sure what to get a friend, but know they are passionate about something? Consider making a donation in their name. For example, my sister is studying abroad in South Africa for the next year and she is particularly moved by the townships outside of Capetown, so I am making a donation in her name to an organization that provides South African township children with the opportunity to go to college (These Numbers Have Faces). Is your friend really heated over the Health Care reform and Stupack amendment issue? Maybe you can donate some money to Planned Parenthood to keep fighting the good fight. Wish you had time throughout the year to work in an animal shelter but don’t? Send $20 into the ASPCA!

Want more information or other ways to get involved, check out these websites:
Feeding America
The Salvation Army
Goodwill
Toys for Tots
List of Nonprofit Organizations
Volunteer Match

It’s your BFF. You’ve known her since you were five. And yeah, you just spent a whole paycheck on housing, but you still need her to hang out. But still, you’re both broke, college students. So who’s taking the brunt, financially? If you feel like you are controlling your spending, but still can’t figure out where your cash is going… I hate to say it, but it might be your friends.

1. The Gas-Guzzling Gretchen.

You know that friend who always has an excuse NOT to drive? Sure, if you’re traveling far, you might mention splitting the cost of gas beforehand…. but when it’s someplace close, it’s hard to notice. “My backseat is full of clothes, nobody will fit back there,” or “I”m really tired, I can go out, but I don’t want to focus on driving later.” These excuses are fine from time to time, but if you realize your car is the only one getting mileage, you may want to reconsider your gas costs. It’s easy not to care when your friend needs a ride down the street, but when it becomes a daily “favor,” you end up paying.

2. The No-Cash Nancy.

With direct deposit, who the hell ever has cash nowadays? Unfortunately, this can become an excuse, and the little things can add up. $10 minimum for the card at dollar-night? If you have cash, why not cover this round? Going on a road trip, and she only has a card? Guess what- it’s on you. Sure, you don’t want to keep tabs on your friends, but a stick of gum here and a cash-only Gucci knockoff there can really add up.

3. The Homeless Harriet.

Friends truly don’t let friends drive drunk. But if you’re the gal with the on-campus apartment, it becomes the norm for people to crash at your place, especially if it’s walking distance from the pub. This might not seem like a big deal, but if you have water or electric bills to pay, you’re going to have to dig deep to make sure your friends get home safe. Even if you’re in student housing, where everything is prepaid, you’re probably going to cough up some free drunk-ass ramen noodles or a few bottles of spring water. This might not seem like a big deal, but I bet if you kept a tab, you’d end up with a whole night of free boozing for the cost it takes to be cordial to your guests.

4. The “I’ll Get the Next One” Alice

Similar to the No-Cash Nancy, Alice insists that you are such good friends, you don’t need to keep official tallies. However, she also is prone to making sure she always gets the good half of any bargain. “Let’s go drink-for-drink” you say, so Alice invites you to an expensive martini bar, where you shell out at LEAST $10 per martini, plus tip. When the drinks are over, Alice says she knows a place with more atmosphere, and brings you to a dive that happens to serve $1 Natty Lites. She buys you a beer, and stiffs the bartender. The damage? You– $25. Her– $2. But hey, she bought you a drink, didn’t she?

How can you really say “NO” to your friends, the people who bail you out of tough times over and over? You really can’t. And some friends know it. And some friends DON’T realize it, but inadvertantly rob you nonetheless. It can be very difficult to bring up, even though “Hey, why don’t you spot me a $1-Menu Breakfast, since I paid for those the entire hotel for spring break” sounds like a reasonable request.

Don’t let yourself get walked over. Your buds might not even notice that they are making out like bandits while you are selling your Sociology book to cover their bar tabs. Be honest and direct with your pals if you think you are getting the shaft, and you’ll find you have more money in your checking account… and a solid friendship to boot.

Here’s how it would go. They would befriend some poor homeless guy, put him up in an apartment, and get him to sign a life insurance policy listing them as the beneficiaries. After waiting a couple of years (as an immediate death would raise the insurance company’s suspicions), they would drug him senseless, run him over with a car that — presumably — would not be traced back to them, and claim the payouts.

Helen Golay and Olga Rutterschmidt evidently did exactly this in 1999, and got away with it. Then they did it again in 2005 and got caught. Even weirder — both women are in their 70s! These are serial-killing grannies we’re talking about!

Serial-killing grannies with expensive habits, evidently: A letter from Helen to Olga talks about Helen’s plastic surgery (at age 72!) and how painful it was. Since this letter was written in 2002, it was probably the first man’s murder that paid for said plastic surgery. Morbid to think about it, isn’t it?

The article in the Washington Post talks about how the story is just like something out of Arsenic and Old Lace, except without Cary Grant. That was before my time, but the point of the comparison transcends generation: This sounds like something out of a really twisted movie.

Actually, that’s a great idea for Helen and Olga’s next ‘rocking chair fund’ (or ‘get out of jail fund,’ as the case may be): selling the movie rights to their story!

You’ve got your life.

Your social circle.

Your intellectual endeavors.

Your means of generating income.

So you’re busy.

And believe me, I’m a perfect example of a girl with naturally great skin who screws it all up on the grounds of being “busy”.

