These are some very good pieces of advice! I especially like the "Look for simple expenses you can trim away"—that's a big piece of the Millionaire Mindset, and is good advice for pretty much any person or business!

20somethingfinance is a great site with lots of useful advice!

This was helpful and detailed—props! Keep up the great work!

But it is something you should consider before taking out loans to pay for your education! I discuss this here: http://froogalstoodent.blogspot.com/2014/07/a-new-…

Before it died, my old ASUS UL80Jt-A1 laptop fit almost all of the specifications for an Ultrabook (0ther than the fast-start requirement, bc there was no SSD cache). It was small, light, portable, had good battery life, and a low-voltage processor.

Well, that depends in large part on what you're looking for. I like the ASUS Zenbook mentioned elsewhere, pictured below:

Four days?! Now that's some great battery life! Did you disable wi-fi to get that kind of battery life?

Four days?! Now that's some great battery life! Did you disable wi-fi to get that kind of battery life?

Probably. Little kids would just say, "oh, look! Spider-Man!"

Thankfully there are many other options out there. If you don't feel comfortable buying a GM product, then don't. I won't either.

Yep. I do my blog because I find it fun. Thankfully, I'm not actually dependent on income from blogging, because I haven't made a dime from blogging, which I've been doing for 3 months.

Yep, I call it the 'sunglasses effect'—everybody looks better while wearing sunglasses, including good-looking people. It's uncanny!

The point here is to minimize the amount of aid you need to take out. Obviously a lot of people need loans to help cover their costs; but some people just default to "Oh, I'll just take out a loan" instead of working hard and actively trying to do what they can to pay as much as possible themselves. Not all young…

Agreed, it won't work well for everyone. Checking into your options is crucial, especially if you plan to take a gap year or two, as I advise. If your scholarship is contingent upon going to college immediately, it doesn't make sense to throw that chance away. But many people do not earn scholarships; those are the…

LOL not that I'd ever recommend this or do it myself, but hey, if it works for her...

Pretty sound advice! I can't advise not eating meat, though :/

Yes, I am, actually! One of many good sites on the topic! I also like Modest Money, Getting Rich Slowly, Financial Samurai, Money Manifesto, and 20somethingfinance. On a mostly unrelated note, I also enjoy the Art of Manliness :)

Indeed that's another good route to take, to get some good quality stuff for less. You have to put in the assembly work yourself, and you don't end up with an easily portable machine, but if it suits your needs I'd recommend it! And you learn something in the process, too! :)

They do make nice phones like that for off-contract devices. You'll be paying as much as you would for a decent computer, but the savings will justify the up-front cost of the device, if you stick with it for a while!

They do make nice phones like that for off-contract devices. You'll be paying as much as you would for a decent…

Yep, my advice won't work for everyone. Hopefully this problem will be addressed better in the future, but if it's not a good option for you, don't try to force it!

Yep, my advice won't work for everyone. Hopefully this problem will be addressed better in the future, but if it's…

Ha! Zero, actually. Haven't made a dime yet, and I don't ever expect to make much. I do the blog for fun, which is why I put zero investment into it (not counting time). If I make money, cool! If not, no loss.