This week I was perusing USA Today (trying to find the crossword puzzle) and stumbled upon an article that struck me as, frankly, a bit terrifying. The article screamed HUGE DEBT, NO SAVINGS in my face, warning all of us in “Gen-Y” (that group of seventeen – twenty-somethings) that we’re the only generation unlikely to out-succeed our parents financially. Harrowing stuff, especially since we seem to be in a generation of “buy now, pay later.” And when we do buy,  we want the newest and shiniest and don’t settle for less than designer brands…. Not exactly recession-friendly behavior.

The article had me thinking about my own spending habits and the habits of my peers. I certainly have gotten my act together over the past year but still struggle with the little things. I write checks and forget about them until they hit my account. I have days where I spend ten dollars on Starbucks. And then other days when I spend $20. I went through a period where I didn’t pay off my credit card balance every month (never. again.). We all struggle with the economy and our own personal finances. Here are the top 10 ways to be a savvy spender and super recessionista.

10. Keep track of your spending.
Do you know how much you spent all day yesterday, to the dime? Well, you should. Keeping on top of every little expense can save you cash in the future and keep you mindful of where your cashflow is going.

9. If you can’t indulge, don’t indulge.
I’m not saying to give up every indulgence, but if you’re about to spend $200 on a dress that you don’t have, then either wait for it to go on sale or just walk away. The dress will always be there, so wait til the cash is.

8. PAY IT OFF.
If my dad is reading this right now, he’s falling out of his office chair laughing hysterically. It took me a year to pay off my credit card balance and you know what? The only way I could do it was to mail my credit card home and never, ever have it on hand. I’m sure there are people out there who can manage their money and understand that when you receive a credit card bill, you must pay it off every month. I was not one of those people. Fees, charges and overdrafts all affect your credit score and your finances. If you can’t handle it, don’t have it. If you can, pay it off every. single. month.

7. Write down your debt in a place you’ll see it
Paint it on your wall. Write it on your fridge. If you owe 50k in student loans, THINK ABOUT IT every time you spend money. Sure, buying shots for all your friends might seem like a great idea at the time, but that seventy dollars could be going to your loan payments. Do you really want to worry about student loans when you’re ready to take out a mortgage on a house?

6. Cut back on the frills
I love caramel frappucinos, fancy make-up and high-end jeans. But, if I skip the Starbucks and hit the office coffee machine, ditch Sephora for CVS and pass up Saks for the Gap, even just for a month, I’ll save over $400 a month. Trust me, no frapp is yummier than that.

5. Plan, plan, plan
Okay, so you want to go on vacation in two months? Plan all your expenses ahead of time. Flight, hotel, bathing suit, meals, drinks, etc. Once you lay out a budget and know how much you need to set aside, it will keep you saving.

4. Get by with a little help from your friends
Plan free or cheap activities with your girl friends. Spa day at home, baking and picnicking are huge budget boosters over salon mani/pedis, high end cupcakes or fancy dinners.

3. Take advantage of your Tech-savvy
Right, Gen-Y is terrible at saving money. We’re the generation that live in a recession and have more debt than any other generations. Blah. Blah. Blah. We get it. But, what’s that one perk that we have? We’re so tech-savvy. From twitter to iPhones, we know how to work the techy angles. So embrace it. Download finance managing apps for your phone or sign up for Mint.com to see where your money’s going. Be smart and savvy and use the tools available to help!

2. Think of the big picture
If you’re still in school you don’t feel the weight of your loans right now. Even if you don’t have loans, great, but you’re about to have a whole mess of new expenses coming your way. If you plan on ever buying a house, leasing an apartment or buying a car, save now and save often. You never know when life’s going to throw you a curveball and if you don’t have that financial cushion, things can get pretty ugly, fast.

1. Don’t stress.
Yes, thinking about finances sucks. I can’t think of anything that gives me more anxiety (not even the thought of putting on a bikini in less than a month). But don’t let all the statistics terrify you. Just take a deep breath, evaluate your spending (past and present), then plan for your future. Pretty soon you’ll be ballin with a big house and five cars before you know it. Just don’t put it on a credit card!

Yeah, that jerk is usually me.

I’ve always been a cash girl – it’s efficient, it’s solid, and it’s hard to let go of. I just think credit cards make it too easy (“That’ll be $563.94” *swipe* “Thank you have a nice day!”) and that’s entirely my point. You can swipe away bucket-loads of money without realizing it. Credit cards make it so simple, it’s like you can get whatever you want and you’re not even spending real money.

