I’m a professional blog editor. I define the word thrifty on a daily basis. In fact, some days  I think I confuse thrifty with cheap…and occasionally even homeless-esque.  So I’m always shocked to find people who are living even more within a modest budget than me. Especially when that person is an A-list celebrity.

Yesterday Zooey Deschanel’s lawyer released her income and expense declaration. Not only did we find out she has three million dollars  just sitting around the bank, but she’s barely spending any of her $95,000 monthly income. She claims to only to spend $500 on eating out each month. Isn’t that like the cost of one dinner in LA? Oh and I should mention she donates money to charity on a regular basis.

Does this make Zooey my new favorite celebrity? Annoying voice, exaggerated quirks, and a weirdly spelled name aside, I think it does.

College is expensive. Really, really expensive. Even with scholarships and financial aid, most of us are left wondering how we are going to pull this off.

Of course, there are several ways to approach the issue:

1. We could go to Mom and Dad (assuming they could help in the first place, or that you want them to – this is a slippery slope to giving them more influence over our futures than some of us our comfortable with)

2. We could take out a loan (but that means lots of scary paper work, co-signers, and debt)

3. We could sell our virginity

3. We try out the newest trend: human capital contracts.

In my opinion the name sounds a lot scarier than it really is. It might just be me, but the words “human” and “contract” ooze creepiness and give me visions of living as a sex slave for the rest of my life. Fortunately for me, thats not the case here.

Human capital contracts are the newest resource in paying for higher education. Basically, investors (companies) would agree to pay for your education in return for a percentage of your future income over a fixed period of time which is scaled to your wages. Unlike loans, you are essentially using your education as collateral, betting on yourself and your abilities. Meaning the more you earn, the more the investor will take. The flip side being, the less you make, the less they are entitled to.

Of course, anything dealing with finance and debt and signatures makes me hyperventilate, so naturally I had some questions. The most important ones being, “What do I stand to gain?” “Why are investors interested in my education?” And, of course, “Will I end up chained to a radiator in the basement if I don’t get a job?”

Here’s what I found:

Human capital contracts are set up as a potential win-win for investors and students. The risk is transferred from students to investors but still draws investors in because they could potentially gain more than they would on a traditional loan (which earn investors money through interest charges). This idea could potentially open the market up, as it is no secret that in today’s economy loans are limited due to rising costs and government funding is rapidly being withdrawn. But with this new alternative more kids could finish college and become productive members of society.

Unsurprisingly, with any good idea there are some drawbacks. These drawbacks mostly surround investors, but students should be aware of what they are getting into as well.  The biggest issue right now seems to be getting students who are potentially interested in higher paying jobs (doctors, lawyers, future millionaires etc.), to balance out lower income jobs (starving artists, writers, non-profits, and, um, me) because these are the students who will earn investors money. Admittedly, I was wrong with my whole sex slave theory, but critics are saying that this agreement resembles a form of indentured servitude because you are in some ways owning a piece of someone else… but the same could be said about traditional loan arrangements, right?

What do you think? Would you be interested in human capital contracts to pay for school?

It’s not that I change jobs like I change my underwear. Last spring, I waited tables and worked for a travel website on my days “off.” I also had one week in January where I was paid for work study from the Fall ’07 semester. Over the summer, I worked Summerstock at a theater. Last semester, I had a paid internship, and I did marketing work for a parent company, so each of the branches I marketed for are considered a separate entity.

What the hell am I going to do? You might be asking yourself the same thing, even if you’ve only held a normal number of jobs (one, two… three?) in the past year. I mean, all the pointless Gen Eds they make us take, and none of them are “Filing Your Taxes 101.” Don’t worry. If the IRS expected everyone to file their taxes on their own, well… it would be like George W. getting reelected.

Here are a few resources I’ve come across as I’ve begun my slow descent into the Hell that is my personal tax season. Feel free to share any other links that you’ve come across. We all want to make it out of college without being arrested for tax fraud.

1. The IRS Themselves.

This handy-dandy little page includes links for everything from the generic “Help With Tax Questions,” to “How Do You Report Suspected Tax Fraud Activity?” to “IRS.gov Web Policies.” That last one might be a good link to check out. Before you attempt to conquer your taxes alone, or spend the money on a consultant, you may want to check out the “Help Finding a Specific Form or Publication” page, which allows you to locate the documents you need by topic.

Are you reading this column, and fear it’s already too late? The IRS has a Taxpayer Advocate Service. Hallelujah.

2. H & R Block

One of the leading names in tax assistance, the H & R Block website has easy access to tax professionals, as well as online options “for any budget.” If you’ve already been to a tax pro, you can search for him or her here, and if you’ve never been, you can filter all of the H & R reps through location or area of expertise. They have a free online service that claims to be “simple,” as well as programs for a mere $40 and up. Hey, if doing your taxes correctly means a big ass rebate, $40 is chump change.

If you’re still having trouble, try the customer service support or the Income Tax Course, which includes tips on how to get started on your taxes.