I pass out with my make up on, don’t stop to wash my hands after eating the most disgusting slice of pizza ever OR after manhandling the railings in the New York City subways all day long.

However, I have finally learned how to combat these horrible habits that seem to come along for the busy ride of life. It’s not exactly impossible, you just have to make certain things more accessible for you in order to attend to your basic beauty needs as frequently as you can.

So here are some tips:

1. Keep baby wipes in your purse and by your bed. This way, if you’re passing out somewhere other than your own bed, you can grab a wipe and get most of your make up off that way. And if they’re sitting right next to your bed when you’re shutting down your system…that will require a lot less effort than subjecting yourself to the bright lights of the bathroom.

2. Keep anti-bacterial soap/lotion in your purse. It’s much easier to give your hands a good rub down with this stuff after that slice of pizza or day spent slumming around the city than it is to waste your precious time trying to find a bathroom where you can wash your hands.

3. Keep a small container of baby powder in your purse. If you naturally have oily hair (or just don’t get a chance to wash your hair on a rushed morning), sprinkle some of this on your roots and rub it in. It absorbs the oil an resets your skank clock; buying you at least another 12 hours.

4. Keep a small mouth wash container with you. Lets face it….you go out and eat smelly food, spend the night in foreign apartments, and you don’t bring your tooth brush with you, etc. etc. etc. The least you can do for yourself (and those around you) is to wash the nasty out of your mouth with a swig of this stuff until you can get back to your own sink and tooth brush.

Staying fresh and clean is definitely not always easy when you’re always on the run. However, my own mistakes have finally taught me that preparation is everything. Having this kind of stuff around my purse has saved my ass from being mistaken for a homeless crack whore many a time and so I am passing the torch of knowledge down to you now.

Carry it carefully.

hip·ster1 [hip-ster] –noun Slang.

1. a particular breed of middle to upper class 20 some things that tend to inhabit surrounding neighborhoods of urban areas. The hipster generally has money, yet shuns conventional materialism. They try to appear starving, broken, and angry, yet have the comfort of living in $2000 lofts. Trust funds are a common commodity among hipsters.

The goal of the hipster is to look ironic.

The hipster handbook defines the hipster as “One who possesses tastes, social attitudes, and opinions deemed cool by the cool. (Note: it is no longer recommended that one use the term “cool”: a Hipster would instead say “deck.”)

The Hipster walks among the masses in daily life but is not a part of them and shuns or reduces to kitch anything held dear by the mainstream. A Hipster ideally possesses no more than 2% body fat.”

It becomes a difficult task to then differentiate between those who actually cannot eat, shower, or afford clothes. The hipster’s style aesthetic is influenced by the homeless. The hairstyles worn by the hipster is generally ragged, dirty, and has the appearance of a lack of care though often hours of care is put into the upkeep of said look.

In areas such as Williamsburg is generally safe to assume that anyone possessing this look is indeed a hipster.

Clutching their Ipods and sipping PBR, the hipster has taken over areas that were once affordable and turned them into a hipster oasis prompting stores such as Brooklyn Industries and American Apparel to move into these neighborhoods.

In main urban areas, like Manhattan, it becomes difficult to distinguish between “homeless” and “hipster.” Unkept hair, dirty clothes, a general disdain for life in general? Homeless or hipster? You decide!

Test your skills with these nifty photos so you don’t give spare change to someone with a trust fund. Play the game after the jump:

Click on a photo to determine “Hipster or Homeless?” Good Luck.

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It is now nearing the middle of October. If midterms aren’t bringing you down just yet, something probably is. Whether it be guy problems, money problems, annoying roommate issues or simply a general feeling of crappiness, you want nothing more than to vent, drink, and wallow in your world of misery.

Naturally.

I’ve been there. We’ve all been there. And everyone needs a little time to bitch.

But after watching an episode of Oprah all about giving back, I was inspired by a young girl who was battling a life threatening disease. Despite her condition, she found the time and energy to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for children suffering from AIDS in Africa. Makes our problems see quite trivial, eh?

Sure, your guy issues may seem like a giant deal when you have a date party coming up and the guy you love just hooked up with someone else and now you are going to be forced to be the only one in the entire house to go alone and that is not only totally embarrassing but a complete waste of the $250 you spent on that hot new dress.

Let’s face it, people; there are people out there with real problems. People who need real help. Children battling cancer, families living on the streets, women being abused in the homes they have built for their families. Situations like these force us to wake up and realize that our “problems” are trivial. So, instead of sitting around and bitching about the small stuff, why not use that energy to help those who really need us?

Need some ideas? Start here:

1. Find your local Habitat for Humanity

2. Hold a book drive for inner city schools

3. Volunteer for various city clean up projects

4. Volunteer at a children’s hospital

5. Tutor inner city students

6. Donate your old clothing to a battered women’s shelter

7. Help out with adult literacy programs

8. Join your school’s Dance Marathon or Relay for Life (Don’t have these at your school? Start one!)

9. Donate blood

10. Lend a hand at the local Humane Society

These projects will not only directly affect those people (or animals) you work with and for, but will also make you realize that those huge problems you had aren’t so bad after all.