Kmcvicker's Weblog

Seattle residents are known for their addiction to coffee. It’s almost impossible to walk on campus without seeing Huskies greedily sucking down Starbucks lattes. But while a coffee drink’s caffeine content may help us stay awake during class, its price could seriously hurt our budgets.

A 16-ounce drink from Starbucks cost about $3.50 without tax. If you buy a drink each morning, after two weeks you’ll have spent $49. University District resident Gary Meyers thinks that amount is excessive.

“I make my own hazelnut lattes,” said Meyers. “Buying coffee ingredients from a grocery store is the way to go. I like the Safeway on 50th street. It’s close.”

After browsing on Safeway.com, I have to agree with Meyers. I could buy enough milk, coffee, hazelnut syrup and creamer to last me for two weeks and spend less than $16.

Hazelnut syrup $5.99

Hazelnut creamer $4.69

“You have to buy a microwave or a coffeemaker,” said Meyers, “but the savings in the long run are definitely worth it.”

Meyers said when he moved to Seattle from Idaho Falls, he had to cut back on unnecessary expenses.

“The cost of living is much higher over here. I can’t afford to spend $100 bucks on coffee each month anymore. That’s like a third of my rent.”

Huskies are used to making sacrifices. I know a girl who showered using dish soap for a week. In order to save a couple bucks, sometimes our routine hygiene and maintenance practices get neglected. Thankfully, monthly hair appointments don’t have to be one of them.

Last Friday, UW sophomore Katy Legge shared her money-saving tip with me. She gets her hair done at a beauty school.

Legge prefers Gene Juarez Academy located behind Northgate Mall. Appointments can be made by phone, but walk-ins are welcome.

“My best friend Alyssa Hoskins recommended it,” said Legge. “We used to get our hair done there for dances. It’s really cheap. To get my hair completely dyed was only $40. At other salons it’s anywhere from $80 to $100.”

Legge's dyed hair

The young beauticians offer a variety of cut and coloring services, but they don’t work with pastels like purple or blue, Legge reported.

She promotes the school because it’s cost-effective and helps the beauticians excel in their program.

“They get better markings in their classes if they get more customer requests,” Legge explained.

It’s important to remember, however, that the beauticians there aren’t licensed and are still learning.

“You have to be willing to take a risk,” Legge said, “but I always get what I want.”

Ever lusted after the designer denim that lines the store windows in University Village?  Penny-pinchers like us usually can’t afford to spend $200 on a pair of True Religion jeans.  But I have some good news, Dawgs.  The Sigma Kappa sorority is putting on a Charity Denim fundraiser this Thursday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the HUB.

7 For All Mankind jeans at the Mercer Store in University Village

Charity Denim, a national company, will be selling brands such as 7 For All  Mankind, Chip and Pepper and True Religion at reduced prices. The Sigma Kappas will receive 40 percent of the jeans’ profits to donate to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

Molly Stephanson, member of Sigma Kappa, said the prices will range between $40 and $100.

“It’s a really great event, because everyone wins,” said Stephanson.  “Selling designer jeans is a fun way to get the community involved in philanthropy.”

This is the sorority’s third year putting on the Charity Denim event.  According to Stephanson, Sigma Kappa has raised about $3,700 for the center in the past two years.

It’s a great opportunity to get those jeans we’ve always coveted without having to worry about not making rent.  Not to mention, it’s a chance to give to a great cause.

Halloween is next weekend, Huskies, and that means we need to start planning which sexy and scary creatures we want to emulate this year.  But before you start shelling out cash on those brand new, expensive costumes, you may want to consider going secondhand.

Tiffany Walter, UW sophomore, said, “I went to Red Light to get a costume, because they have a large variety and it is close to where I live.”

Red Light

Many used clothing stores are conveniently located on the Ave such as the Red Light and the Buffalo Exchange.

Walter said she looked online for a packaged Tinker Bell outfit, but she discovered that putting the costume together with used accessories would be cheaper.

