It's only a month into the semester and you're pretty much broke.
All the money you saved up this summer has gone to partying, clothes and maybe some books. It's time to start looking for a job, but you're not eligible for work-study and you don't want to work for Campus Dining and Shops or the Residence Halls.
Luckily, there are plenty of fun and unusual things to do to make some extra money this semester:
1. Participate in paid psychology and communication studies
These are great because the majority of studies take only an hour and can pay up to $40. The tasks range from answering questions about past experiences and taking emotional tests, to being read adjectives while choosing their similes in three seconds. You might even have to agree to an electroencephalography, but hey, that'll make quite the story of how you got your new iPad. Maybe you'll learn something. Check campus bulletin boards for flyers or sign up on experimetrix2.com/UB/.
2. Model for an art class
Are you too sexy for your shirt? Try modeling for ART 223: Figure Drawing 1 or an open community drawing session through the art department. You have to be naked, but it's a professional environment where artists are more concerned about their masterpieces than what you actually look like. For two, 2.5 hour sessions once or twice a month, you could earn up to $75 and the bragging rights of being a model in your twenties. Inquire at Center for the Arts room 202 for more information.
3. Take notes for a class
You're already going to every single class this semester - or at least that's what you're telling mom and dad. Maybe getting paid to take notes will put your attendance rate back on track. Accessibility Resources will pay student note takers based on the course credit hours. All you have to do it go to each class, take accurate notes, photocopy them for free through the department and then deliver them to the Accessibility Resources office after class.
4. Become a secret shopper
Be a food critic in your local campus restaurant. As a secret shopper, the student is given money on his or her UB card to use at Campus Dining and Shops to test food quality and customer service. You could even decide what new sandwich is served at Wrap It Up. After each of the seven to 10 meetings per semester, secret shoppers receive $20 in Dining Dollars. That's an easy $200 you don't have to spend on your meal plan. Register to participate at myubcard.com.
5.Recycle your empties
We all know if you don't go to a frat party, you have to buy your own beer this weekend. You already pay the five-cent deposit when you purchase your booze, so why not get it back through recycling? If you and your friends go through two 30 racks every weekend for a month, you can get $12 back when you return the empties. That's another 15 beers. Bottle and can collection machines are located at UB. On North Campus they are in the Student Union, Greiner Hall and Knox, Capen and O'Brien buildings. South Campus has just one, located in Harriman Hall.
Email: rachelra@buffalo.edu
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
