College cards are often a necessity (ranking right up there with tequila shots and coffee) during your four years, unless you have a big fat trust fund or a wealthy eccentric uncle. A multitude of costly expenses fall outside your tuition bill. Some are necessary, like food, books and transportation, while others are luxuries, like clothes, alcohol, trips and concerts. Here are some tips to avoid the debt trap that so many students fall into.

Compare offers

Be as choosy with what you put in your wallet as you are about which boys you let sleep in your bed (Editor’s Note: When alcohol isn’t involved). There are tons of credit card offers out there – don’t just take the first one you stumble upon.

Do your research: check out the finance charge, annual fee, cash advance fees and late payment fees. The finance charge can be as high as 25 percent on the unpaid part of your bill, and the annual fee can suck up a hundred bucks each year. For cash advances, most cards charge a scary amount and high interest. Read the fine print, and look at what a late payment can do to your rate (hint: just one late payment increases your interest rate). Try sites like credit.com or bankrate.com) to compare cards and score the best deal.

Screw the free-t-shirt

Forget the free-t-shirt/ water bottle/ random-crappy-thing-that-you’ll-never-use-again. Don’t apply just to score free gear. With every application, an inquiry is made into your credit history. This can pull down your credit quicker than a drunken frat guy drops his pants (or yours). Push through the crowd of over-eager credit card pushers – its okay to say no.

Timeliness is next to Godliness

The due date for payment is not a ‘suggestion’. Be religious about your payments and mark them in your planner, iCal, e-mail calendar or PDA. Use programs like Mint.com to keep all your spending and bills in one easy to access dashboard. Mint sends helpful reminders when bills are due and keeps track of your balances. Set up online payment for easy access, and do your best to make timely payments.

Do the math

If you’re spending $600 a month, and your income is damn near zero, you’re heading for debt disaster. Work out a budget and determine how much you can really afford to spend each month. Evaluate where your yet-to-be-earned dollars are actually going – is it beer, books or boots? Try and separate your needs from your wants: eating is a need, new going-out pants is not. Even cutting out one bar visit a month – I know, how very tragic – will bring down your bottom line. As boring as budgeting may be, it will help you understand where your money is going and where you need to cut back.

Look at the alternatives

If you’re spending like a wild woman, but not pulling in any actual income, its time to consider the alternatives. At the risk of sounding like your fiscally focused father, it might be time to get a job. If you’re not currently working, consider slinging plates of food at the local diner to fund your living expenses. (Please avoid the pole.) While you might have to defer to the plastic occasionally, a paycheck can take a big bite out of your monthly bill.

Be future-focused

Sure, skipping payments for a few months might not seem like a big deal now, but it will bite you in your metaphorical ass later. When you get out of school, virtually every potential employer will be eyeing your credit report right along with your resume. A shady credit history will turn off employers and prevent you from getting that dream job. Just like you want to woo that fine-looking boy with a swimmer’s build in your economics class, you should want to woo future employers as well. (And the benefits will last much longer than a hook-up with swimmer boy). To boot, applying for an apartment or financing a car will be hindered by your crappy credit – and who wants to live in a cardboard box under the freeway? These negative marks will stay on your credit report for a whopping seven years. So, you’ll be missing out on great opportunities long after you’ve worn out the soles on those Visa-funded gladiator sandals.

Two-thirds of college students have at least one credit card, and 55 percent of students received their first card during their freshman year of college, according the Institute for Higher Education. Of those college students with credit cards, 20 percent have four or more. While carrying a card can seem inevitable to get by during your four years, making irresponsible decisions and building hefty debt isn’t. Be smart and don’t make decisions you’ll regret later.

Bad credit stays with you a lot longer than a jagermeister hangover. And feels a whole lot worse.

I may be living on a McDonalds budget these days, but growing up with some of the finer things in life have left me with some Caviar taste.

I am not talking about yachts or private jets; more like pretty handbags and a little bit of pampering. And while I can’t always afford the things I adore, I have become quite deft at finding deals on some of life’s little luxuries. Like the manicure. Nothing makes me feel good at the end of a rough week like a good finger soak and coat of Wicked.

But, even with the low prices at many nail shops these days, throwing away $12 on something that is going to chip, crack and have to be re-done in a week is hard for a lady on a budget.

Doing it yourself, though, is easier than you think and will save you tons of money without having to sacrifice a sexy set of hands.

In order to do your nails like a pro, you need to get the right tools: nail polish remover (duh), cotton pads, emery board, Vitamin E oil, orangewood stick, buffer, base coat polish, color polish, top coat. This may seem like a big investment now, but it will save you big time down the road.

Now for the steps:

1. Whether you think you have polish on your nails or not, take a cotton ball dipped in remover and run it over your nails. Once the polish is gone, wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water to get rid of excess remover from your hands and nails. The cleaner your nails the better the manicure. Tip: If your nails are yellowed from the polish, soak your hands in lemon juice for 10 minutes. Voila! Clear nails again!

2. Shaping your nails comes next. When filing your nails make sure to file in only one direction; the back and forth motion will ruin them. You can make them any shape that suits you (oval, square, round), but keep in mind that the longer they are, the weaker they are. Once you finish filing, soak your nails in warm water to rinse off the nail-dust and soften those cuticles.

3. After soaking, rub Vitamin E oil (or Olive Oil!) into your cuticles and use the Orangewood stick to gently push the cuticles back. Your cuticles keep bacteria from entering your body so be nice to them and never cut them. Tip: If you keep them moisturized between mani’s there will not be a need for much cuticle maintenance, anyway.

4. Wash your hands thoroughly again. Left-over oil will keep your polish from adhering to your nails.

5. Buffing the nails separates the crappy mani from the professional. Run the buffer back and forth over your nails to smooth out any ridges and provide a better surface for the polish to stick to.

6. Now that your nails are finally prepped, it is time to add some color to those digits. Start with a clear base to protect your nails from staining and provide a foundation for your color. Let the basecoat dry completely before moving onto your color. Brush two (dark colors) to three (light colors) coats onto your nails letting each coat dry in full before adding the next. Finally, brush on a light coat of top coat. And let it all dry.

The hardest part of the at-home manicure for me is the waiting, but moving on too soon and smudging those nails is a waste of all that time and hard work. Just sit still, let it all dry, and enjoy your beautiful (and budget) manicure.