When you’re a college student rarely is there a time during the semester when you could turn down the idea of easy money. There is always something to pay for or something you want to buy. Follow these tips and make some fast cash without the hassle of working while you could be studying.

Drive people around who don’t have cars. This is an easy task for the most part, especially with car insurance and gas prices rising it’s hard for most students to drive all the time. Start a carpool to the grocery store or the mall and make flyers. If they pay for your gas every Saturday, a cheaper version of a college shuttle, you’ll have pocket money in no time.

The same rule goes for beer runs, however, don’t do it illegally. Check everyone’s ID before you go to the best liquor store in town and spend their money. For every mile you drive to get the expensive stuff for that frat party next Thursday, charge a small fee.

Offer to carry people’s belongings back to their cars when going home for winter break and the semester is over. Many families need help making the trek down steep dorm stairs with a flat screen. Make sure they know you’re not being generous though first and charge cheap rates so it will add up faster and people will be more inclined to help.

Pass out flyers for any group on campus. There is always someone on campus that needs publicity. Take advantage of it and tell them you’ll make a professional flyer and pass them out yourself.

We all have days where work just doesn’t seem appealing, the secret is to make them few and far between by not denying yourself a good time to constantly hit the books. One of the hardest things to grip while in college is the healthy line between work and fun. If you know what to do and prepare yourself for the procrastination before it hits, you’ll be ready.

Whenever you have computer work to do, if you have a laptop either don’t use it or take it somewhere with lots of people like a lounge or coffee shop. By watching all the people coming back to class with your iTunes on full blast you’ll remember what you’re supposed to be doing and feel guilty about not doing it. It’s an instant work boost when everyone around you is being productive and you’re playing solitaire.

Keep at least 3 calendars. This has helped countless times to keep various assignments straight, especially when you have at least 3 on the same day any given week. Plug in all your dates onto a wall calendar for long term projects in front your desk, carry a planner for homework with you to class, and keep your work schedule on your phone. Set up a Google calendar as soon as possible and put all your fun stuff on that so all your friends can see when you’re busy and when you’re not. If you stay on top of things individually it won’t be so overwhelming and you won’t feel the need to cheat and not do your work.

There’s always another week to get together with friends. If it’s between a project that will help you pass a class and a movie marathon or a football game, choose the project. Hard as it is, you’ll have the rest of your four years to party, party, party, but no one wants to repeat a year and get yelled at by their parents for another year of tuition. Be responsible.

When you feel overwhelmed, don’t try to work through it, distract yourself for ten minutes. Set your alarm so you know when the ten minutes are up and do whatever you can to bring down your blood pressure and have a little fun. Don’t forget to breathe.

When you first start college freshman year it’s totally possible to get overly excited by all the club opportunities on campus. Make sure you don’t stretch yourself too thin and remember that you’re technically there for school, not clubs. They’ll look good on your resume for grad school, but not if you failed any classes because you were so busy being club president. Which leads to some cautions:

Don’t accept a leadership position until at least sophomore year. By then you have a handle on your studying habits and how you handle maximum stress so you’re better able to manage your time. If you try as a freshman you may get overwhelmed, depressed, and not know what to do.

Only do two clubs your first year and then decide if they really provided everything you expected the second year. If you’re still happy with them stick with it and jump on a few more, just make sure you can manage your time. Also, make sure your study sessions take top priority over a meeting; you’re not getting credit to hang out with your friends.

Get yourself out there if you’re really passionate about the club you joined. Championing for your cause and getting your voice heard is the best way to build self esteem and your network with the campus faculty. This comes in handy in later years when you’re looking for a job and going to interviews needing recommendations from professors.

If you like the people in your club make friends with them outside of club time. It will make finding new friends easier and make campus events more fun when you have a new posse that you’re already comfortable with.

Sometimes it’s just really hard to surprise that difficult professor and go from a decent grade to a stellar one even when you try really hard. Here are some tips to motivate you to get the grade you should have without breaking your brain.

Use a second pair of eyes on homework, tests, and papers to catch your mistakes. Sometimes you can’t see errors but you can always have someone else look at it who sees it differently.

Talk constructively in class all the time. Class participation is key in college. Don’t just blurt out the first thing that comes to mind, use others ideas to boost your thought process and start a discussion, not a string of random comments.

Become friends with your professor and go to office hours to discuss the material outside of class. If they understand that you not only have a handle on the material, and enjoy it so much that you want to have an intellectual discussion outside of class, it shows them that you’re trying. Trying always gets big bonus points and it’s not sucking up.

Use study groups. When you work with other people to bounce ideas off of, you not only figure out how much you know the materiel, but you can add extra thoughts to your own. If you’re stumped on an essay question remember the other thoughts of your classmates in study group and see what you can come up with, two brains are always better than one.

Do projects a week before they’re due and get criticism before the final due date. This will ensure that you’ve met the professor’s criteria and give you an extra boost with what you can do to go above the grade you would have had, had you handed it in as it was. Make sure you get specific comments and then go above and beyond the next week.

With the health craze on the rise it’s always good to read up on the latest healthy ways to perk you up in the morning.

Wheat Grass

People have been taking shots of this for years even before it was trendy and the mental boost is supposed to be exceptional. You can pick up some ready made at any health food store or find a recipe on the internet and make your own.

Apple Juice

This has all the natural sugars and yummy taste to keep you awake and alert without the physical and mental crash you get after putting foreign chemicals into your body. Just don’t drink too much in one day because that causes headaches.

Gum

Chewing keeps your brain focused and your eyes open, no one wants to choke on gum and interrupt the class. So keep your jaw moving and your alertness on the board in front of you. This won’t help if you’re one of those students who brings a laptop to class and plays on Facebook the whole time.

Crystal Light

This is tasty energy boost and you get the amount of vitamins and hydration needed for the day. Just watch some flavors, with the fake sugar some of them can be tricky and taste really bad. Stick to a flavor you like rather than exploring and wasting your money on drinks you don’t like to drink.