However, when it comes down to forking over a twenty dollar bill to some Starbucks chick for a cup of coffee, I’m much more hesitant to get the overpriced (albeit ridiculously addictive) Venti Caramel Frap. With cash, it’s either you have it or you don’t. With credit, you always have it (or so you think).

I’ve seen many a times when my girlfriends get a little swipe happy and come home with shopping bags full of things they can’t really afford because “they can always pay it back later.” And I’m not too psyched about debit cards either – $32 overdraft fees because I went a dollar over my limit? Yeah okay.

I must admit that the only thing keeping me from shelling out hundreds at a time on online shopping is my serious lack of plastic. But I have reached a point in my life where it is almost impossible to go without a credit card and an embarrassment not to have a bank account. I’m all for hiding money in the mattress (uh… I mean not hiding it in my mattress- great, now the thieves will know where to look) but it simply isn’t practical anymore. I get it, I need to start building my credit. No bank = no credit = no interest = no security. So yes, I have resorted to getting myself some plastic.

But honestly, I’m worried about swiping myself to debt (ha!). Any advice? Anyone in the same boat?
Paper or plastic?

Packing at the end of the semester is a bitch. But, on the bright side, it’s still better than the cleaning that comes after packing. Make your life easier by getting a head start on moving out for the summer, by following these simple suggestions!

1. Clean up after yourself.

I am guilty of letting things slide when I’m stressed. I procrastinate on everything from vacuuming to bringing the 57 empties from last night’s dorm party to the recycling bin. However, if you take five seconds (okay, five minutes, tops) out of your day to clean up the little things, you won’t have so much clutter-slash-junk-slash-trash to wade through when you’re trying to round up the stuff you actually want to keep.

2. Start with the shizz you don’t need.

Um, winter’s just about over. Pack up your thick sweaters, and save just one for a fluke springtime cold. Throw in half of your towels and pajamas, and vow to do laundry more often. All of those notebooks you bought when you thought your lab would be difficult, but haven’t been opened since they left the bookstore? Pack them. The posters on your walls? They can go, too. Nobody’s really judging your dorm that much.

The more you can pack up here and there, the less you’ll be scrambling to cram into a couple of suitcases and three Yaffa Blocks 20 minutes before your ETD.

3. Stop. Buying. New. Stuff.

Seriously, if you’ve made this far through the year, you can live without whatever impulse-buy doodad caught your eye in the checkout counter. It’s just going to be more to lug later.

4. Make a few trips.

If you are fortunate enough to have a car on campus and be driving distance from the folks, start now. Load up your car, go home for some of Mom’s famous homestyle mashed potatoes, and drop a sh*tload of boxes in her living room, where they will sit…until May (or maybe even September when it’s time to go BTS).

5. Don’t get trashed the night before move-out…unless you’re totally ready to go.

If you’ve been neglecting these tips and plan to throw everything together an hour before your RA comes to check you out, you could be in trouble. Finishing that last exam might feel like a load off, but there’s nothing worse than being hungover-or still drunk- and trying to throw your life into a few boxes while on a time limit. You’ll break things, you won’t pack up with any given order (hence your beer mugs will be packed away with your underwear, and your PJ’s will be underneath your text books), and your clothes will be so wrinkled when you finally unpack at home that you’ll be late to your hometown reunion because you had to spend 20 minutes ironing. Besides, anything you accidentally leave behind becomes your roommate’s territory.

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.

Spring break can be a carefree week of fun in the sun…or two days of fun followed by five days of waiting for your flight home. Make sure you make the most of SB 2009. And don’t do some of the stupid shizz I’ve done on March and April vacations past.

1. Don’t book your flight for an hour after your last class of the week ends.

Well, technically, my mistake was agreeing to drive my friend to the airport. Not only were we racing against time, but my car decided to act up as soon as we hit the highway. It started shaking and rattling when I tried to go over 60 mph, and, for fear of our lives, I was forced to drive in the slow lane as the clock ticked on. We made it, barely, thanks to the fact that our local airport takes about five minutes to clear security, but my friend was a bundle of nerves before she even took flight. Yeesh.

2. Don’t pregame at the airport.

We had an 90-minute layover at a small airport, so my friends and I plunked ourselves down at a bar just outside our gate. We had assigned seats anyway, so we figured we could pound a few brews and waltz onboard just before they closed the doors. Well, apparently, we couldn’t hear our names being paged over the airport intercoms, and walked up just before the door was closed on our flight (literally, airline personnel had their hand ON the latch). Again, we JUST made it, but had to face down evil looks from the rest of the passengers.

