Karl Benacci, Features Editor
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a special Beacon series for the budget-minded and cent friendly student
This week: budgeting bills for your belly
by Kristen Schrum
staff writer
Are you feeling like you are ready
to hold up a sign that says, “Will work
for food?" Rest assured, you’re not
alone. Most college students who do
not have a meal plan are also
scrounging pennies for a loaf of bread.
In this week’s ‘Cheapskates and
Pennypinchers' series, the secrets for
grocery shopping on a budget will be
revealed.
The most frequently visited grocery
store for Bchrend shoppers is Giant
Eagle, located conveniently on Buffalo
Road. This store has a huge variety of
food to choose from. The Giant Eagle-
Advantage Card is easy to apply for,
and it gives shoppers discounts on
selected items in the store. Giant Eagle
also offers certain items at BOGO (buy
one, get one).
“I go to Giant Eagle because they
have a large selection and because the
Advantage Card saves you cash," said
Jack Reynolds, a fourth semester
student.
Now read very carefully to this next
sentence; a secret is about to be
revealed. Pennypinchers arc advised
to go to a store called Akli’s. This
grocery store is located on the corner
of Saltsman and Buffalo Road, across
from Country Fair. Most students,
such as Amanda Brown, a junior, shop
at Giant Eagle because of its
convenient location.
When she found out about Aldi's,
Brown said, "I guess 1 wasn't aware
that there were other places to shop
Crossword
ACROSS
1 Pitcher's
miscues
6 Maglie and
Mineo
10 Self-images
14 Argentine plain
15 Issue forth
16 Cry of pain
17 Of the eyes
18 Used a loom
19 Okinawa port
20 Dish from the
Ukraine
23 Comic Skelton
24 Penetrated a
thick skull?
25 Like easy-care
clothes
27 Scoundrel
30 Ride the wind
31 Terrible ruler?
34 Con quarters
36 Hawaiian feasts
39 Ivey or Elcar
40 Threesomes
42 Ritzy wheels
43 McCowen and
Guinness
45 Treat for Rover
46 Robed
47 4-string guitars
49 _ Haute, IN
51 Tasty tidbits
54 Demolishing
58 Frozen over
59 Cristobal-Balboa
link
62 Swear, casually
64 Nuzzle
65 Structure starter?
66 mater
67 Boot tips
68 Scornful look
69 Not so hot
70 Health resorts
71 Short and direct
DOWN
1 Political
coalitions
2 Greek letter
3 Caesar's
language
4 Ornamental
trinkets
5 Close to air
traffic
6 Stitched
[around here]."
This small store is sure to help save
some pennies. Aldi’s is unique because
customers put a quarter in a shopping
cart, and then when they return the cart,
the quarter comes back out. It may
seem silly to pay for a cart, but you
get the money back, so it’s
really free
When a customer enters
Aldi's for the first time,
they may feel an
overwhelming sense of
glee. This is due to the
fact that many of the items
in the store are $3 and
under. Since Aldi's does
not have to pay someone
to go outside and gather all
the earts left in the parking
lot. they are free to
undereharge customers for
food. Aldi’s is also unique
in that you paek up your
own groceries. Not
having to hire a person to
bag groceries is another
reason Aldi’s can afford to sell their
food for so cheap.
In comparing prices of frequently
needed food items, Aldi’s takes the
cake. A loaf of bread costs only 35
cents. Here, you can buy three loaves
of bread for the price of one at any
other store. One dozen eggs costs 79
cents, one large tub of butter costs 99
cents and a frozen pizza costs as low
as 51. 99.
Andrea Rodriguez, a senior, said she
shops at Aldi's, “because you get more
bang for your buck, and they have
© 2003 Tribune Media Set
All rights reserved.
7 Hog-wild Solutions
8 Enraged
9 Guides
10 Long time
between dates?
11 Highway
safeguard
12 Orange color
13 Sheltered Irom
the sun
21 Participate in
charades
22 Orchestra
member
26 “Peaches and
Pears” painter
28 Action word
29 George orT.S.
31 Actress Lupino
32 Actor Kilmer
33 Blood vessel
problems 44 Spread slowly
35 Solitary 4 8 Tilts
37 Actress Thurman 50 B '9 ot
38 Make lawn 51 Aluminum
repairs silicates
41 Missionary 52 Eye: prel.
Junipero 53 Nose into
FILE PHOTO
55 Surmise
56 Nostrils
57 Angry gaze
60 On the briny
61 Disorderly
situation
63 _ Paulo
««■ *-■ »\- f* 1 I »J-
& rUiMjJJHS
Friday, February 14, 2003
great-tasting food even though its
generic brand.”
Aldi’s is great for the necessities, but
Giant Eagle offers more novelty items
and a larger variety of meats.
If you like a lot of one thing, Sam’s
Club is the way to go. Sam's Club is
located in the Summit Plaza off of
Peach Street. Items here are sold in
bulk, so you save money in the long
run. There is a membership fee of $35
for one year.
For anything else you might need
from a grocery store, such as toiletries
and cleaning products, the Dollar Tree
is most budget friendly. This store is
located on Buffalo Road across from
BP.
Have you ever gone to a dollar store
and realized that some items cost more
than a dollar? Well the Dollar Tree
stands by its name. There,
everything really is a dollar.
