If you’re considering attending law school or have recently embarked upon your 1L year, the specter of cost has no doubt reared its ugly head. Yes kids, a legal education is expensive (as any graduate education can be). It’s only natural that you’d be looking for ways to save a buck or two (or several thousand). That’s where this post comes in.

There are two things which you will likely find yourself short of during law school: time and money. In some ways, a shortage of the former can lead to a shortage of the latter. Don’t have time to take the bus to school? Have to spend money on gas and a parking permit? Don’t have time to cook? Have to eat fast food?

What’s a law student to do?

1. Pre-Party

As a new law student, you will quickly become acquainted with bar review – the “fun” bar, not the “Bar” bar. Bar review is a weekly gathering organized for the admirable purpose of blowing off steam. Naturally, many folks choose to imbibe at these gatherings. Well, those $10 mojitos start to pile up (and yes, I’m judging you for drinking mojitos). It would be easy enough to just drink fewer feminine cocktails, but such a strategy can put a serious damper on your ability to blow off that proverbial steam. Instead, I suggest you engage in the time-honored and college-developed tradition of pre-partying. Get together with friends, bring some cheap booze and drink some ill-advised concoctions before you all catch a cab to a little town I like to call Stuff-You’ll-Regret-the-Following-Morningville.

2. Attend Functions

It’s no secret that the best way to lure people to events is to give away free crap (and if for some reason it is still a secret to you, there’s a particular Pinky and the Brain episode involving free t-shirts that you need to watch). In law school there are many student organizations. Thus, there are lots of events put on by these organizations. For our purposes, it matters not whether you have any particular interest in a given organization’s raison d’être (look it up). Rather, your main focus should be the quality of the free crap at said events. Often times, this free crap will come in the form of Chipotle, In-N-Out or Papa John’s. Sure, it’s not exactly haute cuisine, but by golly it’s free. Realistically speaking, you can take care of at least one meal per weekday at law school just by attending events. Add in the occasional leftovers and you can put a serious dent in your food budget. No shame necessary. You won’t be the first.

3. E-Tail

No, this is not a euphemism for meeting women on the internet. Rather, it is the method by which I suggest you purchase your textbooks. Unfortunately, it is rare to be able to buy used books in law school because the texts seemingly get updated every year (new update = new edition = you have to buy a new book). Thus, your school’s textbook store will not be a source of comfort for you or your wallet. I highly recommend shopping around online after you get your lists of required texts from your professors. You may have to endure a few text-less classes due to shipping, but in the meantime you can usually find the book on reserve in the library or poach from a less indigent (and less savvy) friend. And don’t worry about shipping. Odds are you’ll be ordering enough product to get it shipped for free (thus preserving your fabulous savings).

See, at least part of this post was actually useful advice. Until next time, I leave you with the cutest thing ever.