3. Don’t jump on the first “Spring Break Partayyy” you see.

My very first day of my very first spring break, my group of friends and I were solicited on the street by a party promoter. He was selling tickets to what he claimed was the wildest party of the week. You had to buy your tickets ahead of time (for like $75 a pop), but it was totally worth it (or so he said). Open-bar, all-night dance party? I couldn’t understand how the whole group didn’t jump at the chance! One girl and I were suckered in, and on our last night of vacation, we had to separate from our group. The party was fun, but we could have drank just as much and maybe even saved a few bucks if we had gone on the bar-and club-crawl with the rest of our friends. The next day, as we all nursed hangovers, everyone else had way better stories than I did. Oops.

4. Don’t start boozing too early.

That’s what spring break is all about, right? I knew a guy who was going on the same trip as me, with a different group of people. We were vacationing on a gorgeous island off the coast of Spain. My friend came back to the states with tales of daytrips, including visiting volcanoes. I came home with tales of drinking until four or five p.m., napping, and starting over for the night. Sure, it was relaxing, and it was a party. But I totally took Spain’s potential for granted.

5. Be sure you can spend seven days with the people you’re vacationing with.

If you and your roommate have been joined at the hip 24/7 all semester, and the “little things” are starting to get on each other’s nerves, you might need a (spring) break from each other. This isn’t always the case, of course, but it’s important to know that you won’t be at each other’s throats by the end of the week. Likewise, if you are a sightseeing kind of girl, and your cohorts are all about tacky tourist shops, you might not agree on each days’ agenda. The upside is that you might be pleasantly surprised- I did take a trip with a group of people I was friendly with, but didn’t know very well. We all had a blast getting to know each other, and though we all went back to our separate groups of friends when we returned, we all shared a special bond that lasted through graduation.

6. Be careful who you talk to.

Whether it’s a distant city or a foreign country, the possibilities are endless on spring break! I figured there was no harm done in flirting with a dude at a bar in a bustling city. We were having a great time- until the creep announced that I could buy his next drink, and reached into my purse for my wallet! I snatched it back and ran out of the bar, but it could have been worse. A LOT worse. Strangers + booze + unfamiliar turf = one more reason to stay on guard.

7. If you have a budget, stick to it.

I’m notorious to running out of cash and convincing myself it will be okay if I just charge everything for the rest of the trip. Not only am I prone to returning from a vacation to find myself overloaded catching up on work I didn’t do over the holiday, but I’m also super stressed to pay my bills on time, and usually have to pick up extra shifts at work that I just don’t have time for. In a foreign country? Freaking memorize that exchange rate!

8. Drunk dials from abroad= bad news.

I was in Europe. I was having soooo much fun. I wanted all of my friends back home to know it. So I called them with a calling card from various payphones. A calling card that wasn’t prepaid; it just went straight to my phone bill. Seriously, a postcard will suffice.

9. Don’t challenge the bartender.

Especially not a Spanish bartender, or waiter for that matter. In Barcelona, we fell in love with Sangria and thought we were hotshots when we ordered another jug at dinner. Little did we know that it’s customary in Spain for a restaurant to give you some dessert wine. The waitress laughed when we looked quizzically at the funny little pitcher with a long spout that she placed before us, then threw her head back and poured a perfect stream down her throat. We were toast.

At another Spanish restaurant, the waiter asked me how I liked my daiquiri with a huge smile on his face. I called his bluff: “It could be stronger,” I said. He returned with another drink that nearly made me choke. I swallowed, hard, and said, “It’s okay.” The waiter pulled a bottle of rum from his apron and free-poured into my glass. This cautionary tale also goes along with my suggestion that you don’t start drinking too early in the day.

10. Don’t overdo it on your last night.

The reasons? You oversleep the next day. Because you’re still drunk when you wake up, and in a rush to make your plane, you run out of your hotel room and forget a bag full of souvenirs and cute clothes you bought during the week. Oops. Because you’re late, you have fork out an unnecessary amount of cash to pay for a cab in order to get to the airport on time. Double oops. Oh, and did I mention flying hungover is a bitch?

I ask you, fellow CC’ers. What are some of your biggest spring break regrets, and how do you avoid making them this year?

Tip 1: Search/Clip Coupons

I ordered my dad $30 worth of merchandise from Land’s End the other day and almost had a heart attack when I saw that the shipping was $8. Let’s get real here—it does not cost $8 to send two turtlenecks via 7-day delivery. In my incensed state of rage, I went to Google and typed in “land’s end coupons”—and lo and behold, a page with a free shipping code on it popped up.