For example, ordering a Playboy bunny or French maid costume online can cost about $50 to $60, maybe even more with shipping and handling charges.

After picking through the racks at Red Light, I found all the accessories of a bunny costume for less than $40 and the maid costume for less than $30.

Bunny ears

Bunny strapless teddy

However, going secondhand doesn’t necessarily mean going to a store.  Visiting a friend’s closet is extremely cost-effective, if not free.  Claire Bohmann, UW sophomore, is loaning out her International House of Pancakes uniform to a friend.

So before making any rash Halloween decisions, be sure to shop around.  The only thing worse than spilling legal beverages on your costume is paying too much for it.

It’s not uncommon to see empty alcohol bottles lining the windows of Husky apartments and houses.  It is a little out of the ordinary when those same bottles are filled with wires and are providing light for hallways and bedrooms. At UW sophomore Caleb Cook’s place, that’s exactly what they’re doing.  Cook has fashioned do-it-yourself liquor lamps.

“I’m very creative,” says Cook.  “My lamps are cheap, and they look awesome.”

Cook's first lamp

Cook got the idea for his lamps from one of his friends in Ohio.  He told me, “It’s easy to make things look nice, and I like expressing my own style.”

The lamps cost him about $10 to make.  He used recycled bottles and old lampshades from his house springing only for new light bulbs.

“I can’t go out and buy like $40-$50 lamps,” claimed Cook.  “That’s just out of this world.  I need to save my money and be as rich as possible in case the stock market crashes.”

Cook said putting the lamps together was pretty simple, the only problem he had, “was corking the bottle, I had to keep shaving it down.”

Liquor bottles were Cook’s choice material, but obviously any, more age-appropriate bottle would work as well.

“The important thing is that your lamp represents you,” said Cook.  “You’ll be more proud of it than anything else.”

Cook's second lamp

Scott Glenn, UW sophomore, has a 5 feet by 5 feet Godzilla action scene creeping out from behind his bed. It’s a masterpiece he created for the bargain price of $4. How did he do it you ask? A little thing called the Rasterbator.

Glenn's picture

“If you’re a poor college student, and you want to fill up your walls with art, the Rasterbator is a great option,” said Glenn.

The Rasterbator is an online program that turns digital photographs into enormous posters up to 20 meters in size. It’s free to use, and according to Glenn, extremely easy.

“You can just go to the website and upload any picture from your computer or the Internet,” he explained. “Then you crop, edit, and rasterbate.”

A PDF file will automatically download onto your desktop. Once it’s done, you simply save it onto a jump drive and take it to a print shop.

“My favorite is the Ram Copy Center,” said Glenn. “It’s right on the Ave.”

Each portion of the picture prints out onto an individual sheet of paper, kind of like a puzzle. It’s the customer’s responsibility to piece it together.

“The poster I made would cost about $40 if I bought it online,” said Glenn. “The Rasterbator is definitely a good deal.”

While walking to my apartment nestled away in the numbered streets on the UW campus, my attention is drawn to the unique décor adorning my fellow Huskies’ houses. Spiderman-sheet blinds hang above my neighbor’s window. A beer-stained couch is strategically positioned on my best friend’s porch. A variety of vines are growing from dirt-filled water bottles.

Someone unfamiliar with college life may think the concept of Feng Shui is simply lost on Washington students or that our standard of living is merely lower. The truth is that small budgets and rising prices limit our design options. Textbooks, tuition and rent are expensive. Shoving a used couch outside is much cheaper than buying proper, rain-resistant patio furniture.

As a student, I know it’s not easy to prosper in the absence of abundant resources and free time. So I’m hoping this blog, dare I say survival guide, will help. My posts will be dedicated to the money-saving tips, recipes and creations executed by my peers. Now, I’m assuming their ideas won’t be like the sophisticated suggestions gracing the pages of “Good Housekeeping” magazine, but they’ve got to be more inventive than living off Top Ramen or stealing cable, right?

I guess I’ll find out.