College cash cows are hard to come by.

Ignoring the elite few who have managed to obtain full-ride scholarships or have incredibly wealthy parents who are doling out the payment for an expensive education, we college students are poor.

Not "poor" in the sense that we are suffering like children in Third World Countries - we all have access to our daily needs without much difficulty. "Poor" in that our savings accounts contain a fraction of the amount that we desire, thanks to the bloated cost of living the college life. Right now, I have less than $100 total to my name. Frightening? No. Disconcerting? Yes.

I don't know how it happened. It was only a few short months ago that I was reveling in the rewards of working a summer job, with plenty of cash to spare and little need for anything. But then the bookstore dealt a massive blow to my funds. Wal-Mart pounced on a portion of the savings. As gas prices climbed, I clutched my head in misery as more of my precious savings drained away. Tack on Christmas presents, road trips and gifts for my boyfriend, and my money disappeared at an alarmingly fast rate. But I'm not the only one. Most of my fellow students make little in the way of income and come from middle class families, so they don't have much to their name either. However, there are ways to be frugal, and make the most of the few meager dollars clinging to your wallet. Here's how:

1) Take advantage of a meal plan. At my school, we have plans you can buy that will give you enough meals to eat two a day, every day in the cafeteria. That means you can get more than enough to eat for lunch and dinner - all school year - by shelling out a one time fee. That takes care of a lot of expenses, especially if you aren't running to the grocery store every week or spending ridiculous amounts by going out to eat. Yes, Sodexho food is not always satisfactory, but there's always the old standby of cereal and pizza - better than ramen anyday.

2) Check out your local dollar stores. Here at Truman, in the middle of Nowheresville, Missouri, we are blessed with a large proficieny of dollar stores due to a high proporition of low-income residents. I'll admit, for my first three semesters, I avoided these places. They seemed inferior, tacky, and overly cheap, far below my expectations as a consumer. But I made my first trip to one last weekend and was pleasantly surprised. In case the name isn't obvious enough, you can get EVERYTHING for a dollar. That means school

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