Chances are you live on cereal bars and Mac and Cheese, your underwear supply dictates when to visit home for laundry weekend and you personally keep your campus coffee shop running every morning. Take comfort in the fact that you are not alone – these are cold and ruthless times for the average broke college student. Between paying for food, apartment rent, textbooks upon textbooks upon textbooks, rising tuition, food, toiletries, school supplies, beer and food, what’s a college student to do?

There’s always the typical answer: get a job. Easier said than done.

But there are still ways to earn your keep: when life hands you lemons, chuck them aside and use your talents! Fifteen years of piano lessons needed to be useful sooner or later. And with overrated teachers that charge outrageous prices to teach hesitant toddlers an artistic talent that kids are only “trying out” experimentally to begin with, you start looking like a much more attractive choice to parents.

If you’re a blooming Picasso, or have a passion for the culinary arts, put those talents to use as well. Spend your time painting, sketching, sculpting and turn your hobby into a business by selling your products around campus for a profit. Writers can release those opinionated articles through paid freelance writing as well, as can photographers too. Or put your cooking skills to the test and offer to cater for some of the fancier small-group events around campus.

Now that doesn’t mean that you need to be extraordinarily gifted in the arts. A college student’s number one job is to be just that: a student. We spend a majority of the time hitting the books, but your strength in one subject is another student’s weakness: share the knowledge, become a tutor, reinforce what you know, do what you love and earn money to sponsor your own education. It’s a virtuous circle of educational goodness.

You can advertise these self-employed jobs easily using Jobvana, Craigslist or Monster.

But for the broke college student, there is no greater client than the World Wide Web. A majority of students spend time researching, writing and Facebooking on the internet daily –spend a little extra time to earn money. Create a website or blog about something you find interesting, such as life on campus or the latest great books and you can attain a following. If you’re popular enough, you can register for Google AdSense, which will post free pay-per-click ads – and your daily blog with a dose of popularity can start generating revenue.

A tech-savvy student can go so far as to be paid for designing websites, creating logos, updating presentations with an artistic flair and more for companies who need these services. In an era of technology, computer skills are definitely deemed a worthy ability.

Other than these options, there are many odd ways to accumulate money and finally pay off that rent. With fewer available jobs, more and more students turn towards paid internships, which provide not only priceless experience and cash, but a great deal of credibility to a blank resume.

Don’t forget to use what you have: if you own a car, utilize it as advertising space. DrivenMediaOnline.com actually pays students to place magnetic advertisements on their cars. After all, potential clients of those companies are more likely to be reached by rolling billboards commuting around campus.

Most college students volunteer for the invaluable experience, but volunteering for certain organizations like Peace Corps, AmeriCorps, and other institutions can win you educational awards and even partial loan forgiveness. Some opportunities to participate in medical studies also offer monetary awards, but it’s a riskier option that requires more detailed research before participating.

If not the Peace Corps, join the military – the U.S. Armed Forces have many different programs that offer students the funds to pay for college, under the obligation that the student makes a 3 to 4 year commitment after graduation – but this can earn up to $50,000 in school expenses. Aside from the military, the government also offers various loan forgiveness programs if you offer your time and energy towards public service, usually requiring a few years of time after graduating.

De Anza has a secret source for ways to raise money as well: those tall bulletins scattered throughout the quads. Whether you want to advertise your own businesses, or are responding to someone else’s request for employees, it can only benefit you to take a few minutes each day to scan through the chaos of fliers.

Last but not least, you can always sell unused belongings, whether it’s old textbooks or abandoned video games. You can even get creative by shopping cheaply at thrift stores and reselling those items online for a profit. Ebay is the world’s largest online garage sale – employ it.

Try to keep your profits from leaking out again; living frugally is a very popular lifestyle amongst the broke. And remember, there’s little a graduate school finds more attractive than seeing a student take an active role in funding his or her own education.