3. TurboTax

The “Tax Tips” on the main page not only include a link just to resources for college students, but a Tax Estimator to break the big news before you hire a professional. Like H & R Block, TurboTax has online software, ranging from free programs to a customized $29.95 deal.  Not too shabby.

4.  Tax Help Online 

This site may not have the brand recognition of H & R Block or Turbo Tax, but with tabs like “Tax Help Now!”, “Ask the Expert,” “IRS Problem Solver,” and “Situation Analysis,” it’s pretty appealing.  Compiled by Dan Pila, Tax Help Online also has a bloglike newsletter with featured articles like this month’s Standard Mileage Rates for 2009.  The con? You have to pay for a lot of special features, and there are certain topics that Pila can’t address here, though the site can help you find a tax pro close to you.

5.  Your Dad 

Hop on your Gmail, and email your pops, or some other reliable family member, if you’re still having trouble.  They’ve been doing taxes a lot longer than usual, and may be able to point you in the direction of a trusted tax advisor, the best program for you, or, if you’re lucky, volunteer to do your taxes for you.  My dad has done my taxes for me in the past, though this year I’m on my own.  But he still has some recommendations for where I can get my tax help without spending hours filing through Google search results.

If you disagree with everything I just said, you probably don’t need this column. But if you’re nodding along because you’re officially an adult and still don’t know how to manage your money, then you might want to pay attention every week, because I’m going to (try to) get you through this, and make you a successful saver and a wise spender.]

Congratulations! You’ve got a job! You can start making money… and the government can start taking money from you!

On your first day at a new job, you’re going to get slapped with a stack of paperwork: company handbook, sexual harrassment awareness statement, and, of course, the W2 form. How many of you have snuck into the bathroom to call your parents and ask them WTF to write in this form? Yeah, me too. Here is everything you need to know:

The W2 determines how much money in taxes will be taken out of your paycheck. Typically, dependents have the most taken out, independents are somewhere in the middle, and people who have dependents have the least. Usually, college students are either “dependents” or sole “independents.” If your parents claim you as their dependent, they are basically telling the gov’t that they support you; therefore, the gov’t sees your wages as extra cash, and will take more money from you. If you are independent with no one to provide you, the tax form says (in layman’s terms) that you are responsible for living expenses (rent, utilities, tuition, etc), but don’t have to spend your money on anything else.

If you are claiming yourself as a dependent, you fill out zero’s all across the board. You don’t even have to worry about any of the other confusing boxes or lines, and you don’t have to add anything up in the ‘totals’ column. The zero means that you are providing for zero people, including yourself. If you are an independent, you claim ’1′ because you are providing for one person: yourself.

At the end of the year, when you fill out your taxes, you will declare roughly how much you spend in a year, and the government compares it to the amount of money they took out of your paychecks. If they took out too much, guess what! You get a big, fat tax return. If you made considerably more than you had to spend, they might slap you with bill to give them even more of your money.

What does this mean in the long run? A little tip: if you provide for yourself, and you fill out zeros on your W2 (like a dependent), the government will take a large sum of your hard-earned money every week. But on the bright side, when you do your tax forms, you can change your standing to “1″ and say that you had to provide for someone, all while they were robbing you of your income. Usually, this will result in a nice big tax return in February.

That’s a decent chunk of change to put towards spring break.

If you disagree with everything I just said, you probably don’t need this column. But if you’re nodding along because you’re officially an adult and still don’t know how to manage your money, then you might want to pay attention every week, because I’m going to (try to) get you through this, and make you a successful saver and a wise spender.]

Everytime you whip out the plastic at the grocery store, liquor store, or gas station, the cashier asks automatically, “Credit or Debit?” It’s a simple enough question, though to many, it may be redundant. I mean, who cares what type of card it is as long as it buys you a pack of smokes, a 30-pack, or a week’s worth of Ramen Noodles?

There are a lot of pros and cons to using both credit cards and debit cards, and many people adamantly side with one form of plastic or another, much like people adamantly side with either Obama or McCain. Personally, I’m a debit kind of girl. My brother, on the other hand, swears by credit. What gives?

A debit card is like your plastic checkbook. You might not need cash in your hand, but you need to have the funds in your bank account to make a purchase. A credit card, however, lets you splurge now and pay later– even in small monthly increments. In this case, the credit card may SEEM like it has its advantages, because you can pay for your spring break trip now, and spend the next three months waiting tables to pay for it.

But beware: the reason I personally prefer to use my debit card is because it prevents me from racking up thousands of dollars in CC charges, since it doesn’t feel like I’m spending MY money. For me, I’d rather balance my checking account daily, and say, “Ok, that’s $20 here and $40 there,” and always know what I have left. A credit card bill, to me, is like a tacky Christmas gift from your wacky aunt; you never think it’s going to be THAT bad, but when the big day rolls around… gag. I always think I’m on top of the world with a few hundred dollars locked away in the bank… then I get a 2K credit card bill, and it’s like I’ve been robbed at the end of each billing cycle.

