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Contacting home for less
Miss the days when dinner, groceries, electricity, amenities, and school supplies were free? Join the club. The fact is, everything in college is expensive, including touching base with family and friends. To give you a helping hand, here are our top five ways to save on contacting home.5. Use the Post: “You've got mail” used to apply to more than just America Online. To let your loved ones know you're really thinking about them, nothing beats a handwritten letter or custom-made package. Hand-made gifts sent through snail mail are still one of the cheapest and most personal ways to show someone you care.
4. Charge It: If you have to travel far or frequently, it may be advantageous to have a credit card with a gas rebate or airline flyer mile benefits. When you buy books, tuition, or food, you'll also be saving money for your next trip. Watch out for the temptation to spend; the money you save on travel can easily be counterbalanced by money spent on indulgences.
3. Hop On Board: On a college campus, everyone's broke and everyone needs to get home, particularly around vacation time. Your campus's ride board (usually located in the student activities hall) will post a list of where students will be driving and how to buy a spot in their car. Riders split the cost of gas amongst themselves and get a trip home for next to nothing.
2. Get Techno-Savvy: E-mail and instant messaging are a college student's best friend. They're fast, they're free, and they're accessible to everyone who makes it onto campus. Find out where your campus's computer labs are and when they're open or offer to share a computer with a friend. Most dorms are equipped with fast, T1 internet connections, putting home just a keyboard away.
1. Phone Home: Your campus should offer long distance plans for calls made from the dorm; however, calling cards will be cheaper and will save you from having to divvy up the bill with your roommate at the end of the month. Prepaid cards for as low as two cents per minute are available through Longdistanceworld.com, but before buying, check out the connection fees. If you have a headset, Skype is a free computer program that will allow you to call other Skype users at no cost and international phone numbers at incredibly low rates.
Christina Couch is a freelance writer based in Richmond, Virginia, and Chicago, Illinois. She is the author of Virginia Colleges 101: The Ultimate Guide for Students of All Ages (Palari Publishing, 2008). Her byline can also be found on AOL.com, MSN.com, Yahoo.com, and Wired magazine.
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