Bali Shag

Let me begin this post by saying that I personally find smoking repulsive. Kids these days are doing far too much harm to their bodies and wallets smoking copious amounts of cigarettes around campus. I've decided to help out this problem in the best way I can, telling them how to save money on smoking so they can then buy nicotine patches. Cigarettes are ridiculously expensive, so instead, try some rollies. Simply purchase some rolling tobacco, usually around 12 bucks for 1.5 ounces, and roll away. There are significant cost benefits to rolling your own cigarettes. Supposing you buy a pound of rolling tobacco (40$),you can roll about the equivalent of two cartons of cigarettes (supposing you roll on gram a cig) that's about a 120$ value. Of course if you really wanted to save money you could just quit all together, but I won't get too preachy, just here to save you money and keep you happy

Free Samples...Are Free

One of the most common and under appreciated forms of bumming is the use of the free sample. You can come across the free sample anywhere and any amateur mooch can snag a free cookie or a 4 ounce latte sample outside starbucks, however it takes a true bum to know what places have the best free samples. The best places to raid (what we in the business call a hunt for free samples) are large grocery stores or small high end delis or bakeries. With regard to small shops, any place that thinks its fancy enough to call itself a patisserie is bound to have a plate of cookies at the register. Just come in and ask for some free water then snag a nice cookie to go with your drink, and bam, free snack. This may seem intuitive enough and not worth mentioning, but it takes a keen eye to spot the type of place that gives out free samples. Often they are on the upscale side, and they offer free sample sin the hopes that they will stimulate you to spend ridiculous amounts of cash on baked goods. Raiding large supermarkets is by far the easier approach. Not only do supermarkets offer a less intimate atmosphere where you can grab as many samples as you want without being grilled, but they also offer a wider range of samples depending on the aisle your in. Whole foods might be the best place to get free samples. Whole Foods or other high end supermarkets often have multiple stations for you to eat at. College campuses are excellent places to snag free samples. Check the sample plate in Burgess or better yet wait for Mountain Dew or Pepsi to come and set up a table outside d hall (once scored a case of Pepsii )Often raiders mistakenly think there is a one sample per person policy, but I have found that often workers are willing to give out a second sample if you ask nicely and express genuine interest in the food they are giving out. Appear to really like whatever it is, maybe add in some "mmmoh wow uhmm, this is, this is top notch" if you simply eat one and ask for another you look like a bum instead of someone who just really likes food.

Hobo Soup Endorses BJ's

I'm not a fan of the idea of Wholesale clubs. To me the Whole sale club embodies the idea of American excess, with its 40 packs of bottles water and two pound boxes of cereal. However shopped responsibly a Wholesale club can be a college students best friend. There is a BJ's in the Wilton Mall. At 50$ for an annual membership your BJ's card could save you potentially save you hundreds of dollars throughout the year. Of course if you have a meal plan the value is significantly lessened since you don't have to pay for food, but if your on limited meal plan BJ's could be your meal ticket. Of course like every wholesale club there is more then food for sale. Save on office supplies and electronics, I know I sound like an ad right now but it really is a smart choice for the average college student. Real bums will also dredge the Bj's website for online coupons to use at the store.

Mooch Corner: D Hall is a Wonderland

It may seem obvious, but D hall is the best source of food in Saratoga. What may be less obvious is that it is not just useful for meals, but for groceries as well. Obviously if your on an unlimited meal plan you have no use for these tips but if your like a decent percentage of the campus you arn't. First off think about your average grocery list. Maybe you need drinks, fruits, veggies, some cereal, a dozen bagels, all these are goods you can grab in bulk at d hall. Before you go shopping take a large duffel or backpack and several tupperware containers, bring a friend for an even larger haul. Lets begin our mooching walking clockwise around Dhall. Skip pasta and Global and head straight to cereal. obviously there is cereal on hand for you to fill up your containers with, but also apples, oranges and bananas as well. Of course anyone whose looked at D Hall knows where this stuff is. What you may not know is that often the chocolate milk spout doesnt work, leading dining services to place containers of chocolate milk within the milk machine. Simply unlatch the machine and stuff a container in your bag. Think you found all the fruit? wrong. Head over to the omelette station and open the fridge opposite from the grill, inside are sliced lemons and limes. While your there nab some soy milk from the same fridge if your into that kind of thing. Got old egg cartons? recycle and refill with the eggs next to the omelette grill. Move on to the bagel station next to the fridge with the lemons. Stock up on Bagel's and condiments such as cream cheese and butter. Make a B-line to Emily's where you can fill some containers with baby carrots, hard boiled eggs, and sliced cucumber. Most of these foods are on clear display for your consumption, the trick is getting yourself into the mindset of treating D hall like a supermarket instead of a buffet.

Mooch's Corner: Whats your roomates is yours

I'm going to start a segment on HS about mooching. Mooching is that tried and true tactic of using what other people have to your advantage, all without spending a buck. If your a fairly social being here at Skidmore chances are you've gotten to know your roommate pretty well. Besides appreciating and valuing your roommate you should also use them to get free shit. For example my lovely roommate has laundry service, which means by the mooching law so do I , because anything that goes into that little green bag gets washed no matter who it belongs to. Likewise whenever he gets a care package so do I, because odds are hes going to share those homemade cookies. Obviously the mooch laws work poorly on people who don't like you so if your at odds with your roommate this may not work for you, and obviously you will be expected to reciprocate the mooch with any care packages and perks you may receive.

The Chocolate Milk Hustle

Recently Skidmore gave me a whole lot of Skidcard money because they failed to de-triple me for the second semester. While I appreciate the school giving me a whole bunch of candy on the house, I would rather they just gave me cash so I can buy meaningful things like my Scarface poster or that Nerf gun I bought after being inspired by my Scarface poster. Of course they would never do this, and money on the Skidcard is basically money lost. Not content to let good money rot on my card I was thrilled to find out about the Chocolate milk Hustle. Basically the idea is that you buy a glass container of Chocolate milk for 3.50 at the Spa, and then sell the bottle for 1.50 to the Atrium as part of their recycling program. The key difference is that the 3.50 you pay (assuming you us your Skidcard) is monopoly money from my Skidcard and the 1.50 comes out in bills. So next time your debating which drink to get at 2:00 am in Spa get some chocolate milk and view it as an investment. I have one friend who drank one with every meal and at the end of the semester rolled up to Atrium with a collection which would put some hobos to shame.

Big Flats Brew

whether our professors like it or not (Roxy) college students will always spend money getting trashed. That is why I feel like its my duty to help kids get drunk as cheaply as possible so they can save money for textbooks pencils and all that good stuff for school. Recently Walgreens introduced a four dollar six pack called Big Flats Brew. For a little perspective four dollars can also get you 1.7 rides on an NYC subway, four cans of coke, and one of those over priced salads at spa. The beer comes in nice little cans which say "its the water that makes it!" which is funny to me because that's pretty much what it tastes like, water. At a mere 77 cents a can you shouldn't really even be concerned about the taste of this brew because any description will include the word "urine" in it.

Some honorable mentions for cheap sixers

Simpler Times Lager (available only at Trader Joes): packs a little more punch for the same price

Mountain Brew Ice Beer (available only at Stuarts): An upstate classic, a little bit more expensive, but at 6 percent alcohol it actually has something resembling flavor to it.

Yuenling Lager: Best in terms of taste, and still cheap even though its the most expensive of this group.

Now go buy some books with all that money you saved