Another thing to be wary of when using your credit card is the interest rate. Sure, there’s no hurry to pay off the last five bar tabs you’ve racked up on credit… but the longer you wait, the more you’re spending on nothing at all. The appeal of many credit cards is gimmicks like “No Interest for Six Months,” which is fine and dandy for six months… and then suddenly, you’re paying off the minimum balance each month and see the current balance rise nonetheless.

On the other hand, debit cards can smack you with hidden fees as well. Debit cards come in handy when you need cash- via ATMs or cash-back with purchase, but you’re bound to be paying a fee on your purchases, or on your withdrawals from foreign ATMs. You know how you have to accept the $2.00 charge when using a foreign ATM? These days, a lot of banks charge an additional service charge for using another bank’s withdrawal services. LAME.

Another thing I do hate about debit cards is that sometimes it can take a few days for your purchases to go through to your account. That means that if you went shopping yesterday, and check your account today, you might think you have more money than you do. Bars and restaurants can sometimes cause trouble because it takes longer for the tip to go through than the food/beverage purchase. This is rather inconvenient, and unless you balance your debit card account like you do your checkbook, it can be easy to overdraw or bounce a check if you aren’t aware of the charges that have yet to go through. Which brings me to another flaw of the debit card system…

If you overdraw or bounce a check, you will pay very, very dearly. I don’t balance my purchases like a checkbook, but I do check my balance every day. So, when my balance seemed to stay the same for a few days, I figured all of my purchases had gone through (I’d gotten pretty wasted the week before and didn’t know how much I spent at the bar, so I had to wait for the bad news). I went on spending again, and the day before my direct deposit went through, I discovered that not only had I overdrawn, but that I was being fined nearly $20 for EACH individual purchase that was over my limit. WTF? If you’re above your limit with a credit card it gets declined, but I guess banks just want to trick you into thinking you’ve got the funds if your card is approved, so that they can collect on your own irresponsible stupidity.

Now that I’ve given you the lecture on responsibility, let’s get to the perks. The reason we all want a credit card: the bonus points! Just about every major corporation has its own credit card these days, and for every dollar you spend, you get some sort of reward (Starbucks cards, 10% off at Target, airline miles, etc.). Some banks have recently started rewarding their clients with cashback points on debit purchases, too, but this is a relatively low-paying perk, at least in the realm of Poor Studentsville. My debit purchases are never as outlandish as my credit purchases, so I’ve only been getting petty change rewards so far.

If you think you can handle a credit card, and not run your financial reputation into the ground, maybe a credit card’s for you. However, if you like to only spend what you’ve got, stick with debit. It’s still a good idea to have both forms of plastic, but I don’t recommend filling every slot in your wallet with a different credit card. That’s just asking for trouble, especially when you’re on a budget, like many of us are.

If you want to find the perfect credit card, and really weigh all of the perks that come along with plastic, check out CreditCards.com. You can search and cross-reference a plethora of cards, until you find one that will reward you well. Happy spending, kids!

Whether you are enjoying the high life that is college – complete with parental support – or collecting change out of the couch just to get that much needed after-work-martini, coming into some extra money is a wonderful thing. Especially when you want on of these or, the newest addiction in my life, the latest version of Guitar Hero. (Note: SERIOUS dude magnet!)

But finding extra money isn’t always so easy. Or fun. Especially if you consider selling your eggs or serving your fellow students in the cafeteria.

I have recently found that my bank account is seriously lacking, but my shopping addiction is not. I work over 40 hours a week, but still don’t make enough (yet) to live the way I want to. So, I decided I needed to find ways to come into some money. And while some of you may never want to even consider these options, I have found the following to be the easiest, least stressful and most fitting into any woman’s life.

1. Babysitting: I know that most of us haven’t done this since the 9th grade, but babysitting is seriously the way to go. First of all, most kids go to bed early. And if they don’t, they tend to enjoy long Disney movies. And, if all else fails, you can always set the clocks forward and force those kids into bed. Other bonuses: You get paid in cash, you can enjoy free snacks and most people get home early enough for you to meet friends at the b-a-r after.

2. Sell Your Shit: We all have tons of stuff we don’t wear. Instead of just wasting room in your closet (which would be much better suited holding a brand spanking new pair of jeans instead of those torn up Old Navy things) you should get rid of it. Just look for a local resale shop in your neighborhood, dive head-first into your closet and you will find your trash can be your very own treasure.

3. Pack a Lunch: This doesn’t necessarily make you money, but it does save you tons. And all that money saved is money earned, baby. But really; think about it. If you spend $5 a day on lunch (and that is being extremely conservative) you could save $100 a month just by bringing your own lunch with you.

Life would be wonderful if we could just walk outside our houses and pick hundo’s off a tree. Unfortunately, that life doesn’t exist. So, when you need some extra moolah, these ideas are the perfect place to start.