Deals like that are only a few clicks away, so make sure to search every time you buy something online. If you prefer to do your shopping in the flesh, cough up a few quarters for the Sunday paper and comb all the ads. You can clip coupons from there and learn about the hot sales going on near you. It takes extra time, but you’ll make up for it in extra money.

Tip 2: Buy Used

It’s not always the best idea to give a gift that someone has already broken in (like undies), so use your discretion here. But for certain items and certain people, it’s a great bet. If you have a friend who has been dying to read a specific book, she probably won’t care if you picked it up at the used bookstore for $5 rather than paying the $25 price tag for the brand-new copy at Barnes & Noble.

This tip can also be used toward stylish purchases. If you know somebody who loves to dress uniquely, spend an afternoon hitting all the thrift stores in town and get them a few choice items that you know they’d love. An even better idea is to take them along with you and offer to buy them a full outfit of their choice—that way, you can be sure they like what they’re getting.

Tip 3: Think Practical

Yes, we all love unwrapping luxurious items when the holidays roll around. But wouldn’t it be nice to get something you actually need for a change? Sure, your automatic thought for a Mom Gift might be that nice cashmere-blend sweater you spied a few weeks ago, but before you part with too much of your hard-earned cash, stop and think. What could Mom really use? Maybe she’s always holding her place in books with old receipts and folded napkins, and you think she could make good use of a bookmark. Or maybe she’s always complaining about how food sticks to the bottom of her frying pan.

It doesn’t always make for an exciting gift, but thinking practically can help someone out far more in the long run than thinking luxuriously—and it’s probably also cheaper than springing for the cashmere-blend sweater.

[Image courtesy of ahckd.com.]

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.]

With the economy so crappy these days, banks are jumping over each other to get to you. With deals like Rewards Checking, it’s hard not to be lured in. I mean, a percentage of cash back just for spending? It sounds too good to be true.

Because it probably is.

I’ve been bouncing between hoarding my money in a checking account or a savings account for some time. Do I want the interest, or the rewards? Chances are, you’ve had similar decisions to make. But what about these CD things that banks advertise? What are these all about?

Personally, I always assumed that CDs were for old people. You know, people with careers and mortgage payments. Until a friend opened a CD that became her “European Vacation” fund.

A CD is basically a Savings Account… except you can’t make withdrawals whenever you feel like it. Opening a CD requires a timestamp, usually lasting six months, one year, or five years or longer. The longer you put your money “on hold,” so to speak, the greater your interest rate, which means the more moolah you’ll accumlate by NOT spending.

Yeah, right. Like college kids have enough money to just hide away for six months. While CDs generally are geared towards people who have solid careers and are infancially stable– Jumbo CDs require a minimum of a whopping $100,000 deposit– more and more variations of CDs are popping up across the country.

My friend has what is called an “Add-To” CD. Each week, when her paycheck is direct-deposited into her account, a small percentage is put into her CD. Sometimes, she even forgets that something is being deducted from her pay, because she still gets some money every pay period. However, since she can’t access her money for six months, it will continue to accumulate. When she’s ready to cash in and take her European vacation, BAM! All that money will be hers for the taking.

If you have even a little bit to spare- some birthday money, a random bonus at work, the cash you got from textbook buy-back– it might be worth looking into whether your bank offers small CDs. You can hide it away for six months, and once summer hits, you’ll have this money that you may have forgotten about! Use it on a bathing suit shopping spree or a mini-vacation…or renew your CD and wait for a rainy day in another six months or so!

But, there are just some things out there that are worth a little splurge. Sure, you may not be able to buy corn products next week, but who cares? You have yourself one of these babies:

1. An iPod.

I’m sure half of you already have iPods, but I’m also sure there are a few of you out there who are like me… unwilling to fork over the dough because you’re cheap and/or poor. Well, let me tell you, investing in an iPod is the way to go. After forking over the dough for something REALLY huge (a new computer), I got a free iPod touch, and wow. Just wow. The future is here. I can’t even fathom getting to access the Internet for free on a device that also plays music and lets me take notes, get the weather, and watch movies… it’s so awesome.

2. A new computer.

After eight years (serious) of lugging around an outdated Mac laptop, I took a deep breath and hit the “purchase” button last week for a new MacBook Pro. My old computer was still working… it was like a tortoise in terms of speed, though, and it wasn’t really capable of streaming video. Oh, yeah, and the total hard drive capacity was 9 GB. My new computer, I am already convinced, is the best investment I’ve ever made. I can Skype! I can load Web pages in under the amount of time it takes me to make a sandwich! I can listen to podcasts! With my old Mac, podcasts were something strange and exotic that I had heard about but never experienced. If you too are toiling away on an ancient computer, GET A NEW ONE! It is sooooo worth it!

