Saving on hot drinks

It's the time of year when the floods start falling from the sky and when I cannot manage to get my feet warm or dry. Oregon winter. Ugh. What makes a prolonged day on campus a little less cold and drippy? A hot cuppa! Of course, a regular mocha habit is not exactly the cheapest of indulgences, so here's how to enjoy your hot drinks on a budget.

Most important: bring a reusable mug with you to campus. I am the worst retainer of travel mugs (I broke one in a fit of rage and misplaced the other), but I am determined to hang onto the one that I got for Christmas. A travel cup is excellent for bringing drinks from home, which are infinitely cheaper than even filter coffee on campus. If you are buying on campus, every EMU run shop on campus (including the Knight library) offers a 25 cent discount to anyone who brings his or her own cup. Bonus!

If you don't have a mug of your own, but like to drink a lot and pay a little, consider buying a Giving Mug at the Duck Stop in the bookstore. They are $9.99, you get a coupon for a free drink, and you can get a 16 oz drink for the price of a 12 oz every time you use it. $1 of each sale of a mug goes to the Moss Street Children's Center to support childcare at UO.

A little trick I learned: If I bring a tea bag in my lunch, plus my travel mug, I can get hot water at the library coffeeshop for FREE, and I've got a steaming cuppa that cost me pennies instead of dollars.

Mondays and Wednesdays are usually when I find myself dragging on campus. Lucky for me, that's when the Duckstop offers $1 coffees! On Mondays, they offer a $1 12oz that has twice the caffeine of regular house coffee. I only had the supercharged drink once, but I tell you, I was a GENIUS for hours afterward! On Wednesdays, they offer $1 house coffee in any size. Travel mug discounts may not apply at the Duck Stop, because I have never been offered one when buying my $1 coffees, but that may not apply to all drinks.

In this stormy weather, let's tip back a cup of liquid sunshine on the cheap!

Student Services: UO Health Center

Enrolled UO students who pay student fees are entitled to services at the Health Center. Because of the fees that we pay each term, we can get discounts on prescriptions and over the counter drugs, free counseling, super cheap clinical visits (though you are charged more if you miss your appointment), access to the travel clinic, affordable teeth cleaning, and free contraception through CCare. Unfortunately, ladies are no longer offered a free yearly exam through CCare. When you call to make an appointment, just ask how much it's going to cost. There are also regular health workshops that we can take advantage of, though I'm not sure how much those cost. A big bonus at the UO Health Center is this big table with jars full of free chapstick, earplugs, tea, and prophylactics to grab whenever you want. And if you're sinking money into your bad habit, you can get help to quit smoking at the UO Health Center. Might as well, since you won't be able to smoke on campus next year anyway.

UO Health Centerhttp://healthcenter.uoregon.edu/

Counseling & Testing Center http://counseling.uoregon.edu/dnn/