Let’s face it, we are all broke,
but we still need to eat. These
Pennypincher tips are sure to save
poor college students some money,
so they still have cash for
extracurricular activities on the
weekends.
Forward Hall presents Generator
by Brooke Nix
stall writer
Bass vibrates below your feet,
pulsating music flows through
your ears, and as you look around,
everyone is dancing to
the music.
Electronic music from
drum and bass to
progressive trance is
offered every Thursday
night at Forward Hall at
25th and Peach Street.
“The main motivation
behind putting together
Generator was to offer
people an alternative
from the rest of the
Erie’s nightlife,” said
Jason Imig, a promoter
with the company
Subsurface Tribe. “For
the most part most, the
music being played
locally is just background noise for
people trying to hook up. Our
night is foremost about the music.
The DJs are somebody that are
meant to be seen and not hidden
in some booth.”
Generator is a 21 and over
nightclub featuring a $3 cover.
There are Long Island ice teas and
Alabama slammers for $2 and $1
Budweiser’s.
“I am really excited about a
couple of things that we are trying
to put together for the near future.
The main thing I would like to get
More money, more problems:
So you're attending class, eating halfway decent meals and you have a
stash of Advil. Now you need to learn how to hang on to your dollar bills
before you spend them all on bar cover charges and dinner out.
A common problem for everyone, not just collegians, is ha\ mg no clue
where the heck your money goes.
Use a pencil and paper and keep track of your pennies, says Data I Juguav.
executive director of Juiypstart Coalition, which promotes financial aware
ness among young people. Maybe you could buy a coffee maker instead
of dishing out three bucks for a latte at Starbucks every morning.
Set up a monthly budget and try to stick to it. Duguay suggests. Thai
means figuring out how much money you're bringing in and how much
you're spending (on a car payment, apartment rent, etc.), so you’ll know
how much you can use for extras.
Be aware of how much you have to spend on "wants." Duguay says.
Before buying anything- from that new Kate Spade purse to a beau burrito
_ask yourself: Do I need this? Be honest, and if the answer is yes buy it
If the answer is no, ask yourself: How much do I want this’ It the answer
is "so much I will just cry if I walk out of the store without it," take a deep
breath and walk around for five minutes. Then ask yourself again. There
are few things that inspire such a response for longer than two minutes.
Now, unless they're the last pair of Steve Madden sandals on the rack
and they're more than 25 percent off, leave. Yes. get out of there. Next
Tuesday, if you still really, really w ant them, buy them.
Start building your credit early, says Diana Don. spokeswoman for Capi
tal One, a major credit-card company that oilers special college cards.
One way to build credit is to pay your bills on time. Another way. of
course, is to get a credit card, if you consider yourself a responsible per
son.
"Credit cards are a great money-management tool," Don says. "At the
college level, you want something for emergencies, you don't want to be
carrying cash. It's safe and convenient."
A good way to handle plastic is to make one purchase on the card every
month and pay it off within that month, before interest is tacked on.
You'll build your credit score this way. which will lead to many blissful
moments when you try to buy a car. house, yacht, or anything else of
value later in life.
And Duguay warns against racking up debt w hile in college.
"The average undergraduate student has a debt balance of $2,700." she
says. "They're using credit to buy things they can't afford."
Live within your means, she advises. And save, save, save!
If you start early, you'll be glad you did. Duguay offers this example: If
you put $2,000 in a fund that earns at least 9 percent interest, and you do
this every year starting at age 22 and stopping when you're 30 (a total
investment of $18,J)00), you'll have $580,000 w hen you turn 05. If you
wait till you're 31 to start investing, and put $2,000 a year in the same
account until you're 65 (a total investment of $70,000), you'll have only
$470,000. So start saving!
done first is to put together a
benefit for Safenet," said Imig.
Safenet is a local shelter for
victims of domestic violence.
Also, Imig plans to raise money
for other local organizations and
different programs, too. He also
Forward Hall rocks to such bands as Black Rose Diary,
and the venue now caters to dance and hip-hop music on
Thursday nights.
adds, “We are not going to limit
ourselves to solely electronic
music. We are putting together
some other concerts featuring jazz
and hip-hop groups from around
the area.” Forward Hall also offers
shows to look forward to on other
days of the week.
Local and Pittsburgh DJs such as
Mike Moran, Natas K, Vic and
Vinny have recently been to the
club performing behind the
turntables. Since their last visit the
club is looking into bringing them
back in the future. Subsurface
The Behrend Beacon
-compiled from KRT Campus sources
Tribe plans to bring main other
Pittsburgh D.ls as well as brie ones
to show off their talent.
Whether people want to work
their stress out on the floor In
dancing or just sit back and chill
(iencrator has comet him.' lor
comment on how
there is nothing like it in their city.
With an amazing sound s\stcm.
great drink specials, and a areal
stall, do not automatiealK assume
that this is just some other dance
club."
forward /hill, (icncratoi
Every Thursday Vp.ni
SJ.OO cover cliaryc
littp.V/fonvardlhdl.n »»/
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Page
promoters ha\e
h iuh hopes I'm
(iencratm in tin.
tiiturc anil plans lor
it to become a
I'llui scl;i\ melil
hang out lor people
in anil outside l a ic,
who listen to the
intense sound id
electronic music
It is easily one ol
the nicest hats in
town." Imig said,
liven the D.ls we
have hroueht from
other
places