3. A really nice, romantic dinner.

If you have a sugar sugar, treat that person to dinner at an unbearably fancy restaurant. If you’re rocking the single life, get your friends to go out for an amazing dinner with you. It can be painful to look at the tab after you’ve gone all out with appetizers, drinks, main course, and dessert—but if you go to a super-nice place, you’ll later remember how much fun it was rather than how much it cost.

4. An excellent haircut.

For poor college and grad school ladies, the temptation to trim the locks at Master Cuts (or, even classier, over your bathroom sink) is strong—believe me, I feel you. But if you haven’t indulged in a while by having your hair cut and styled (!!!) at a place that’s a little more upscale than your bathtub, you really should treat yourself and go for it. Unless your friend with the scissors is a professional stylist, the difference is unbelievable, and you’ll get the kind of cut that you want to stare at and play with in the mirror for hours.

5. Organics!

I am talking organic clothes and other products as well as food here. Not only are they high-quality, but they’re good for the Earth and good for YOU! You don’t want to chow down on pesticides every time you take a bite of an apple, so spring for the organics. In many places, they’re equally priced or just a little more expensive than the non-organics, and your body will thank you for eating and wearing such lovely things.

[Photo courtesy of promarketing.com]

What guy wouldn’t want a woman to buy him cars, bling, and houses? Especially if that woman is hot.

Well, Nick Cannon’s dream just came true. And he’s taking full advantage of it. Since he married the super-sexy 38-year-old Mariah Carey in April, he’s been spending her dough like it’s going out of style. 27-year-old Cannon has been stocking up on designer duds and was even seen test-driving a $120,000 Maserati Quattroporte. And according to insiders, it’s all on Mariah’s dime (or millions of dimes).

According to a “friend” of Mariah’s, Cannon’s wedding band isn’t even classy; “It’s garish and tacky — and yet another example of Nick’s extravagance at Mariah’s expense.” Come on, Nick, if you’re gonna be spending her money, at least buy some pretty things!

I’m now taking bets on how long this marriage will last. Oh, but I suppose it doesn’t really matter, considering Mariah didn’t even have Nick sign a pre-nup. Let’s just hope this “One Sweet Day” lasts a lifetime. Either way, I declare Nick Cannon the big winner in this relationship.

And financial institutions know it, too. They create all kinds of products to target needy college students — student loans and credit cards being the most common. There’s a reason why banks and credit card companies practically throw money at college students, and it’s not out of a sense of altruism. They know that if they lend you money now, they will be earning interest on it for the next decade — at the very least.

So how to avoid getting screwed by moneygrubbing financial institutions? Bob Sullivan has some answers for you in his fantastic little book, Gotcha Capitalism. Although the point of the book is to expose the sneaky fees businesses hit us with every day, there are several pertinent chapters for college students: one on student loans, one on credit cards, and one on cell phones.

Since pretty much every college student these days has at least one of each of those things, Gotcha is practically a handbook for surviving college without burying yourself in debt.

Gotcha Capitalism is chock-full of all kinds of little interesting tidbits. For example, did you know that banks aren’t always up front about which student loans are government funded and which are private? This is important information for college students, since the government loans have lower interest rates, and therefore will cost you less over the long run. Also, banks find ways to make it difficult for you to compare student loans. They don’t want you to know that you’ll be paying through the nose!

Another important note is that student loans aren’t really a source of free money in college. Since payments generally don’t start until after graduation, most people don’t realize that the interest starts accruing right away. You could owe a lot more on graduation day than you had originally counted on!

Speaking of what you’ll owe on graduation day, have you actually sat down to figure out how it’ll translate into monthly payments? Nothing screws your social life like having $400 payments to make every month.

The chapters on credit cards and cell phones are also illuminating. For example, Sullivan discusses how credit card companies will find any way to raise your interest rates, even if you’re a model consumer. If you so much as pay a utility bill late, they can hike your rate! Cell phone companies aren’t any better — they’re masters at finding fees to charge you on top of your monthly rate, usually hiking your bill by about 10 percent.

Although Sullivan didn’t really write Gotcha Capitalism specifically for college students, his message to us is pretty clear: The less you spend, the better off you’ll be. It’s a big bad world out there, and there are all kinds of businesses ready to capitalize on a college student’s vulnerabilities. Don’t let them screw you — make sure you know how to fight back!