Everyone warns you of the “college struggle” but they never fully disclose every detail.  

Juggling school, work and a social life can be challenging as a student or an adult in general. With changes in financial aid, loan amounts and tuition, students can find it harder to stay afloat these days. There is a constant battle between time and money. You’ll have the time to hang out with friends, but not enough money. Or, you’ll have the money to spend and there’s no time to do anything.  

Here are a few apps I use that help me save a little bit of both, making my life easier.  

OfferUp 

Similar to Craigslist and LetGo, Offer Up is an app that allows you to sell almost anything from firewood to cellphones and cars. This app, much quicker than Craigslist’s, allows you to snap a quick photo, add some details, set a price and you’re set.  

Please be careful when meeting with people. I recommended grabbing a friend and meeting in well-lit and public places.  

Poshmark 

Imagine sitting watching tv, then out of nowhere you’ve made $15 on a shirt you wore once and posted three days ago.  

I will admit, this one requires more patience than the others. This app requires more detail with the posts and sometimes things don’t sell immediately. If things sell quickly, you must ship them off and wait for the money to post and then request a check or direct deposit. If you’re looking for quick money, this is sometimes not the best option. However, if you’re like me and have a lot of clothing or find good deals, this app could be for you.  

Shopkick 

This is my all-time favorite app. This is also the easiest, in my opinion and I’ve used if for about four years. 

Here’s the deal, we have to grocery shop, run errands and hit the mall at some point, right? That where this app comes in. They give you these “kicks” or points for walking into certain stores, shopping or simply scanning the items barcode in the store. Simple right? You can also get points buy scanning in receipts and shopping online. 

I use this to get free gift cards all year but it comes in handy the most during holiday season!

The gift card options are good too. Barnes and Nobles cards are an option, and these can be redeemed at the campus bookstore. Places like Nike, Target, Walmart, Sephora and plenty other options are available too.